FIFA 2000

"EA, quit making soccer games, please. This is torture."

There comes a time every single year when electronic sports companies release their new and improved sports games on the market, hoping to outdone the previous year’s sales performance. There’s no exception to EA Sports: easily the sales leader on the market regarding this genre, expectations rise when the biggest Sports Gaming Company in the world gets ready to release a new product.
Well, this time the so-called “new product” is Fifa 2000; this new game tries to re-create the thrills of an international or a domestic league game, by including smooth gameplay, incredible graphics, realistic sound and arcade or simulation modes of play. Really? Can it achieve the status of its predecessor?
That depends. In terms of sales performance, sure it will. Soccer is the world’s most popular sport: that alone contributes to high sales worldwide. There’s a lack of really good soccer games on the market. EA Sports division is responsible for great games since the old days of Sega Genesis. EA has a top marketing team. And the list goes on and on...
Does that mean that this next installment is a great game just like its developer? A big fat NO here! Fifa 2K0 is a somewhat good technical achievement (sort of), with a major frame rate problem, but can be considered as a horrible digital sports entertainment, and nothing more than that.

Graphics

As with previous installments, the visual treat is kind of ncie. First, the visual is clean: sure, there are some pixels that insist in getting your attention more than others, but this is more of a hardware than a software problem.
The stadia are detailed, with lighting effects, real-time shadows, no pop-up, and offering different kind of locations to play in. Goal posts are really brilliant, just as the turf.
The impressive part here is the level of detail in the players. For the first time ever, facial expressions are incorporated to the game, so you can almost hear Ronaldo screaming after a missed one-timer. Players’ legs are well constructed, and the moves are almost perfect. Players kick, shoot, pass with perfection, as the motion captured moves handle the action pretty well. Well, as nothing is perfect, the graphics engine has a major problem, and it is called frame rate.
If the ball goes high enough, the frame rate drops considerably, and that’s because the crowd must take a lot of processing power. Again, in a crowded corner kick, here it comes again! Yes, another frame rate drop! It may not seem too much, but once you are down by one in the Italian league final, any frame rate problem will get you out of you mind. And that’s not good. At all. In fact, it sucks.
The box art should bring this text written under the features section: “24 fps when one player is on the screen; 20 fps when 11 players are on the screen; 15 fps when all the 22 players are showing; good luck when the ball goes up in the air and you get to see the crowd...”

Sound / Music

Just like the previous Fifa games, the intro is performed by a music star. But wait, this time something must have gone wrong! Who in the world is this Robbie Williams guy? Well, he is really famous in England, famous enough to have his song in the game’s intro. In the end, his music makes a good job in warming you up to the action. Other in-game music will only be heard in the menus, so nothing will prevent you from hearing the crowd pushing your team forward.
As for the sounds, everything is fine. Kicks, passes and shoots are all represented with their respective sounds, just as expected.
Play-by-play is present as always, and it’s a good option. The speed of the commentators is really good, as they always manage to get to the play almost instantly.
Overall, the sounds blend well with the action and the speed of the game.

Gameplay

This is where the game goes down the pipe. It sucks major time.
Fifa series have never been known by its gameplay, and it gets to the point of shame.
Do you really know soccer? Do you know what it takes to be a real simulation of the sport? Do you know how goals are achieved in real life games? Can you imagine how difficult it is to go from your penalty area to the other goal post?
Congratulations to you, but EA does NOT. How is that possible? They release a new Fifa game every single year, sometimes they release MORE THAN ONE at the same year, so they should have learned, right? Sure, but they did NOT.
First thing: the spin move. It’s so stupid it gets ridiculous. The player can spin with the ball from anywhere and stop only when it finds necessary, often inside the goal. Is this soccer? No!
Second thing: the speed. Sure, everyone likes a fast game, with plenty of action, thrills and last-minute changes, but the pace of the game is so unreal. Why is that? I don’t know, maybe EA just finds soccer a boring sport, or maybe they have never played a real soccer match. But that’s just maybe.
Third thing: the final score. If you know soccer, if you like soccer, if you play soccer, you know that a professional soccer match never ends like, say, 12-8. Well, it does here, thanks to EA Sports! And that bring us to another problem: statistics. The leading score player ends a 30 games season with a 90-120 goals record. Simply put, unreal and ridiculous.
Fourth thing: the attack-only strategy. Playing soccer is not only about scoring, it is also about not allowing the opposing team to score. EA Sports disagrees, as the only thing that can make you win your games is attacking, attacking and attacking. Defense? That’s for wimps, I guess they think. How come? Well, maybe the programmers are all strikers in the weekend.
Fifth and final thing: this doesn’t FEEL like soccer. It’s like a interactive movie, where you have some options, you decide and then the action happens. How can this be fun? It simply can NOT. There’s no will of recreating real-life soccer plays, because you know that the spin move can get you anywhere.
EA, look at me. I said LOOK AT ME. Quit making soccer games. Stick to the hockey games, please. Or else, buy KCET, ‘cause THEY KNOW hto to make soccer games. Go away.

Overall : 1

The 250+ club teams in the game won’t make you want to play it, nor the Classic teams, nor the almost-anywhere-in-the-world International teams, nor the different weather conditions, not even the overall level of presentation of the final product..
Good graphics, great motion-capture, fast-paced play-by-play, not a single good point in this game will make you want to play it.
The worst thing is that everyone knows it will sell like bananas, even when ESPN MLS Gamenight from Konami is by far the best soccer game currently on the market.
In case you didn’t get it right from this review, just look at this: Fifa 2000 is bad, really bad, way bad. In fact, It’s so bad it makes me want to scream. Do yourself a favor: buy ESPN MLS, please; it means a much better experience, real soccer plays, real soccer tactics, and a really good simulation of the world’s most popular sport.

Reviewer's Score: 1/10, Originally Posted: 05/13/01, Updated 05/13/01