FIFA 06: Road to the FIFA World Cup
Posted February 13, 2006
In an effort to garner international sports appeal for the Xbox 360, EA Sports released FIFA 06: Road to the FIFA World Cup in time for the Xbox 360 launch in the United States and overseas. Unfortunately, the numerous graphical imperfections, poor player control, and a serious lack of gameplay features make FIFA 06 one of the worst Xbox 360 games on the next generation gaming market. It's yet another case of EA Sports rushing to take advantage of a franchise name to sell copies of an unfinished game at the launch of a new console.
As the game loads, alternative rock music kicks in and the game menu subtlety appears at the bottom of the screen. The menu is quite simple to navigate and setting up a game is child's play. As a cool extra, EA Sports included a soccer mini-game in the background of the menu. Set inside a closed practice arena littered with EA Sports banners, the game can be played within the menu or while a new game is loading up. It's an excellent place to practice some scoring moves without interference from competition. Also, it provides a place for your favorite team to be featured at all times. The presentation is never stagnant and presents FIFA to the gaming public exceptionally.
Gameplay:
The sparse group of game modes include Friendly Match, Practice, Tournament, and Road to the World Cup. Friendly Match and Practice are both easy to jump into and kick the ball around. Practice is particularly useful for learning how to call plays and make substitutions on the fly. Tournament has three types of possible tourneys to setup: Knockout, League, and Group + Knockout. Knockout is an elimination type of setup and League is a point based competition over a predetermined series of games. Group + Knockout is a combination of the two with Knockout finishing out the end of the League play. All tournament modes will take up to four players if you want to compete against friends.
Road to the World Cup is a form of a season mode that takes your favorite team over a couple minor tournaments to qualify for the World Cup tournament. While you can shorten the length of each match down to 4 minutes, getting through the entire process will cover around 30 to 35 matches. While playing the required secondary tournament games, three random teams will occasionally challenge you to a friendly match. Unfortunately, EA didn't include an option to decline the matches. I like to test by ball handling skills against a variety of teams as much as anyone else, but a forced match is a bit of an annoyance. Oddly, there is no World Cup game at the end of the lengthy road which makes the entire journey anticlimactic.
The number of teams that have been included in this version of FIFA has been drastically reduced. The 72 teams are mostly European, although the popular South American teams made the cut. The lack of teams is a sharp contrast from the PS2 and Xbox versions which contain seven times as many teams. The rosters on the available teams are accurate according to the latest information.
Controlling the players on the team can be confusing if you are unfamiliar with the mechanics of soccer. The steep learning curve combined with the slow pace of the game can make for serious frustration. In addition, the developer left out an indicator for possession of the ball. Many times, I'll be furiously tapping the conservative tackle button to regain control of the ball and not realize the ball is in my possession. Thinking I'm still on defense, I have accidentally kicked attempted to score from midfield and lost possession yet again. The basic layout for the controls is poorly designed and I recommend using the alternative layout for smoother gameplay.
The A.I. in the game ranges from brutal to extreme. Even at the lowest level, the skill of the computer opponent is far greater than your own. Also, playing a team ranked much lower than yourself seems to be useless in terms of skill. Without knowledge of the play calling system, scoring at the amateur level can be overly challenging. The later difficulty levels are nearly impossible to win on with some of the best teams in the league.
If you can't withstand any more of the single player game, the online arena provides options for ranked and unranked games. The online mode is very basic, utilitarian, and doesn't seem up to par with the Xbox Live features found in other sporting titles. In addition, you can compete for the top spot on the leaderboard to proclaim soccer supremacy. The leaderboard can also be used to compare stats between people on your friend's list. Over the few games I played, the connection was lag free even with a few players on each end.
Finally, the replay value of the title is not too shabby if you want to snatch up all the achievements. While few in number, the six achievements will take about 35 to 45 matches to complete depending on the number of friendly matches played in the World Cup mode. The achievements are pretty tough to earn and are mostly free of exploitation. I did find that the "Win a Perfect Game" achievement could be easily acquired by switching over to the winning team at the end of a match. Other than that, the achievements are actually the toughest I have seen in an Xbox 360 sports title.
Graphics:
After a comprehensive look at the graphical features and quality, the main problem seems to be a misuse of development time. For instance, the player models are incredibly impressive and finely detailed in the facial features, but the crowd and the surrounding stadium look like they were imported from a first generation PS2 version of FIFA. The action on the field has a smooth fluidity and high framerate, but the replay feature after a goal is marred with various artifacts, fog glitches, and a horrifically slow, choppy framerate. After playing about 35 matches, I'm seriously wondering how this title got through Microsoft certification in its current, flawed state.
The facial models for the most popular players are easily recognizable for those familiar with the FIFA superstars beyond David Beckham. It's a bit eerie seeing them in action because EA Sports was light in the facial animation department. The placid faces barely change during goal celebrations. Also, there seems to be a plastic, lifeless sheen covering the skin of the players similar to what was seen in Condemned. On the flip side of detail, the unknown players and teams just got a variation on a basic model of a typical soccer player.
Beyond the modeling, there is an odd glow to all the objects on the field including the players. It's most obvious at the opening of a match when the camera is panning back from a close-up shot of the soccer ball. If I had to speculate, I'd say EA Sports is using the glow to hide graphical blemishes. The glow is actually quite unpleasant and destroys the slightly immersive environment that EA Sports attempted to create.
Audio:
The sound effects are standard for this type of sports title. The crowd noises are really more of a part of soccer than the field noises. There are several recognizable cheers that a home crowd will chant. Also, the more popular teams will have chants specific to the region of the world they are from. The commentary is particularly witty and the banter is delightful. Perhaps I'm just partial to the accent, but British Sky Broadcasting's duo of veteran commentator Martin Tyler and the color commentator Andy Gray is an excellent pairing of description and humor. Besides playing off each other well, the commentary keeps up with the pace of the game and stays fairly unique through the Road to the World Cup mode.
The music for FIFA 06 is made up of 39 songs in the EA Sports Trax section of the menu. You can preview the music here, but there is no way for making a preferred song selection list. The music is mostly new rock and alternative rock, but the influence of the international counties included in the game is prevalent in the genre. For instance, choosing Brazil as your favorite team will result in song selections that have a South American flavor to them. EA Sports did an excellent job integrating team preference with the available music.
Conclusion:
The appeal of FIFA 06 falls into the camp of hardcore soccer fanatics. If you look at the Xbox Live Leaderboards, the top ranking players have completed over 1000 matches. Unfortunately, the poor quality of the game destroys any chance the average sports gamer will enjoy soccer to any extent. A graphical nightmare mixed with a stripped down title and poor controls make for a $60 piece of useless plastic.
If not already obvious, FIFA 06: Road to the FIFA World Cup should be avoided to the utmost extent. The game is a waste of precious gaming time and hard earned money. I can't even recommend this title to the dedicated soccer brethren that love the sport so dearly. Save your money for next year's effort in hope that EA Sports will actually produce a FIFA game worth playing.
As the game loads, alternative rock music kicks in and the game menu subtlety appears at the bottom of the screen. The menu is quite simple to navigate and setting up a game is child's play. As a cool extra, EA Sports included a soccer mini-game in the background of the menu. Set inside a closed practice arena littered with EA Sports banners, the game can be played within the menu or while a new game is loading up. It's an excellent place to practice some scoring moves without interference from competition. Also, it provides a place for your favorite team to be featured at all times. The presentation is never stagnant and presents FIFA to the gaming public exceptionally.
Gameplay:
The sparse group of game modes include Friendly Match, Practice, Tournament, and Road to the World Cup. Friendly Match and Practice are both easy to jump into and kick the ball around. Practice is particularly useful for learning how to call plays and make substitutions on the fly. Tournament has three types of possible tourneys to setup: Knockout, League, and Group + Knockout. Knockout is an elimination type of setup and League is a point based competition over a predetermined series of games. Group + Knockout is a combination of the two with Knockout finishing out the end of the League play. All tournament modes will take up to four players if you want to compete against friends.
Road to the World Cup is a form of a season mode that takes your favorite team over a couple minor tournaments to qualify for the World Cup tournament. While you can shorten the length of each match down to 4 minutes, getting through the entire process will cover around 30 to 35 matches. While playing the required secondary tournament games, three random teams will occasionally challenge you to a friendly match. Unfortunately, EA didn't include an option to decline the matches. I like to test by ball handling skills against a variety of teams as much as anyone else, but a forced match is a bit of an annoyance. Oddly, there is no World Cup game at the end of the lengthy road which makes the entire journey anticlimactic.
The number of teams that have been included in this version of FIFA has been drastically reduced. The 72 teams are mostly European, although the popular South American teams made the cut. The lack of teams is a sharp contrast from the PS2 and Xbox versions which contain seven times as many teams. The rosters on the available teams are accurate according to the latest information.
Controlling the players on the team can be confusing if you are unfamiliar with the mechanics of soccer. The steep learning curve combined with the slow pace of the game can make for serious frustration. In addition, the developer left out an indicator for possession of the ball. Many times, I'll be furiously tapping the conservative tackle button to regain control of the ball and not realize the ball is in my possession. Thinking I'm still on defense, I have accidentally kicked attempted to score from midfield and lost possession yet again. The basic layout for the controls is poorly designed and I recommend using the alternative layout for smoother gameplay.
The A.I. in the game ranges from brutal to extreme. Even at the lowest level, the skill of the computer opponent is far greater than your own. Also, playing a team ranked much lower than yourself seems to be useless in terms of skill. Without knowledge of the play calling system, scoring at the amateur level can be overly challenging. The later difficulty levels are nearly impossible to win on with some of the best teams in the league.
If you can't withstand any more of the single player game, the online arena provides options for ranked and unranked games. The online mode is very basic, utilitarian, and doesn't seem up to par with the Xbox Live features found in other sporting titles. In addition, you can compete for the top spot on the leaderboard to proclaim soccer supremacy. The leaderboard can also be used to compare stats between people on your friend's list. Over the few games I played, the connection was lag free even with a few players on each end.
Finally, the replay value of the title is not too shabby if you want to snatch up all the achievements. While few in number, the six achievements will take about 35 to 45 matches to complete depending on the number of friendly matches played in the World Cup mode. The achievements are pretty tough to earn and are mostly free of exploitation. I did find that the "Win a Perfect Game" achievement could be easily acquired by switching over to the winning team at the end of a match. Other than that, the achievements are actually the toughest I have seen in an Xbox 360 sports title.
Graphics:
After a comprehensive look at the graphical features and quality, the main problem seems to be a misuse of development time. For instance, the player models are incredibly impressive and finely detailed in the facial features, but the crowd and the surrounding stadium look like they were imported from a first generation PS2 version of FIFA. The action on the field has a smooth fluidity and high framerate, but the replay feature after a goal is marred with various artifacts, fog glitches, and a horrifically slow, choppy framerate. After playing about 35 matches, I'm seriously wondering how this title got through Microsoft certification in its current, flawed state.
The facial models for the most popular players are easily recognizable for those familiar with the FIFA superstars beyond David Beckham. It's a bit eerie seeing them in action because EA Sports was light in the facial animation department. The placid faces barely change during goal celebrations. Also, there seems to be a plastic, lifeless sheen covering the skin of the players similar to what was seen in Condemned. On the flip side of detail, the unknown players and teams just got a variation on a basic model of a typical soccer player.
Beyond the modeling, there is an odd glow to all the objects on the field including the players. It's most obvious at the opening of a match when the camera is panning back from a close-up shot of the soccer ball. If I had to speculate, I'd say EA Sports is using the glow to hide graphical blemishes. The glow is actually quite unpleasant and destroys the slightly immersive environment that EA Sports attempted to create.
Audio:
The sound effects are standard for this type of sports title. The crowd noises are really more of a part of soccer than the field noises. There are several recognizable cheers that a home crowd will chant. Also, the more popular teams will have chants specific to the region of the world they are from. The commentary is particularly witty and the banter is delightful. Perhaps I'm just partial to the accent, but British Sky Broadcasting's duo of veteran commentator Martin Tyler and the color commentator Andy Gray is an excellent pairing of description and humor. Besides playing off each other well, the commentary keeps up with the pace of the game and stays fairly unique through the Road to the World Cup mode.
The music for FIFA 06 is made up of 39 songs in the EA Sports Trax section of the menu. You can preview the music here, but there is no way for making a preferred song selection list. The music is mostly new rock and alternative rock, but the influence of the international counties included in the game is prevalent in the genre. For instance, choosing Brazil as your favorite team will result in song selections that have a South American flavor to them. EA Sports did an excellent job integrating team preference with the available music.
Conclusion:
The appeal of FIFA 06 falls into the camp of hardcore soccer fanatics. If you look at the Xbox Live Leaderboards, the top ranking players have completed over 1000 matches. Unfortunately, the poor quality of the game destroys any chance the average sports gamer will enjoy soccer to any extent. A graphical nightmare mixed with a stripped down title and poor controls make for a $60 piece of useless plastic.
If not already obvious, FIFA 06: Road to the FIFA World Cup should be avoided to the utmost extent. The game is a waste of precious gaming time and hard earned money. I can't even recommend this title to the dedicated soccer brethren that love the sport so dearly. Save your money for next year's effort in hope that EA Sports will actually produce a FIFA game worth playing.