FIFA Soccer 08

"Can give you some good nights..."

I've never been too fond of the FIFA Series. However, being a Dagenham & Redbridge and a Wellington Phoenix fan, this is the first football game that features either of them so I felt obliged to pick it up. I popped it in my playstation 2 and I played it and I was pleasantly surprised. This review will tell you why:

Graphics: 9/10

The graphics are incredible. Considering I am playing this on the playstation 2, and not on a next generation console, the graphics on this game were really pleasing to the eye. A lot of people look a lot more accurate than others. Wayne Rooney looks very similar, as does Michael Owen and Carlos Tevez. That's just the players. The pitches when you play, some pitches look a lot higher quality than others (which is good, I wouldn't like Old Trafford to be the same condition as say, Div3 UK style) and they vary in sizes, which is very handy because that's the case in real life. The crowds are accurate and they hang banners in the stadium which is very good and very enjoyable to see, even teams like Wellington Phoenix in the Australian Hyundai A-League have their own separate banners saying “Yellow Fever” etc. which is a surprising amount of detail for such a low profile club. So well done to EA for that. The graphics are definitely a step up from the previous instalments of the FIFA games too. They have small markers above the individual players heads so you know who is controlling who which is handy, however you can change it to show just the players numbers or even the players names, which I recommend as sometimes you cannot see who is in control of the ball, keeping your eye on the game and trying to look at the bottom of the screen to see who is on the ball. It's better to know who is on the ball as I'd certainly feel a lot safer making a run with Lionel Messi than with Eric Abidal.

Sound: 7/10

There is a varied amount of MP3's on the disc, mostly coming from the English indie music scene, however there are a few other foreign tracks on the game (this is just for the menu, the music doesn't come during the match) which I tend to find quite annoying, as I'm not the biggest fan of foreign music, however there is an option on the menu so that you can turn off certain songs on the game which comes in very handy at times. The commentary can be very inconsistent. Sometimes I think to myself “Wow, I can't believe they have such player specific commentary” (although this only applies to the major stars). But they can also be very inaccurate, such as a striker has a shot and it goes wide and Andy Gray says “Wow! What a save from the goalkeeper” which can be very annoying. However you can just tune it out as it's not bad enough to put you off buying the game. Well if it is, that is just silly.

Gameplay: 8/10

It's always generally been considered that Pro Evolution has better gameplay yet FIFA is more popular because of the improved graphics and because it has the more licenses on the games and there are more teams. However the passing is a lot more accurate, and they've also implemented a manual crossing and manual through balls technique on the game to make them more accurate. They have tutorials on the game also, to help you master them which is a very good idea, however I still find it hard to grasp. Enjoyable nonetheless. The idea is that the passes and crosses go EXACTLY where you aim with your left analog stick, which, if running at the same time can mess you up. I'm the only one who has trouble with it though. They've also implemented a new mode to do a career as, or even just an exhibition match. You can just take control of one single player and the computer takes control of the other 21 players on the field. It's very fun and my personal favourite mode. Imagine just being Ronaldinho or Lionel Messi and wreaking havoc in La Liga? Or Cristiano Ronaldo and carving up the English Premier Division? You can do this now! The gameplay has definitely been improved for this new version of FIFA, and I'm generally happy with my buy.

Replayability: 7/10

Can get repetitive but there are a lot of teams to play as. It's also very easy to invite your friends around and make a good night out of it just playing FIFA. Can get very tense at time and now with the new modes around there are a lot of things that you can do. You can do an international tournament as England and try to win the “World Cup” you can just have an exhibition match as your two favourite teams or you can take control of your two favourite players, not necessarily having to be on the same team either. One player could be John Terry, the other could be Wayne Rooney and play Chelsea vs. Manchester United. The game isn't limited to two players either, set the multi-tap up and play as up to 8 players.

Buy Or Rent: Buy.

I recommend that you buy this game. It's only £25 and it's definitely worth it. Can give you some good nights and some fun memories with friends. Obviously don't buy this game if you're not that interested in football/soccer. If you have a small interest I recommend you rent it though, and if you enjoy it pick it up or buy it cheap when the price goes down.

Overall Score: 7.75 = Rounded to 8/10.

I hope you enjoy FIFA 2008.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/08/07

Game Release: FIFA 08 (EU, 09/28/07)