FIFA Soccer 2005

"Pretty good, but could of been so much more."

I got this game for 30 bucks at Wal-Mart, because I like to play sports games. They are my favorite game genre. I have not played a soccer game since FIFA 2002, and that crap Winning Eleven 6:International. FIFA 2002 was a very good game, I thought, so I figured this game would be better. The game play is much better, but the lack of game modes and international teams brings the score down.

They have a limited selection available for the International teams. They have the USA, Germany, Italy, Brazil, and the other ones. They did not include Canada in this game, so I couldn't do the USA-Canada rivalry I loved doing in FIFA 2002. they have only 40 International teams, which I would of liked more, but they have the bases covered alright, I guess. In terms of league teams, that have their bases well covered. They have teams from all of the major leagues. French Division 1, and 2, German Bundesliga 1 and 2, FA Premier league, MLS, Mexican League and many more.

There is a serious lack in terms of game modes and customization. You can create a tournament, but you have to play the games in it. Not all of them, just the user games. I find this annoying, because I like to sim some games. I do not like to play EVERY game, but I do play some. You can play in a real life tournament, like a league tournament. You can practice with any team. Practice free kicks, corner kicks, or scrimmage, and more. Then there is career mode. You create a coach, and play 15 seasons with him, attempting to go through the ranks of football immortality. You can't start off as Manchester United or any big name team, you have to work your way up the ranks. After each win, you get points that you can assign to your assistant coaches to make them better. At the off-season all you do is basically choose another team to coach for, or stay on the same one, assuming they want you back. You can cut, and trade players, too. they could of done more with this, I thought. You CAN simulate games in this mode. You cannot create a team, which is a bummer. However, the create-a-player mode is awesome. You can customise your CAP's face from the bride of the nose to his lip color. It's fantastic.

The game play in this game is very good. The passing has gotten more simplistic, and the shooting isn't too difficult. The AI has gotten tougher, even on the easiest game play level. They can react to your formations a lot better. The controls pretty simple to get used too. A is pass, X is lob, B is shoot and R trigger is speed burst. The defensive controls are good, too. It seems that they give a little more fouls in this game, which isn't bad. Free kicks are done quite nicely as you can aim where you want the ball to go, but it is very easy to score off of them. Maybe I need to play on a higher difficulty. I do find corner kicks to be useless, as I can't figure those out. The goalie always comes out of nowhere to steal the ball, or it gets headed away. I guess that's why they included a practice mode, eh?

The sound is this game is done very nicely. The sound effects are alright. The commentary is done very well, I thought. John Motson and Ally McCoist are the commentators, and they do good together. They set the mood with their English accents. They do not repeat phrases too often, and they vary up what is said. the music is one of, if not, this game's strongest points. The music is very diverse, with music from the United States, France, Germany, Ireland, Great Britain, Scotland, Spain, and even Japan. They include bands such as The Streets, Franz Ferdiand, Flogging Molly, Scissor Sisters, and Morrisey. Well done.

I like this games graphics. They aren't the best, but they are very good, still. The player models look nice, and you can see the player's faces well. They need more victory dances and other animations. Also, the crowd could of been done better, I thought.

Overall, I would say to pick up this game if it's in the bargain bin for 15 bucks or so. The career mode and practice modes are entertaining, but i'm not sure for how long. FIFA 2005 needed more game play modes and things to do. The game play is one of this game's strong points, so you can get it just for that, i guess.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/06/05