FIFA 07 Soccer

"Might have been even better, had Wi-Fi been tacked on..."

I'm not a huge soccer fan. In truth, I really don't play that many sport games, but when I do, it tends to be baseball or football (North American style).

However, I heard several good things about FIFA 2007 DS, and looking for a new game late summer 2006, I picked it up. Upon returning home, I popped it in, curious as to what I would get.

For one thing, the sheer list of teams threw me off. My only other FIFA experiances (one on the Genesis, another on the Game Gear) did NOT have this many teams, leagues, or stats to worry with. Being that I did not have a certain fave, I picked a random team, then began to play.

First off, the commentators actually didn't annoy me, as with most sports games. Second, the graphics were quite smooth, well animated, and detailed enough to figure out what was happening.

Controls, well... I had a heck of a time trying to do what I wanted to do. My biggest problems were trying to figure out when I was trying to steal the ball, and to figure out what triggered a foul and what resulted in me taking it. Never did figure it out, and just decided to go with the random decisions of the AI refs.

FIFA 2007 DS does sport many options and modes, not just a single Quick Match mode: there is a Career mode, a Tourney mode, Challenge mode (which sets you up with specific tasks to acomplish), and Multiplayer (which requires multiple cards, thus preventing me from trying it).

Unfortunately, I was just not satisfied with FIFA 07. It's not horrid, but the lack of Wi-Fi (a decision that EA Sports itself made), multi-card multiplayer, countless teams I've never heard of, and the issue of random fouls just adds up to frustration and the urge to play something else.

Rumor has it that EA Sports is implementing Wi-Fi into its "2008" line of sports games for the DS, but until they do, FIFA 07 will just get dust. Some may like it, but I just cannot see the fun.

Score: 6 of 10

+ Best Features: Graphics, commentatiors, music, handling

- Worst Features: Foul detection, lack of Wi-Fi, confusing to a non-FIFA fan

* If You Liked: FIFA 2007 (PSP, PS2, XB360), FIFA 2006 World Cup (DS)

* Guilty Pleasure: The fact that, around the time this was released, EA decided to rethink their strategy of game designs on the DS due to the sales of the system. Talk about bad timing on my part...

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 02/26/07, Updated 11/20/07

Game Release: FIFA 07 Soccer (US, 10/03/06)