Crap! Some might say I don't care as long as EPL or La Liga or Serie A is in there but, still, that's crap!! :
(edit: EA confirms there are 156 teams on the final release)
EA rebuilds its next-gen soccer title from the ground up. How does it feel?
The first true FIFA title on 360 is finally upon us. Toss out the disaster that was FIFA 06: Road to the World Cup and the satisfying-but-shallow 2006 FIFA World Cup. A new generation of FIFA is upon us with FIFA 07.
EA has made a point to build from the ground up with its next-gen sports titles, as we've seen with Madden, NBA Live and the upcoming NHL 07. NBA Live 06 was mediocre at best; Madden NFL 06 was nowhere near as deep or fun as the current-generation game. Only NHL 07 shows true promise after taking a year off to fully develop a title. By scrapping all the code that came before it FIFA 07 promises to be a new experience. But does it suffer the "from-the-ground-up" problems that other EA games suffer on the 360? A little bit, yeah.
FIFA 07 borrows some of the same technology from other EA titles. The ball physics that completely remove the ball from the players and make it its own, non-magnetic entity are clearly akin to the excellent puck physics in NHL 07. And players now take one step at a time, planting and cutting off each foot, just like the new player models in NBA Live 07.
Other than that, though, the gameplay feels quite similar to recent FIFA games. We picked up the controllers and got right into a heated battle between Barcelona and Liverpool. Ronaldinho is fast, and the new ball physics and player momentum allow him to blow by poorly-positioned defenders. Dribbling is a bit more fun than in previous soccer games because you really feel as if you are creating moves, thanks mostly to the right-analog stick.
Ah, the right-analog stick. From the same company that brought us Fight Night's Total Punch Control and Tiger's analog swing system, we are now blessed with right analog stick dribbling. Well, dribbling is not the accurate term really. By flicking the right analog stick in a direction, the player will flick the ball a few yards away. Ideally you could do this in any direction, but it seemed we could only get it to go in eight.
There are a lot of possibilities here. Seemingly, you could flick the ball past a defender to his left, sprint by on his right and meet the ball on the other side. You can flick straight at a defender and try for a nutmeg. We want even more time with the game so we can figure out all the special dribble beats and tricks. On the current-gen game we've been loving the occasional 360, as performed on the right stick. At this point, however, we've only been able to flick the ball, so after a few tries we went back to traditional FIFA and Winning Eleven gameplay, which is passing the ball and building an attack.
Off the pitch, only about 140 teams are included, compared to more than 500 on current-generation platforms. Only the top leagues and top divisions made the cut, and EA says it was just too difficult to bring everyone over to the 360. This did allow for a more dynamic and deep player rating system. Players have the traditional attributes, yes, but they now have a long list of traits, such as being able to play out of the corner or having certain dribbling abilities.
In Manager Mode, you earn experience points after each match that can be used to improve player attributes or buy new traits. You could "sell yourself to the devil," as EA put it, and sell a trait like Injury Prone. Basically, you risk injury, but you get some currency to improve other attributes like speed and power. Of course, you could break your leg the next game as well.
This represents a departure from the current Manager mode, and EA calls it more of a "pimp my team mode" than a traditional manager mode. Normally, players have traits and that's it. Now you can customize not only your team but your players, as if they were cars in Forza Motorsport.
ESPNSoccerNet provides a feed of scores from around the world for Xbox Live enabled players. While the integration is nowhere near as deep as in the upcoming NBA Live 07, podcasts will be included for download each month, at least, says EA. Interactive Leagues were not included for online play, nor were online leagues of any kind. But you can play ranked and unranked matches with four players on each box, if that's any consolation. Four players are supported offline, unlike Madden and NCAA Football.
In the booth, Martin Tyler and Clyde Tilsey take over and sound pretty well at this point.
Overall, FIFA 07 is a nice start with the new engine, although the game is still in development. We enjoyed the new ball physics especially, which result in some wild deflections and intense action near the goal, especially during corner kicks. Several times we cheered and jeered in the box until the ball was either cleared or put in the back of the net. Nothing is canned in FIFA 07.
The game is currently slated for a late October release, although it could be pushed into November. We should have more for you from Microsoft's X06 conference in Barcelona the final week of December.
(edit: EA confirms there are 156 teams on the final release)
EA rebuilds its next-gen soccer title from the ground up. How does it feel?
The first true FIFA title on 360 is finally upon us. Toss out the disaster that was FIFA 06: Road to the World Cup and the satisfying-but-shallow 2006 FIFA World Cup. A new generation of FIFA is upon us with FIFA 07.
EA has made a point to build from the ground up with its next-gen sports titles, as we've seen with Madden, NBA Live and the upcoming NHL 07. NBA Live 06 was mediocre at best; Madden NFL 06 was nowhere near as deep or fun as the current-generation game. Only NHL 07 shows true promise after taking a year off to fully develop a title. By scrapping all the code that came before it FIFA 07 promises to be a new experience. But does it suffer the "from-the-ground-up" problems that other EA games suffer on the 360? A little bit, yeah.
FIFA 07 borrows some of the same technology from other EA titles. The ball physics that completely remove the ball from the players and make it its own, non-magnetic entity are clearly akin to the excellent puck physics in NHL 07. And players now take one step at a time, planting and cutting off each foot, just like the new player models in NBA Live 07.
Other than that, though, the gameplay feels quite similar to recent FIFA games. We picked up the controllers and got right into a heated battle between Barcelona and Liverpool. Ronaldinho is fast, and the new ball physics and player momentum allow him to blow by poorly-positioned defenders. Dribbling is a bit more fun than in previous soccer games because you really feel as if you are creating moves, thanks mostly to the right-analog stick.
Ah, the right-analog stick. From the same company that brought us Fight Night's Total Punch Control and Tiger's analog swing system, we are now blessed with right analog stick dribbling. Well, dribbling is not the accurate term really. By flicking the right analog stick in a direction, the player will flick the ball a few yards away. Ideally you could do this in any direction, but it seemed we could only get it to go in eight.
There are a lot of possibilities here. Seemingly, you could flick the ball past a defender to his left, sprint by on his right and meet the ball on the other side. You can flick straight at a defender and try for a nutmeg. We want even more time with the game so we can figure out all the special dribble beats and tricks. On the current-gen game we've been loving the occasional 360, as performed on the right stick. At this point, however, we've only been able to flick the ball, so after a few tries we went back to traditional FIFA and Winning Eleven gameplay, which is passing the ball and building an attack.
Off the pitch, only about 140 teams are included, compared to more than 500 on current-generation platforms. Only the top leagues and top divisions made the cut, and EA says it was just too difficult to bring everyone over to the 360. This did allow for a more dynamic and deep player rating system. Players have the traditional attributes, yes, but they now have a long list of traits, such as being able to play out of the corner or having certain dribbling abilities.
In Manager Mode, you earn experience points after each match that can be used to improve player attributes or buy new traits. You could "sell yourself to the devil," as EA put it, and sell a trait like Injury Prone. Basically, you risk injury, but you get some currency to improve other attributes like speed and power. Of course, you could break your leg the next game as well.
This represents a departure from the current Manager mode, and EA calls it more of a "pimp my team mode" than a traditional manager mode. Normally, players have traits and that's it. Now you can customize not only your team but your players, as if they were cars in Forza Motorsport.
ESPNSoccerNet provides a feed of scores from around the world for Xbox Live enabled players. While the integration is nowhere near as deep as in the upcoming NBA Live 07, podcasts will be included for download each month, at least, says EA. Interactive Leagues were not included for online play, nor were online leagues of any kind. But you can play ranked and unranked matches with four players on each box, if that's any consolation. Four players are supported offline, unlike Madden and NCAA Football.
In the booth, Martin Tyler and Clyde Tilsey take over and sound pretty well at this point.
Overall, FIFA 07 is a nice start with the new engine, although the game is still in development. We enjoyed the new ball physics especially, which result in some wild deflections and intense action near the goal, especially during corner kicks. Several times we cheered and jeered in the box until the ball was either cleared or put in the back of the net. Nothing is canned in FIFA 07.
The game is currently slated for a late October release, although it could be pushed into November. We should have more for you from Microsoft's X06 conference in Barcelona the final week of December.
