Screens(19)

So when the PlayStation 2 was released in Japan, I was ecstatic about the first sports title to be released on the newest console - EA Sports FIFA Soccer World Championship. FIFA will be a launch title when the US PlayStation 2 arrives later this year, and if the American version uses the same engine as the import version (I can't see why EA would drastically change it), footy fans will be in for a treat.

Graphically, FIFA looks spectacular. Imagine the character models of Sega's Virtua Striker on the Dreamcast. Now add a little detail and make the appearances a little more crisp. You now have the player models of FIFA. The players are so detailed that you can make out the team logo patches on the uniforms. The leagues represented in the import version, by the way, include the English Premiere League, German Bundesleague, the Italian League, and the Japanese League. I am most familiar with the English Premier League, and the uniforms are spot on. Well almost. It seems EA left out a little something on the Arsenal jerseys. Soccer fans will recall that Sega is an official sponsor of Arsenal; the home jerseys should have Dreamcast printed across the front, and the away jerseys should have the word Sega emblazoned on them. I guess it is too much to ask that the uniforms be perfect.

To view the detailed players in action, there are a variety of cameras. The default camera in the import version is a close-up view similar to Virtua Striker. One of the things that made Virtua Striker such a terrible game was the inability to zoom the camera out. With FIFA you can customize any of the camera views by zooming in and out or tilting the camera angle up or down. Even with the camera completely zoomed out, locating players downfield can be difficult. An onscreen radar keeps you aware of all 22 players on the pitch.

The pitch itself is beautiful. Circular grass patterns greet you as you start the game, and the goals have worn patches. The grass looks natural and gives the effect of playing real European soccer. The stadiums are equally plush. Advertising banners are clear and colorful, and the sidelines feature animated coaches pounding fists, cameramen swiveling their cameras, and players warming up. In the stands, some fans wave colorful flags. Without a doubt, soccer has never looked so beautiful coming from a console.

To top things off, the player animations are great. Using the most distant camera, the PlayStation 2 still delivers the graphical punch to make the players clear. You will be able to see every flick of the ball and bicycle kick with the same quality you would expect watching television. When a player gets injured, he visibly slows down and hobbles across the field. The only graphical hiccup that occurs is with a severe frame rate drop. FIFA often drops frames near the goals on shots (usually when the ball goes out of touch) and in rare occasions between the goals. Fortunately the frame drops have yet to affect the play.

EA went all out in porting this game to the Japanese market. Usually we Yanks can count on the in-game menus having some English, but you will be hard pressed to find a recognizable word in the menus. Along with this, the commentary is in Japanese with an occasional English word thrown in (goal, offsides, etc.). Even though I don't understand Japanese, I can tell the announcers are enjoying themselves. Let us hope the US version carries the same excitement with it. However, EA certainly needs to ditch the awful J-pop that accompanies the menus in the game.

From a game play standpoint, footy fans usually will follow one of two camps. Either they love or hate the FIFA series. There is a strong argument for the prowess of Konami's ISS series. While steeped in arcade tradition, the Konami title actually mirrors real soccer very well. By contrast, FIFA is often recognized as a simulation, yet the series has blatantly left some aspects out. For fans of FIFA, expect more of the same plus much improved AI.

I have been using 5 minute halves since I bought the game a few months back, and each game has ended with realistic scores. The most number of goals I have been able to score has been three. Of course, if I went to the easy difficulty setting, the number would increase. The normal (or Hero) difficulty setting is a nice compromise between the overly simple setting and the hardest difficulty setting (which is very tough but fair). In FIFA 2000, you could dance down the field with a series of side steps and leapovers. In the latest rendition of the game, those moves work some of the time but often end with the ball at your opponent's feet. Furthermore, you can't simply make a cross into the box and head the ball in. The CPU positions itself well and often gets to the ball first. The goalies (yours included) also possess exceptional skills. From an AI standpoint, FIFA Soccer World Championship is the best yet in the FIFA franchise and perhaps the best on the market.

Where the game breaks down is the inability to lead a runner. This has really been a problem with the FIFA series since its beginning. Passing is player to player rather than to open player or open spot on the field. Konami's ISS series as well as Infogrames' Striker Pro releases capture the strategy of real soccer better in this respect. In those games you can pass the ball upfield and have your player catch up to it, or work a give and go play to perfection. In FIFA you can make through passes, but those usually just mean your player won't have to wait as long to control the ball before making his turn. FIFA fans have come to accept this in the series, and ISS fans have come to hate FIFA because of this. So ISS fans will still hate FIFA, but FIFA fans will be elated at the various improvements in the game. One other nuisance of note is loose ball play. When neither team has possession of the ball while the ball is in the air, you may try pressing the X button to select the nearest player. Often the nearest player is selected, but then a pass is chained onto the play. You end up passing the ball when not intended. The nuisance happens regularly and usually ends with your inadvertent pass being intercepted.

Despite these problems, FIFA is a great game. Graphically it is the best in the series. If all of EA's sports titles end up looking like this, we are in for one heck of a treat. No aliasing problems whatsoever, detailed graphics, and exceptional presentation. Additionally, it also has the best play in the series. The AI is much improved over FIFA 2000, and the game plays more realistically. I have seen goalies rush out of position to grab balls at the edge of the box on breakaways, which cemented my feeling that FIFA offers the best video goalie play. The title is looking like a must buy for FIFA fans, and ISS fans may want to seriously consider taking a look.