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November 21, 2005 | 5:36 PM PST
by: Tim Livingston
If you are a soccer fan, you have undoubtedly heard of the franchise that took the world by storm way back in the years of the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. Today, EA Sports hopes that FIFA 06 Soccer: Road to the World Cup can do for the Xbox 360 like it did for the systems of yesteryear: Put EA on top of the mountain when it comes to soccer for console play.
That’s Sure A Whole Lotta Countries!
Many a country stack up in this version of FIFA, as the focus of this year’s game differs from previous versions. Since 2006 is a World Cup year, they made this version of the game for the national teams only, meaning that if you wanted to recreate Liverpool’s famous run through Europe on its way to dethroning not only Manchester United, but AC Milan, you can’t do it here. However, if you want to run over San Marino with Italy just to rub it in their faces that they are merely a principality within Italian borders, that, my friends, is doable many, MANY times. And then, if you want to, go ahead and take out Luxembourg with Germany. (Note: I’m not saying that you SHOULD go along with all these hostile suggestions, but just in case you have some sort of problem with said countries, you can definitely settle said problems on the pitch. But I digress…)
The modes for this game are somewhat limited, as there’s only a friendly (exhibition) mode, the Road to the World Cup, and a tournament mode. Still, it’s nice to know that somehow, some way, you can take a team like Turkey to the World Cup if you really wanted to. In friendly mode, pick a team, any team, and have them take on another in a battle for bragging rights. Mexico/U.S., France/Germany, Poland/Italy, Brazil/Argentina, and the other numerous soccer rivalries can be recreated here. In the Road to the World Cup, you take a team and run them through either the European qualifiers or custom qualifiers that you can make yourself to get them to where they need to go: To the top for a chance at the World Cup. You can coach your team by tweaking the lineups and formations, finding that ideal part of your roster to put out on the field to get the big trophy with the soccer ball in it. In tournament mode, you can create a league, a group, or an elimination-style setup with any teams at your disposal.
And Now to the Pitch
The play on the field is finely tuned compared to previous years, where an “arcade” feel surrounded FIFA. This actually turned a few gamers towards a title like Winning Eleven because of the fact that WE put an emphasis on the sim aspects of the football. Here, you play the game and realize that this ain’t your little cousin’s FIFA. The controls are tight, and you really get a sense of control over the game that you may have not experienced before. Short passes, long passes, through passes, chips, crosses, they are all here and shown off very well in this game, and it adds to the sim aspects that FIFA is trying to install. In addition to the controls, you actually can make little improvements during the down times. When a ball goes out of the pitch, you can use the D-Pad to get a few little options to fine-tune your team, like making a quick sub, change your defensive and offensive tactics, or make a formation switch. This allows more control over the gameplay and is a great addition from EA to add even more sim aspects to the game.
Graphics wise, the player models are done very well, as you can see Ronaldinho’s five-head standout amongst his players from up close. There are some times where the lighting seems a little too bright, and it makes pastiness a bit too prevalent in the overall presentation of the players, but it makes up for it with very good animations from the players, along with a cool focus from the pitch where you can see the players in focus and the fans in a blurred frenzy behind them. Good attention to detail shown once again. The sounds of the crowd are very well done, and the announcers are right on pace with the action.
Fifa 2006
Final Word
It will take a while to see where FIFA will be when it comes down to how it’s presented amongst the other sports titles, but EA has done a fine job with this and left itself to improve on some things, such as the lighting on players, possibly adding more modes for the gameplay freaks, and, hopefully, installing the league clubs along with the national clubs so that players can run through the English Premiere League and run through something resembling the FA Cup. If you’re looking for a soccer title at launch for the 360, this a great start for you. Hopefully, there will be a Winning Eleven title for the 360 soon for comparison, and the next great soccer rivalry will begin.
That’s Sure A Whole Lotta Countries!
Many a country stack up in this version of FIFA, as the focus of this year’s game differs from previous versions. Since 2006 is a World Cup year, they made this version of the game for the national teams only, meaning that if you wanted to recreate Liverpool’s famous run through Europe on its way to dethroning not only Manchester United, but AC Milan, you can’t do it here. However, if you want to run over San Marino with Italy just to rub it in their faces that they are merely a principality within Italian borders, that, my friends, is doable many, MANY times. And then, if you want to, go ahead and take out Luxembourg with Germany. (Note: I’m not saying that you SHOULD go along with all these hostile suggestions, but just in case you have some sort of problem with said countries, you can definitely settle said problems on the pitch. But I digress…)
The modes for this game are somewhat limited, as there’s only a friendly (exhibition) mode, the Road to the World Cup, and a tournament mode. Still, it’s nice to know that somehow, some way, you can take a team like Turkey to the World Cup if you really wanted to. In friendly mode, pick a team, any team, and have them take on another in a battle for bragging rights. Mexico/U.S., France/Germany, Poland/Italy, Brazil/Argentina, and the other numerous soccer rivalries can be recreated here. In the Road to the World Cup, you take a team and run them through either the European qualifiers or custom qualifiers that you can make yourself to get them to where they need to go: To the top for a chance at the World Cup. You can coach your team by tweaking the lineups and formations, finding that ideal part of your roster to put out on the field to get the big trophy with the soccer ball in it. In tournament mode, you can create a league, a group, or an elimination-style setup with any teams at your disposal.
And Now to the Pitch
The play on the field is finely tuned compared to previous years, where an “arcade” feel surrounded FIFA. This actually turned a few gamers towards a title like Winning Eleven because of the fact that WE put an emphasis on the sim aspects of the football. Here, you play the game and realize that this ain’t your little cousin’s FIFA. The controls are tight, and you really get a sense of control over the game that you may have not experienced before. Short passes, long passes, through passes, chips, crosses, they are all here and shown off very well in this game, and it adds to the sim aspects that FIFA is trying to install. In addition to the controls, you actually can make little improvements during the down times. When a ball goes out of the pitch, you can use the D-Pad to get a few little options to fine-tune your team, like making a quick sub, change your defensive and offensive tactics, or make a formation switch. This allows more control over the gameplay and is a great addition from EA to add even more sim aspects to the game.
Graphics wise, the player models are done very well, as you can see Ronaldinho’s five-head standout amongst his players from up close. There are some times where the lighting seems a little too bright, and it makes pastiness a bit too prevalent in the overall presentation of the players, but it makes up for it with very good animations from the players, along with a cool focus from the pitch where you can see the players in focus and the fans in a blurred frenzy behind them. Good attention to detail shown once again. The sounds of the crowd are very well done, and the announcers are right on pace with the action.
Fifa 2006
Final Word
It will take a while to see where FIFA will be when it comes down to how it’s presented amongst the other sports titles, but EA has done a fine job with this and left itself to improve on some things, such as the lighting on players, possibly adding more modes for the gameplay freaks, and, hopefully, installing the league clubs along with the national clubs so that players can run through the English Premiere League and run through something resembling the FA Cup. If you’re looking for a soccer title at launch for the 360, this a great start for you. Hopefully, there will be a Winning Eleven title for the 360 soon for comparison, and the next great soccer rivalry will begin.
February 8, 2010
