FIFA 07 Soccer

"This is the season..."

I must set my stall out early when reviewing the latest FIFA game, as I am a staunch Pro Evoholic. However, if things continue like this the tide may change sooner rather than later.

Let's jump right into it. As expected, FIFA's front end is phenomenal. The sheer amount of teams on offer here is staggering. If you ever wanted to see how Mexican first division side Tigres would fare against Turkey's Sakaryaspor, you now have the chance. All the transfers are there, with one or two glaring omissions. Playing with Arsenal will show up the first of these, as you'll have the option to allow Ashley Cole maraude the oppenent's right flank. Initially this disappointed me, however, imagine my delight as I took FIFA 07 online and had all the transfers updated for me! The first port of call was to take West Ham out on to the pitch and lo and behold, an underperforming Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano were present and correct. EA have outdone themselves with this feature.

Speaking of the front end, the music is great. There's licenced tracks from Keane and Muse not to mention a great song by Shiny Toy Guns.

Next, let's look at the nitty gritty - the matches themselves. To me, FIFA always wanted to play an idealised form of football, where everyone could score an overhead kick, no-one shinned the ball into touch like all our favourite midfield journeymen and where a one on one meant instant goal. Well things have changed. For the first time in a FIFA game, the ball feels like an independent entity. It'll take deflections, passes will fall short and shots from range will be pushed by the 'keeper onto the woodwork. So far, so good.

Some of the old FIFA problems raise their ugly head though. The game is still quite sluggish, so much so that counter-attacking effectively feels nearly impossible. Secondly, there's not all that much difference between players. Unlike the superbly implemented stats in Pro Evo, FIFA's stats seem to be there more for show. You don't find yourself trying to get the ball to Aaron Lennon to race at defenders while playing as Tottenham. You don't feel anymore confident launching a wing to wing pass with Xabi Alonso than you would with say, Stephen Warnock.

While there's been lots done with the gameplay, there's still lots to do.

The one area in which FIFA 07 demolishes it's rivals is it's play modes. The revamped Manager Mode deficates all over Pro Evo's Master League from a considerable height. While the media involvement seems a bit tacked on (the results of your actions don't seem to have any significant effect on your team), the transfer market is fantastic, and going on a cup run with a small team is an unbeatable experience.

The new online Interactive League sounds like a good idea in theory (you play the fixtures your team plays in real life), however for supporters of the bigger clubs, it's near impossible to get a game. Imagine how many Watford fans would be online at any one time compared to Man Utd fans. Exactly.

All in all, FIFA 07 is more of a leap in the right direction than a step. It's still not quite Pro Evo but this is the first year where I will buy both games. If EA keeps continuing the series in this direction, FIFA may reclaim it's title as top dog of the console football games.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/10/06