NK FOOTBALL ©
Senior Squad
Christmas comes early for FIFA fans!
Another year, another FIFA. It’s no surprise seeing a new EA SPORTS box at your local games shop sporting a couple of cover-stars and the usual 0<insert year here>. But it appears EA has been working extra hard for us spoilt football fans, that never seem to be satisfied with just one football game on the ever increasing and most demanding sports-game industry year in, year out. Not only have EA released FIFA 07 on the PC, PS2, XBOX and PSP, but they have upgraded to next-generation gaming on Microsoft beloved Xbox 360 console. Oh yes I know as do all the other EA fans that FIFA has already had itself a play-test on 360, but not like this! Yes, the only thing you’ll recognise from Next-gen FIFA 07 to the PS2 version is Box it comes in. Other than that, it’s a new game. And it’s about time to!
I don’t know if you lot remember the good old days back when SEGA had the console wars with Nintendo and FIFA was practically a 2D kick-about with a few bells, whistles and cheers! Well I do and it was fun. Oh boy was it fun been a kid and not fully understanding the true nature of the beautiful game and trying to come to grips with FIFA 96. It was like learning how to walk all over again…ok so it wasn’t that frustrating, but hell it was an experience. The learning curve for, well my maturity was obviously higher then if I played the game now. But the point is, this is what FIFA 07 on the 360 does. It takes the current-gen engine, kicks it in the balls, dips it in tar and sends it through a chicken factory to be pecked and covered in feathers. EA have spent 2 years developing this beast of an engine, working from the ground up on Animation, graphics and AI (Artificial Intelligence for you noobs among us). Seeing this all in action is a joy on its own, never mind picking up the controller and playing the darn thing. The first time I saw Ronaldinho in the Arena, I shouted “Holy Cow!” Well, I didn’t use the word cow, but you get my drift. The animation is spectacular! No really, yes I know “but it’s FIFA and it’s robotic and PES is the only ga…” SHUT UP! Realise for a moment that this is NOT FIFA 07 you’ve played or seen on the Xbox 1. This is a new beginning for next generation football games and for EA’s first attempt on the new engine, I have to applaud this game.
For once, the AI actually seems like it wants to beat you. It doesn’t just decide to score a goal you can’t defend or from nowhere just smack a shot near enough from the half way line and have your keeper turn into a vegetable with a 2.5 second delay, no. This is a balance battle between user and cpu. And I tell you something else, the ball physics are the best I have ever seen in any football game, yup Konami sorry but EA have beaten you bad here. The ball bobbles, bounces, deflects, rolls, dances, sings (ok the last two I made up) around so very realistically that at times you forget you’re not watching the real thing. It’s all done so smoothly too thanks to the animation engine. Players’ will perform all the moves you expect from passing to heading the ball to shooting and celebrating the goal (Peter Crouch’s robot celebration had me and the lads in stitches). And for once it is very believable. Nothing looks unnatural and this is why scoring past quite a challenging cpu defence is rewarding, because the feeling of accomplishment is greater than ever before. My only gripe with the scoring in this game is that it can become a goal fest. 4-4 draw games happening much too often can become a pain when you realise that you only played for 16 minutes. Konami’s game would probably see 2 goals going in if that. Not that I’m saying Konami’s PES6 is better, but from what I have played of FIFA 07 on the 360 thus far, scoring opportunities do probably come a little too often and this is a let down when playing against World Class AI. Putting 2 goals past a Brazil defence on my first attempt on World Class as England was, dare I say it, a tad disappointing. Don’t get me wrong the gameplay is by far the best of all the FIFA games I have ever played, but the goals do comes a little too often at times and this is what makes scoring not as rewarding as it could be.
The main mode of play available is Manager mode allowing the gamer to play through 5 seasons and perform practically every task you can on current-gen versions. The only strange difference is that current-gen uses £ whereas next-gen uses points! EA, have you gone backwards? Playing in manager mode will also score your players’ with experience points that you can spend to ‘pimp’ up your players’ and give them better attributes and traits or even make a gamble at giving certain players’ bad traits in order to get more experience points back. An example of this would be to have the player never use his weak foot or make him injury prone. An example of an attribute that will cost you 500 points is to make him an overall ‘Solid Player’. You can also assign players’ with high determination on the pitch and I have to say it’s all noticeable. But again, I’d rather have the game enhance my players’ based on their performance rather then the user manually selecting who gets the touch from god and who ends up with two broken legs each season.
The sound in this game is fantastic! The crowd sound so very realistic and the sound affects are top notch. The stadium announcer just HAS to stay for FIFA 08 it is so very good. The commentary is the best I have heard in any football game with the only gripe that it sometimes lags behind. Martin Tyler and Andy Gray do a splendid job. Love it!
I am yet to hook this bad boy online and play some other gamers since my Broadband is going to be changed over to another company allowing me to access Live! Right now, there is no connection even using my wireless adapter and this is sad, sad news as I really wanted to review the online playability. But after some research here and there it’s all good news with fast servers and hardly no lag whatsoever if any at all! Brilliant.
So, with a lack of leagues and game modes (no create tournament is a big shame) and a few annoying areas in the gameplay such as;
- Too many goal scoring opportunities at times
- Perhaps too easy to hit the target with spectacular shots
- AI on World Class appears a little easier than it should be
The things I’d personally like EA to improve are above, but as for other areas here are a few ideas
- More individual players
- More animations
- Better AI
- More sophisticated shooting mechanics
- A couple more leagues (got to include SPL, so many fans)
- STOP over-rating my national team!! (England play far too good in this game)
Yes, I know England. They do play a little too good football then what we’ve seen during the world cup and Euro qualifiers. But hey it’s just a game and at the end of the day the best football game EA have come out with in a very long time, in fact the best full stop.
Here’s my score;
Graphics 8/10
Sound 10/10 (just get the commentary sorted)
Gameplay 7.8/10 (almost an 8, but a few gripes take over a couple of points)
Lasting Appeal 8/10
Overall 8/10 (Not an average)
Another year, another FIFA. It’s no surprise seeing a new EA SPORTS box at your local games shop sporting a couple of cover-stars and the usual 0<insert year here>. But it appears EA has been working extra hard for us spoilt football fans, that never seem to be satisfied with just one football game on the ever increasing and most demanding sports-game industry year in, year out. Not only have EA released FIFA 07 on the PC, PS2, XBOX and PSP, but they have upgraded to next-generation gaming on Microsoft beloved Xbox 360 console. Oh yes I know as do all the other EA fans that FIFA has already had itself a play-test on 360, but not like this! Yes, the only thing you’ll recognise from Next-gen FIFA 07 to the PS2 version is Box it comes in. Other than that, it’s a new game. And it’s about time to!
I don’t know if you lot remember the good old days back when SEGA had the console wars with Nintendo and FIFA was practically a 2D kick-about with a few bells, whistles and cheers! Well I do and it was fun. Oh boy was it fun been a kid and not fully understanding the true nature of the beautiful game and trying to come to grips with FIFA 96. It was like learning how to walk all over again…ok so it wasn’t that frustrating, but hell it was an experience. The learning curve for, well my maturity was obviously higher then if I played the game now. But the point is, this is what FIFA 07 on the 360 does. It takes the current-gen engine, kicks it in the balls, dips it in tar and sends it through a chicken factory to be pecked and covered in feathers. EA have spent 2 years developing this beast of an engine, working from the ground up on Animation, graphics and AI (Artificial Intelligence for you noobs among us). Seeing this all in action is a joy on its own, never mind picking up the controller and playing the darn thing. The first time I saw Ronaldinho in the Arena, I shouted “Holy Cow!” Well, I didn’t use the word cow, but you get my drift. The animation is spectacular! No really, yes I know “but it’s FIFA and it’s robotic and PES is the only ga…” SHUT UP! Realise for a moment that this is NOT FIFA 07 you’ve played or seen on the Xbox 1. This is a new beginning for next generation football games and for EA’s first attempt on the new engine, I have to applaud this game.
For once, the AI actually seems like it wants to beat you. It doesn’t just decide to score a goal you can’t defend or from nowhere just smack a shot near enough from the half way line and have your keeper turn into a vegetable with a 2.5 second delay, no. This is a balance battle between user and cpu. And I tell you something else, the ball physics are the best I have ever seen in any football game, yup Konami sorry but EA have beaten you bad here. The ball bobbles, bounces, deflects, rolls, dances, sings (ok the last two I made up) around so very realistically that at times you forget you’re not watching the real thing. It’s all done so smoothly too thanks to the animation engine. Players’ will perform all the moves you expect from passing to heading the ball to shooting and celebrating the goal (Peter Crouch’s robot celebration had me and the lads in stitches). And for once it is very believable. Nothing looks unnatural and this is why scoring past quite a challenging cpu defence is rewarding, because the feeling of accomplishment is greater than ever before. My only gripe with the scoring in this game is that it can become a goal fest. 4-4 draw games happening much too often can become a pain when you realise that you only played for 16 minutes. Konami’s game would probably see 2 goals going in if that. Not that I’m saying Konami’s PES6 is better, but from what I have played of FIFA 07 on the 360 thus far, scoring opportunities do probably come a little too often and this is a let down when playing against World Class AI. Putting 2 goals past a Brazil defence on my first attempt on World Class as England was, dare I say it, a tad disappointing. Don’t get me wrong the gameplay is by far the best of all the FIFA games I have ever played, but the goals do comes a little too often at times and this is what makes scoring not as rewarding as it could be.
The main mode of play available is Manager mode allowing the gamer to play through 5 seasons and perform practically every task you can on current-gen versions. The only strange difference is that current-gen uses £ whereas next-gen uses points! EA, have you gone backwards? Playing in manager mode will also score your players’ with experience points that you can spend to ‘pimp’ up your players’ and give them better attributes and traits or even make a gamble at giving certain players’ bad traits in order to get more experience points back. An example of this would be to have the player never use his weak foot or make him injury prone. An example of an attribute that will cost you 500 points is to make him an overall ‘Solid Player’. You can also assign players’ with high determination on the pitch and I have to say it’s all noticeable. But again, I’d rather have the game enhance my players’ based on their performance rather then the user manually selecting who gets the touch from god and who ends up with two broken legs each season.
The sound in this game is fantastic! The crowd sound so very realistic and the sound affects are top notch. The stadium announcer just HAS to stay for FIFA 08 it is so very good. The commentary is the best I have heard in any football game with the only gripe that it sometimes lags behind. Martin Tyler and Andy Gray do a splendid job. Love it!
I am yet to hook this bad boy online and play some other gamers since my Broadband is going to be changed over to another company allowing me to access Live! Right now, there is no connection even using my wireless adapter and this is sad, sad news as I really wanted to review the online playability. But after some research here and there it’s all good news with fast servers and hardly no lag whatsoever if any at all! Brilliant.
So, with a lack of leagues and game modes (no create tournament is a big shame) and a few annoying areas in the gameplay such as;
- Too many goal scoring opportunities at times
- Perhaps too easy to hit the target with spectacular shots
- AI on World Class appears a little easier than it should be
The things I’d personally like EA to improve are above, but as for other areas here are a few ideas
- More individual players
- More animations
- Better AI
- More sophisticated shooting mechanics
- A couple more leagues (got to include SPL, so many fans)
- STOP over-rating my national team!! (England play far too good in this game)
Yes, I know England. They do play a little too good football then what we’ve seen during the world cup and Euro qualifiers. But hey it’s just a game and at the end of the day the best football game EA have come out with in a very long time, in fact the best full stop.
Here’s my score;
Graphics 8/10
Sound 10/10 (just get the commentary sorted)
Gameplay 7.8/10 (almost an 8, but a few gripes take over a couple of points)
Lasting Appeal 8/10
Overall 8/10 (Not an average)
I must say that it does not feel like any other fifa, ever made, ever! The ball is completely loose, I mean, very loose to the point that dominating it takes alot of practice, which in my opinion is great. Passing is very good especially the animations of the passes. I mean you see side footers and backheels so realistically. I can go on and on but I won't. Now, the downsides are that it seems like a half assed game (But, surprisingly enough, I don't care since it's the first FIFA built on this engine, and the fact that it's so realistic.)
= lack of leagues, teams. Challenge mode to unlock shop items are very hard. Sound pauses at times (especially during subs). No training mode. No create a tournament.
= Superb animations. Superb lighting, shadows. Overall graphics are very very good. Choosing player in arena mode during loadup times (nice touch). Sound effects (PA announcer, crowd chants). Did I mention animations?? 
Online play = 
