Today I found my copy of FIFA 07 in the mailbox, and I thought I would give my impressions here. Now, I'm not a known member of this community, so I understand if my words don't carry as much weight as certain other members here, but I'm not here to create FIFA vs PES wars or persuade anyone to chose either. I'm an avid reader and find the forum full of useful information, so this is just my little contribution.
This is by no means a review of the game, just my first impressions, as I'm writing this I've played under 20 matches.
If anyone is wondering about my background, I've been playing FIFA since the '96 version, played every version extensively up till this point. I have not played the current-gen version of FIFA 07, the one on PS2/PC. I have also played PES, and I must admit, that in later years, I've been playing more PES than FIFA, especially, PES4 and 5. I'm by no means a fanboy, of either game. And this year, I have bought both games, and I will be receiving PES6 on Friday, so I will write about that then.
Now, to FIFA 07 (X360).
Loading screen
If you've played the demo, you know that about the first thing you see after firing up the game is Ronaldinho. You're one on one with the keeper, in a beautifully lighted stadium at nighttime. The animations and movement are fluid and smooth, blending seamlessly into each other, and it really makes you feel like you're controlling a player with mass and proper physics. Everything looks great, graphically this is definitely one of the top games up there when it comes to sports titles.
You'll be happy to know, although most of you here already knew this from before, that you can use any player in the game, in this mode. This Arena Mode. Which is also your loading screen, so while you're waiting for a game to load (there's hardly any, load times are very fast) you can pop off a few shots or practicing on outsmarting the keeper.
ESPN integration
ESPN integration is simply awesome, I love it. You can hear sports radio live through the game, you get daily updated news about your favorite team. Not just one or two news items a day either, there's plenty of coverage. I actually spent more time reading news here, than actually playing the game.
Today I could read about Alex Ferguson's respect for long-time Crewe manager Gradi, how Beckham misses the camaraderie in his old club and a lot of other "interesting" stuff. It's great.
You'll also be getting game results and league tables too, but this wasn't available at the time, but what was there was, if not enough, very good for the time being.
Edit Mode
I was suprised there even was an edit mode after hearing about how PES6 would not have one, I guess I just didn't expect FIFA 07 to include one, but it seems that about the only thing that's skimped on this year is the number of teams. Anyway, the edit mode was great, not only can you Edit current players, but you can also Create completely new ones.
It was a really extensive and in-depth experience, I thought perhaps there wasn't that many choices when it came to hair and facial hair, also hair/facial hair color, but that's about the only thing to "complain" about. You can change details like eyebrows, noses, ears, mouths, jaws... sleeves, shoes, accessories. Body type, height, weight, and so forth.
Kick off
First match experience, except from the demo, was an Amateur game with the computer, Manchester United (me) against Liverpool. Game graphics are the same as the demo, which means brilliant, perhaps the faces are a bit plastic-looking at times (in replays), but other than that no complaints. In the demo there was a few slow-downs and sort of choppy animations at times, but I didn't notice anything like that in this full version, the game ran smoothly and was very responsive.
I won't mention anything in particular about AI at this time, because frankly, I don't expect much from the AI at Amateur, and haven't played enough at higher levels of difficulty to say anything about it yet. I just played to get a feel for the game and the players behaved as expected, didn't notice anything being off for this difficulty level or the others. But I was pleasently surprised that the keeper of the opposing team didn't suck completely at lowest difficulty.
I have seen mentions on this forum, and others, and even in a review, that the through-ball wasn't accurate or precise enough, or even useful - well, I for one, didn't find that to be the case. I think that in earlier FIFA games, it has been too easy to break the opposing defence by executing a player run and sending off a through-ball, now it's more balanced, if you plan and time it well, not only your player run, but also the through-ball, and make the right choice if it should be along the ground or lofted, you will succeed if done right, it's just been made harder. Requires more planning and more precision. This is a good thing.
The same can be said when it comes to the whole game, I'm not saying I had any problems beating the Amateur-level, but the game is slower paced than before, meaning at higher difficulty levels I had to plan and think to find openings and faults in the defence, you will have to take your time and not just try and run through. With the slower pace, it becomes easier to make up tactics on the fly though, you have a little more time, in addition you still have your tactics-button.
Shooting seems to work great. I like how you now have two different shot buttons, well, it's the same button, but you can use RB to get a finesse shot, in addition to your regular shot. It works great, you can get some beautifully placed goals with this one.
My main complaint about the shooting in previous FIFA games has always been the fact that they seem to be scripted, well actually, they not only seem to be, as the ball are in fact tied to the player animations, even shots, and then, so is goals, EA has stated this themselves - and that one of the big things this year, I think this goes for both current-gen versions and X360, is that the ball was no longer tied to the animations, it was free, and had it's own physics, only verifies the restrictions of the old system. This is something you can easily tell has improved greatly now, as shots, both those that go in and those that's let off with backpacks on, are much more realistic, they bounce off the ground, players, keepers and posts in a natural way. Meaning you get a lot more unique goals and situations this time around, and also some bizarre ones, heh... Like hitting an unware defender in the back of the head, ricocheting the ball into the keepers knee and rolling over the goal line.
It also means you can no longer find certain spots that's fail-safe, that by some magical way always cause the ball to find its way to the back of the net, that simply don't fly no more.
Regarding dribling, I think it's good, because of the new animations and the fact that players have real physics now, you have to take into count such things as momentum, and you can really tell that when you think about these things, you play better. As for feints, there are no pre-determined feints like you have in the current-gen version, or the old FIFAs, but this isn't such a bad thing really, sure, I thought it was a little sad when I heard the news, but the dribling works so great that it's not something you miss after playing a while. It's like the game has evolved beyond that, and the game allows you to create your own moves by being a good dribler and knowing the system well. It takes more time to learn, but it's also deeper. Don't think because feints are removed, that this reduces the game to just running straight forward, passing and shooting.
And the difference between controlling Rooney vs Ronaldinho has never been so apparent before, in any football game.
There are various stats after the game has ended, actually a lot of different stats, and there's Man of the Match award.
Oh, and the commentary has improved a lot.
What I've said here in this part, "Kick off", is based on not just one match, but 15-20, various difficulty levels and online-matches.
Online
So it was time for a real opponent, and the first thing I did was to check the modes, there's ranked and un-ranked, you can create a custom match yourself, or you can quick-join one, or head to the lobby. You can also play multiplayer Co-op.
All the matches I played, were completely lag-free. No lag at all. It was as good as playing offline. Seriously. This was a very, very, pleasent surprise, and a relief, after the disaster World Cup (previous FIFA game on X360) was online.
For online play you have leaderboards and you have your own detailed personal stats.
Well, that's it for now, I want to get back to the game, I don't know what more to write right now anyway, but if you have any questions I'll be happy to answer them.
This is by no means a review of the game, just my first impressions, as I'm writing this I've played under 20 matches.
If anyone is wondering about my background, I've been playing FIFA since the '96 version, played every version extensively up till this point. I have not played the current-gen version of FIFA 07, the one on PS2/PC. I have also played PES, and I must admit, that in later years, I've been playing more PES than FIFA, especially, PES4 and 5. I'm by no means a fanboy, of either game. And this year, I have bought both games, and I will be receiving PES6 on Friday, so I will write about that then.
Now, to FIFA 07 (X360).
Loading screen
If you've played the demo, you know that about the first thing you see after firing up the game is Ronaldinho. You're one on one with the keeper, in a beautifully lighted stadium at nighttime. The animations and movement are fluid and smooth, blending seamlessly into each other, and it really makes you feel like you're controlling a player with mass and proper physics. Everything looks great, graphically this is definitely one of the top games up there when it comes to sports titles.
You'll be happy to know, although most of you here already knew this from before, that you can use any player in the game, in this mode. This Arena Mode. Which is also your loading screen, so while you're waiting for a game to load (there's hardly any, load times are very fast) you can pop off a few shots or practicing on outsmarting the keeper.
ESPN integration
ESPN integration is simply awesome, I love it. You can hear sports radio live through the game, you get daily updated news about your favorite team. Not just one or two news items a day either, there's plenty of coverage. I actually spent more time reading news here, than actually playing the game.
Today I could read about Alex Ferguson's respect for long-time Crewe manager Gradi, how Beckham misses the camaraderie in his old club and a lot of other "interesting" stuff. It's great.
You'll also be getting game results and league tables too, but this wasn't available at the time, but what was there was, if not enough, very good for the time being.
Edit Mode
I was suprised there even was an edit mode after hearing about how PES6 would not have one, I guess I just didn't expect FIFA 07 to include one, but it seems that about the only thing that's skimped on this year is the number of teams. Anyway, the edit mode was great, not only can you Edit current players, but you can also Create completely new ones.
It was a really extensive and in-depth experience, I thought perhaps there wasn't that many choices when it came to hair and facial hair, also hair/facial hair color, but that's about the only thing to "complain" about. You can change details like eyebrows, noses, ears, mouths, jaws... sleeves, shoes, accessories. Body type, height, weight, and so forth.
Kick off
First match experience, except from the demo, was an Amateur game with the computer, Manchester United (me) against Liverpool. Game graphics are the same as the demo, which means brilliant, perhaps the faces are a bit plastic-looking at times (in replays), but other than that no complaints. In the demo there was a few slow-downs and sort of choppy animations at times, but I didn't notice anything like that in this full version, the game ran smoothly and was very responsive.
I won't mention anything in particular about AI at this time, because frankly, I don't expect much from the AI at Amateur, and haven't played enough at higher levels of difficulty to say anything about it yet. I just played to get a feel for the game and the players behaved as expected, didn't notice anything being off for this difficulty level or the others. But I was pleasently surprised that the keeper of the opposing team didn't suck completely at lowest difficulty.
I have seen mentions on this forum, and others, and even in a review, that the through-ball wasn't accurate or precise enough, or even useful - well, I for one, didn't find that to be the case. I think that in earlier FIFA games, it has been too easy to break the opposing defence by executing a player run and sending off a through-ball, now it's more balanced, if you plan and time it well, not only your player run, but also the through-ball, and make the right choice if it should be along the ground or lofted, you will succeed if done right, it's just been made harder. Requires more planning and more precision. This is a good thing.
The same can be said when it comes to the whole game, I'm not saying I had any problems beating the Amateur-level, but the game is slower paced than before, meaning at higher difficulty levels I had to plan and think to find openings and faults in the defence, you will have to take your time and not just try and run through. With the slower pace, it becomes easier to make up tactics on the fly though, you have a little more time, in addition you still have your tactics-button.
Shooting seems to work great. I like how you now have two different shot buttons, well, it's the same button, but you can use RB to get a finesse shot, in addition to your regular shot. It works great, you can get some beautifully placed goals with this one.
My main complaint about the shooting in previous FIFA games has always been the fact that they seem to be scripted, well actually, they not only seem to be, as the ball are in fact tied to the player animations, even shots, and then, so is goals, EA has stated this themselves - and that one of the big things this year, I think this goes for both current-gen versions and X360, is that the ball was no longer tied to the animations, it was free, and had it's own physics, only verifies the restrictions of the old system. This is something you can easily tell has improved greatly now, as shots, both those that go in and those that's let off with backpacks on, are much more realistic, they bounce off the ground, players, keepers and posts in a natural way. Meaning you get a lot more unique goals and situations this time around, and also some bizarre ones, heh... Like hitting an unware defender in the back of the head, ricocheting the ball into the keepers knee and rolling over the goal line.
It also means you can no longer find certain spots that's fail-safe, that by some magical way always cause the ball to find its way to the back of the net, that simply don't fly no more.
Regarding dribling, I think it's good, because of the new animations and the fact that players have real physics now, you have to take into count such things as momentum, and you can really tell that when you think about these things, you play better. As for feints, there are no pre-determined feints like you have in the current-gen version, or the old FIFAs, but this isn't such a bad thing really, sure, I thought it was a little sad when I heard the news, but the dribling works so great that it's not something you miss after playing a while. It's like the game has evolved beyond that, and the game allows you to create your own moves by being a good dribler and knowing the system well. It takes more time to learn, but it's also deeper. Don't think because feints are removed, that this reduces the game to just running straight forward, passing and shooting.
And the difference between controlling Rooney vs Ronaldinho has never been so apparent before, in any football game.
There are various stats after the game has ended, actually a lot of different stats, and there's Man of the Match award.
Oh, and the commentary has improved a lot.
What I've said here in this part, "Kick off", is based on not just one match, but 15-20, various difficulty levels and online-matches.
Online
So it was time for a real opponent, and the first thing I did was to check the modes, there's ranked and un-ranked, you can create a custom match yourself, or you can quick-join one, or head to the lobby. You can also play multiplayer Co-op.
All the matches I played, were completely lag-free. No lag at all. It was as good as playing offline. Seriously. This was a very, very, pleasent surprise, and a relief, after the disaster World Cup (previous FIFA game on X360) was online.
For online play you have leaderboards and you have your own detailed personal stats.
Well, that's it for now, I want to get back to the game, I don't know what more to write right now anyway, but if you have any questions I'll be happy to answer them.
Oh the wait....killing me. Anyway, my Xbox live gamer tag is below. Drop me a message. We'll play soon.
Btw... what half length do you guys use? I've used 8 minutes.