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Wednesday 5 March, 2008
GAMEPLAY:
I first bought 2006 FIFA during the actual World Cup in 2006 and it really added to the gameplay experience. The release of the game couldn’t have be timed better, because as I was watching the World Cup with my friends over the summer, after the real games were finished we could replay and recreate the games on the ps2. After Italy unfortunately beat France in the real World Cup, we recreated the game multiple times, turned fouls off and each time injured Marco Materazzi as much as possible for being a ass to Zinedine Zidane in the actual game. I’m still bitter about that game.
Plain and simple game is much more fun when you play with other people. There are multiple modes of play, and you can choose to play with or against your friends. Most of the time we just play exhibition games against one another with our favorite international team and whoever wins gets bragging rights till they eventually lose. Or you can choose to play together and play through the entire world cup as your chosen team. All the way from qualifying, to the group stage, to the final 16, to the quarterfinals, through the semi finals, and then to the big show. It is a long process but you can save and come back to it at another time.
One mode features 40 classic moments in world cup history that you can play through, either experiencing history or recreating it. This is pretty fun but you have to do it using today’s teams and players instead of the players from the actual classic moment. This kind of detracts the feeling that you’re in the past but its still pretty fun. The coolest aspect is the shootout mode. Its really exciting and takes some skill and lots of luck. As a shooter you just pick a corner and decide how hard you hit it, and as a goalie you just have to pick which direction you want to jump. The mode by itself is really fun but I really adds to the gameplay when it happens in one of the actual games. It gets really intense and allows for some exciting moments.
DESIGN:
One of the cool features of FIFA is the rosters and star players. Higher ranked teams will generally have a better scoring percentage and are faster than lower ranked teams. Then there are the superstars on the team marked by a little star that highlights them when you play as them. These players will have some aspect of their game that is much better than normal players. For example Christiano Ronaldo has amazing dribbling skills that allow him to hold on to the ball better, there’s Thierre Henry who has a laser fast shot, and Ronaldinho who is just all around good at everything. The star players add to more excitement in the game and can change the balance in a game.
Another cool feature is the juking and moves you can perform with players. You can do fakes, spins, fast dribbling and more to confuse and get past your opponent. The star players will be better at this and less likely to lose the ball performing these cool moves. There is also some great replay animations of plays during the game that let you see the action from lots of directions. Its fun after you score to see a replay of it 5 times and shove it in your opponents face. The commentary in the game is also really accurate and enjoy able. Commentators Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend call the game and have some interesting things to say. I sometimes quote their catchphrases in everyday life. “clyde tyldesley and andy grant here. They’re calling this a friendly match..ill believe it when I see it.”
2006 FIFA World Cup is a solid soccer game that has fluid gameplay, multiple difficulties and game modes and lots of teams to choose from. It’s a great game.
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