UEFA Champions League 2006-2007

"One of the better sports games on the 360"

UEFA was the last older 360 game I needed to play so you can imagine my glee when it was shipped to me. I do enjoy soccer but I've found most of the recent games to be rather bad. This was my last hope....

Graphically this game is as bland as they come. The menu system is typical EA with sliding menus and a still backdrop. The field looks flat, under detailed and as lifeless as they come. The players are so small that you can't tell who is who, not their ethnic background. All you can really tell is that they are all anorexic due their stick figure like design.

The sound in the game is a mixed bag for me. The music really got on my nerves during a match and it seems that any licensed music is used only in the menus which is a bit of an annoyance. Thankfully the announcers save it with their British wit. They are perhaps the saving grace of this game.

EA sticks with the right analog stick setup but it seems to work a bit better here than in most other sports games. You move with the left analog stick but it sometimes stutters and doesn't want to, as if your character is being pulled by a magnet. Shooting is simple. To be honest it controls well enough but it does have an underlying problem which I'll bring up in the game play section.

This game has a lot of modes to offer and if you're willing to dive into this title then you'll have something worth while ahead of you. You have the normal quick play option. You then have challenges that offers leveling up which can then unlock new features and stuff. It's a nice idea and it adds a lot to the replay. Then we have the normal dream league, create a league and championship modes.

It's nice that there are so many options and features but my biggest problem is with how the game plays. The AI is solid and consistent with whatever difficulty you're playing on. The refs never seem to cheat which was a complaint I had with a recent sports game I reviewed.

No, the problem comes in with being able to control your guys. Maybe there's an option for this but I couldn't find one. The game randomly puts you in control of a player on the field. Usually it's the best positioned player but not always and it can lead to some rather frustrating moments which shouldn't be the case in a sports game.

Besides all of the other modes there is an on-line mode as well. I realize that this game is a little older but not a soul was playing on-line which is annoying. There were also some achievements that are on-line based but with no one on it's kind of hard to acquire them.

Either way for the soccer fan out there this game has a lot to offer. It might be ugly and it might have an annoying player switch off feature but its fun and offers the best mode selections I've seen in a sports game in a while.

Story - N/A
Graphics - 5/10
Sound - 7/10
Control - 7/10
Game Play - 7/10
Replay Value - 5/10

Final Score - 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/12/07

Game Release: UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 (US, 03/20/07)