FIFA Soccer 2004

"I was pretty dissapointed"

This was the first FIFA game I played on the PS2 so my expectations were pretty high. It had to be better than the last soccer game I played, FIFA 99, right?

graphics: 8/10
The kits and stadiums look great and the attention to detail is impressive. You can even zoom in on the ball and see the stitching. I was dissapointed to see that a lot of the player faces are identical. This gets pretty annoying after a while and needs to be rectified next year.

sound: 7/10
The roar of the crowd and the ball kicking noises are nice. Crowd chants are a nice touch. The commentary is apparently virtially unchanged since FIFA 2003. It gets a little repetitive after a week or so. The soundtrack is made up of tracks from all over the world, a little of everything. Unfortunately I didnt hear anything I liked. I eventually found myself turning down the volume and switching on my stereo instead.

gameplay: 6/10
Gameplay in FIFA 2004 (for me) consists of getting the ball, swithing to off the ball control, making a foward run toward the goals, pressing the pass button and shooting. It's okay but quite repatitive and not that fun after a while.

The new off the ball control is a good feature but it can't rescue this game from the other gameplay shortcomings. The idea is that you hit the L2 button to switch control between a few different players and send them lobs or through balls. It definitely makes it easier to score when you get the hang of it.

FIFA 2004 is very much a passing game. Unlike other FIFAs, the skill/dribble moves are almost usless. The only way to penetrate your opponent's defense is to pass your way through.

The shooting system isn't that great. You hold down the button and a little power bar fills up. The idea is to release the button before the power bar gets to the red zone. I guess this feature is better than no power bar at all, but it's annoying at first because the bar fills up so damn fast.

I was especially dissapointed with the way set pieces are handled. I loved the system in FIFA 99 where you could choose 3 ways to go about taking a kick. In FIFA 2004 you can choose to shoot or pass and then shoot (provided youre close enough, if youre too far away from your opponents goal you can't even aim the ball properly). Shooting from free kicks is kinda fun but tricky at first. You aim a little crosshair where you want the ball to go and hit the shoot button to start another power meter, only this time it's a little more complex. You can also put spin on the ball. The other option from free kicks (and the only option from corner kicks) is to set up another player. This is where the 'jostling' feature comes in. I thought this was a bit of a gimmick. Everytime you take a corner kick it's like youre playing a little mini-game, trying to get your player in the best position for a header. This gets very boring after a while, I wish they included an option for short corners.

The AI gets just a little predictable after a while, but you can always play 2 player mode instead. It's much more fun, as usual.

The game mode you'll probably find yourself playing the most is the new 'career mode'. You get to control a team for 5 seasons and have to meet certin goals to get 'prestige points'. I was excited about this system at first, but my hopes were quickly dashed. Your prestige points are used to train players and also negotiate transfers, so if you negotiate a big transfer you won't be able to train any players for a week. I thought this was a very lame idea. The other thing I didnt like is the way fatigue works. Theres no way youre going to be able to have your 'A squad' playing all season, unless you don't touch the turbo button. Fatigue carries over from game to game and it's very tiresome to change your squad around every few weeks. Actually the menus are pretty poor overall. Apart from fatigue, injuries and prestige points, career mode is just like playing 200 games in a row; quite boring.

lastability: 6/10
This game isn't going to consume you until FIFA 2005. I'm only in my second career season and I'm pretty bored with it. 2 player mode adds some lastability but can't rescue this mediocre title. It is better than FIFA 99 but nothing to get excited about.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/16/04, Updated 03/16/04