FIFA 07 Review

Poor old EA. They get moaned at for churning out cheap current-gen ports and then when they try to make something designed from the ground up for next-gen systems, they get moaned at again. FIFA 07 on the Xbox 360 may be the third time the franchise has hit the system, but it’s the first time that EA has tried to take real advantage of the console’s power. It’s an admirable move, but not one that has paid off.

Physics have been a big deal in video games for quite a while now, with terms like ragdoll becoming almost commonplace in the vocabulary of video game journalists. Football games have obviously displayed decent physics in the past, but with FIFA 07 on the Xbox 360 EA has really gone to town. The ball now moves more realistically than before, no longer seemingly tethered to a player’s foot, and players have a physicality about them that simply hasn’t been seen in games before.

How this translates to the gameplay is both brilliant and downright annoying. The ball physics are superb, with incredibly realistic goal mouth scrambles, deflections, post rebounds and more. There has never been a football game that has come so close to modelling the way a ball moves, and for this EA deserves a big slap on the back. Player movement, too, has a real natural feel to it, at least in terms of how they run, with strong attackers easily moving past weak defenders.

It’s the way players interact when they come into contact with each other that becomes annoying. Collisions often result in both players simply standing still and they appear to simply bounce off each other. It’s also a little easy to barge people off the ball using this technique, and you’re very rarely penalised. You’ll find that games will become congested in the middle of the park, with players continuously running into each other, removing all momentum from the game.

FIFA 07 on current-gen systems featured some of the tightest controls in the series’ history, and FIFA 07 on the 360 really feels like a step back. Players turn rather rigidly, making close control a real nightmare. You’re constantly fighting to stay in control of the ball, and it results in a game that isn’t much fun to play. Off the ball your team-mates aren’t as smart either, and although you can trigger runs they still don’t link up with you as cleverly as they do in the current-gen version.

Passing suffers from the receiver being totally unwilling to move towards the ball, which results in far too many interceptions, and shooting is both spectacular and frustrating at the same time. If you’re in control of a skilled player you can unleash some truly awesome long range efforts, but when you’re through on goal scoring is ridiculously hard. The lack of control you have over your players means that taking the ball onto the player’s strongest foot often causes you to run well wide of goal, fall slightly off-balance and sky the ball over the crossbar.

Over a prolonged period you can learn to play with some fluidity, but I never got to the stage where I felt fully in control. Great ball physics aside, and while this isn’t really the way next-gen development should be, EA would have been better off sprucing up the previously released current-gen version. Going back to the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions simply hammered home the fact that EA’s next-gen effort feels clumsy and simply isn’t as much fun to play.

Game modes aren’t exactly plentiful, but you do get Manager Mode, the multiplayer friendly Lounge Mode, and over 80 challenges in the Challenge Mode. Challenge Mode will take an awful lot of time to work through, giving you numerous objectives in each game, but the lack of league and cup modes is a little disappointing. It’s also worth noting that the game options don’t allow you to play with controls that match those of PES, something that current-gen FIFA 07 allows for.

So, PES 6, even the crippled Xbox 360 version, has FIFA 07 beaten in all areas, but there’s one important mode that I haven’t covered yet: online play. Pro Evolution Soccer 6 on the Xbox 360 is a shambles online, but FIFA 07 really excels. Games are generally lag-free and only suffer from a tiny amount of button lag. You can also play online with up to eight players, and co-op online play really improves the whole experience. Specific to the 360 version are a number of Achievement points, but these are among the hardest to earn of any game released to date.

If you’re after the best looking football game available, FIFA 07 on the Xbox 360 is definitely for you. If you play as one of the really big teams you’ll see some striking player likenesses, but they’re still not quite to the level I’d hope to see in a next-gen title. The quality also varies wildly, so if you support a lesser team (even clubs like Tottenham suffer from barely recognisable players) you’ll have to make do with vague resemblances – that’s if your team is in the game at all, as there are far less than in the current-gen versions.

It also seems that the developers at EA love bleach, as everything has a horrid washed out look to it. At the start of a new season (in real life) it’s great to see all the pitches looking fresh and vibrant, often soaked in what remains of the summer sun, but vibrant is the last word you’d use to describe FIFA 07. Why the game looks so washed out and lifeless I don’t know, but it really hurts the otherwise impressive visuals. Crowd noise is good, and you’ll hear stadium announcers in the background, but the commentary is some of the worst you’ll ever hear, and is often miles behind what’s happening on the pitch.

After being pleasantly surprised by FIFA 07 on current-gen systems I was hugely disappointed with EA’s next-gen offering. The game suffers from far too many core gameplay problems for it to be a worthy contender to PES 6, and it’s only really the online play that is worth investing any time in. You can have a decent few hours playing online or perhaps with friends that don’t know any better, but EA needs to change things considerably next year.