FIFA Soccer 2004

"I need of a little refinement"

There's something inherently wrong with a sports simulator that you can't control. This control is such a pertinent part of gameplay, and without it any game crumbles, regardless of the graphical finesse or the plethora of extras. What is worse is a sports game where you require the most crisp, simple and intuitive control design possible (to keep all 11 players in order) that you simply cannot play. Enter FIFA 04.

I've had a not-so-secret love affair with the FIFA series the arcade-style World Cup '98 version. Unfortunately, I lost touch with the series at the start of the new millennium, when I realized that for my $80 I got nothing but a meagre graphical update and some updated rosters. But, after seeing that the 04 version hailed by various game reviewers and magazines, I felt I had to give it a try.

Why oh why didn't I rent?

Graphics

As with all EA games, you are assured that impressive graphical design that never ceases to amaze. FIFA continued this tradition with over a dozen (though albeit bland) stadiums ready for play, thousands of realistic football players, real time shadow effects and many small effects that enhance the atmosphere. I tell you: this is one of the best looking sports games out, and it all improves the almost perfect, realistic feel. The players may need a little reshaping of their jawbones, and there aren't too many face-mapped players, but overall I can't' fault. Well, perhaps there could be more variety in the faces of the standard players and perhaps the crowd could look less like a billboard, but the quality is there to see. Unfortunately, with this frenzy of eye candy comes a sluggish frame rate that chugs along painfully until the game simply freezes.

Glitches are also quite plentiful during matches, most notably the sudden malfunction when a player will suddenly turn completely blue for absolutely no reason, or the replay glitch, where when you score you see a replay or your own net rather than that of the opponent's. Neither of these were too detrimental to the gameplay, but they serve as slight reoccurring irritations. Overall, if the frame rate weren't so chunky and the game's occasional freezing was fixed, I would have quickly slapped a 9/10 onto this section and moved on. Instead, with these problems, the graphics for FIFA only deserve a 7/10.

Audio

Commentary by well known players or analysts has become a staple for all soccer sims. '04 provides the same high standard with running commentary by John Motson and retired Scottish international Ally McCoist. The two form a great partnership, with multiple phrases for almost every incident. They'll joke, laugh, stutter, pause and generally give a strong, convincing performance, though I would have liked if the two mentioned the names of the players during matches more.

The music list is extensive, with around a score of songs, and includes such highlights as Burn Burn by the Lost Prophets, a rhythmic Tribalistas song and…erm…that's about it really. I didn't expect a song extravaganza, but the music list is generally filled with annoying tunes such as Myxamatosis or such completely imcompetant artists like Paul van Dike or the Ravonettes. Very few of these songs are completely unbearable (any which really get on your nerves can be turned off anyway), but most are mediocre at best. Finally, the in game sound is pretty standard, and comprised of repetitive thumping sounds when a ball is passed or headed, two-second crowd cheers that are repeated with every tackle and boos with every foul. At least the team songs sung by the crowd are realistic enough, and you get a real sense that you are in the game with different types of shouts, cheers and boos when you score. Overall, the mediocre song list and slightly repetitive sound forced me to give the audio a 6.5/10

Control

I don't usually make a separate section for the controls, but as mentioned in the opening paragraph, control design is of the utmost importance in a sports game. Alas, in FIFA 04 we are greeted with so many minor control problems and irritations that you really begin to become angered by the disk. None make the game unplayable, but frustrating enough to warrant the bending and eventual breaking of your controller. I may have exaggerated about these problems during the opening section, if you were wondering.

Because it may take a little too long to describe every problem in several neat paragraphs, knowing that no human has such an attention span, I will simply list them off:

1. If ever you switch teams, your opponent will ruin your formation instantly. An example? Well, the computer usually will place the centre midfielders on the wing and the wingers in centre midfield. What? Why?
2. The passing system is a little cumbersome and imprecise. At times your player will pass into open space rather than using logic to pass to the player I designated.

3. There is no way you can run at or around players. At times you can try your luck by running through the opponent and recovering the ball, but other than that, you are forced to pass your way up the pitch. It seems like a minor flaw, especially since you have a “freestyle” move using the right hand joystick, but lacking the dribbling ability is plain awkward and stupid.

4. Your players always control the ball. Even if I mash the pad in an attempt to make them shoot quicker, they will almost always gain control of the ball before doing such an action, giving the defence time to tackle.

5. Speaking of shooting, why do the goalkeeper stand beside one post when facing a shot? I realize you always move to one side of the goal, but it gives you a massive advantage.

6. I like the intuitive and seemingly simple free kick system, but it is difficult to score from direct kicks, unfortunately.

7. When facing a break away, the computer will select the most logical player according to his position. Unfortunately, the computer often selects a player behind the opposition, or someone too far away. This leads to many 1 on 1 situations.

8. Off the ball (OTB). Basically, you can control 2 players simultaneously by using the left and right analogue sticks in conjunction with the L2 button. It seems like a grand idea – and it is – but it is terribly confusing and poorly thought out. I apologize if I am the only one who cannot control 2 players at once while evading the offside trap while keeping the ball from a defender while keeping both of my selected players moving at one time. What makes this process worse is that you cannot pass when OTB is selected, nor can you “freestyle”. It's confusing at best, yet the opposition can use it perfectly.

The above are the most heinous examples, but there are more which interfere with gameplay. Some features listed in the instruction guide, such as the one-two, cannot be performed either. On the brighter side, I preferred the slower speed compared to the arcade-style, unrealistic, fast-paced gameplay, the corners were really well done and the through ball is accurate and realistic. Overall, the control flaws did not outweigh the positives of this section, but scarred it horribly. 5.5/10

Gameplay

The most important section of any game, how it plays is based on the control, but also on innovation, framerate and AI. As you have read, none of those listed are marvels, especially the last point, which ruins the gameplay for me. You start out by creating an EA sports Bio, which tracks your games and records your winning percentage. Later, you can jump into training mode, which will allow you to sharpen your soccer skills in a variety of modes, you can begin a career as any of over 150 teams, you can create your custom tournament, or you can jump into an exhibition game and play as any team. None of these modes are new, but all are executed well.

That is, until you encounter the control problems and the AI. Expanding on the latter, the artificial intelligence is simplistic and annoying, and increases those bending-the-controller-in-anger moments. For example, when defending against a team on World Class difficulty, the computer will refuse to abide by logic or fairness, and instead will perform many arduous passing moves (using the confusing OTB) until they perform a perfect, unstoppable shot using an unrealistic amount of curl. When you are faced with a goal of 7 clean sheets (or shutouts) in a row, this cheap trick becomes excruciatingly annoying. Factor in some plain dumb refereeing, a complete lack of intelligence in your defenders and an annoying player-select system and you have one cheap game. These annoyances don't appear too much, especially since you always have the majority of the possession, but the fact that they exist does nothing to help FIFA 04.

That's another thing: the teams all follow the same basic pattern, so all you need to do is learn their ways of defence and attack and you will be trashing teams right and left. This becomes boring after a while, too.

Fortunately, the career mode will keep you occupied for much longer, as the transfers, injuries, training and competition are enough to keep you playing for many FIFA years. If the career mode could last for longer than 5 years, I would have been further entertained, though.

Overall, the gameplay is marred by control and AI problems, but the career mode is enough to hold your attention for at least a few hours. 7/10.

Replayability

The Hall of Kits is really the only unlockable item during the game, a let down to say the least. Using your unique EA sports bio, the game tracks which team you beat, and will unlock their kits and jerseys throughout the game. It sounds interesting enough, but this novel idea really does nothing to enhance, and won't entice you to play for too much longer. Overall, it deserves a 3/10

Overall

Pros

+ Hundreds of teams and thousands of players
+ The graphics are pretty nice
+ The career mode is simple, but thoroughly enjoyable
+ The crowd songs are almost perfect
+ Corners, free kicks and some in-game control is nice
+ The transfer market is much improved on the static-value system
+ Training mode is decent enough
+ Online play and multiplayer modes
+ Excellent commentary

Cons

- Very few face models
- Simulated games in career mode are based on the rating, not the team
- Poor AI
- Off the Ball control is useless, and the controls need refining
- The music list is purely mediocre
- Career mode lasts only 5 years
- Players forget their training when transferred
- The computer controlled team pulls stupid tricks on you
- The framerate is a little slow and the game freezes too often
- Little to unlock

Closing Comments

Again, I found my $80 weren't too well spent, but FIFA 04 provided a decent amount of gameplay with enough new innovation to earn it a 6/10

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/04