Fifa '06 (1 Viewer)
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dude, DON'T buy it. This game is so weak. Damn! It so funny playin' PES and right after this FIFA 06. In FIFA, there is really not a sign of real football. The dribblings look stupid, the ball control is unrealisticly good. The graphics are even worse than last year and IMO, this game is a big step back for EA Sports. Very weak!
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FIFA 2006 Game Review
Dan Budny | Goal.com
10/14/2005 12:35:00 PM
The latest version of the FIFA video game series from EA Sports hit stores earlier this month, and we hit up soccer fan Dan Budny for a review.
Having read the glowing reviews and informative news releases about FIFA 2006 I was very much looking forward to its release. The press touted new features and improvements, and since I’ve bought every FIFA game since 1994, I already was looking forward to the release of the next in the series.
The game was delivered to my home by ebgames.com on the release date earlier this month, and I spent the entire afternoon at work sitting there doing nothing but counting down the hours until I got home.
Upon arriving home I ripped open the packaging and fired up my PlayStation 2 with the new disc. The first improvement I noticed about FIFA 2006 was the ease of navigating the menus. There is also commentary from great goals that plays behind the music when you are in the menus, which adds a nice touch.
When the game first starts you are given the option of playing a "Classic XI," which means you play at the grounds of the team you select as your “favorite” team with a group of the game’s legends-- at least that is what happened to me.
Being a Gooner, I set my favorite team as Arsenal and I got to play the Classic XI at Highbury. Among the players on the Classic XI team are Manchester United legends George Best, Eric Cantona and Ryan Giggs to name a few. At first this seems like a fun way to start the game. But I believe it was added to help people learn the game even though they don’t tell you or teach you how to do anything when playing this match! Not being able to stand playing with so many Red Devils at my beloved Highbury, I quit out of it after about two minutes.
Alright, so now to the meat and potatoes.
Game play. The thing that makes a game is how it plays. The game play is a little different from previous versions of the FIFA series, but not in a drastic way. The easiest goals seem to come from getting out wide and sending crosses into the penalty area. If you have a good team, like Arsenal, you should be able to score one in every five crosses. It’s easy to put in around 15 crosses each match, so it isn’t too hard to score goals with the Arsenals of the world on the moderate levels.
There is no off-the-ball control, however, and I for one miss it. In FIFA 2005 I mastered this feature and became proficient at running players off the ball and creating more intricate scoring chances. If anything, though, the game play for FIFA 2006 is more so like the Winning Eleven (ProEvo) series, which is renowned for its realistic ball physics and subsequent realistic action. That being said, however, FIFA 2006 is not Winning Eleven, and so despite any improvements it is still has yet to reach the level of realism seen in the Wining Eleven series (although it’s quite close).
Another area where the game lacked realism has to do with the game engine, which EA Sports does not seem to update enough from year to year. It is almost impossible to score from distance shots, because the keeper will always tip the ball for a corner.
The field players also have some annoying tendencies, like committing certain types of tackles, or making the wrong runs into space. I also get mad when Thierry Henry can’t outrun a defender from Wycombe. From my brief experiences against the computer every defender is able to match speed with the striker. Unless there is some button that I am not pushing, and there very well could be since it’s still early days, it is almost impossible to shield the ball from a defender or to sprint past a marker with a burst of speed-- something Henry surely could do against any of Wycombe’s players.
Another gripe is the system for throw-ins. Nine times out of ten my player will lose the ball on the throw-in. The computer seems to “know” the exact moment to step in and steal the ball upon the throw-in, which isn’t really fair in my opinion.
The corner kick system has been revamped. You no longer hit a certain button to kick the ball straight at a target man. Instead you have an arrow to use to aim the ball into the box and hope a player runs on the end of the cross, which is a bit more realistic than landing the ball on Henry’s head whenever you please.
On free kicks there is no target on the goal like in previous versions. Instead you just get an arrow pointing in the direction of the goal. This takes some of the ease out of scoring from set pieces, but I think it makes the game more realistic because it makes it tougher to know exactly where the ball is going.
The graphics, always an area where the FIFA series have excelled in the past, actually have been improved over 2005. I think this is the department that EA excels in the most. The weather effects look very realistic, especially when you play at night in the rain. There are certain players who also look like the actual players, another touch that adds to the realism of the game.
The crowd noise also is better. I was playing against Leeds United at Elland Road and the crowd started singing "Glory Glory Leeds United!” Seeing as Leeds is a Championship team, it is nice to hear some songs for teams outside of the elite leagues.
The depth of the game is fantastic. You can take Stockport County to the Premiership, or pick a team from the Swiss League and try to be the ultimate minnow as you bump elbows with Europe’s best.
The career mode is vastly improved over the previous version, which could hook in some of you fans of the Championship Manager or Football Manager simulation games. Last year the menus for the career mode were very clunky and it seemed it took like forever to navigate. The menus are improved this year, but as any good manager knows it still can take a good amount of time to find information and set your squad right, like making sure Henry re-signs.
One of the added features of the career mode that I thought would be great was setting the ticket prices. However, all you do is set the prices for low, medium, or high for each game, which is easier than helping Arsenal put up a fiver on Sheffield Wednesday. I wish these elements of the career mode were more like the Madden (American) football series from EA sports, where you can set fixed amounts for tickets, merchandise, and refreshments, for example.
Another nice touch in FIFA 2006 is that there is now a score ticker below the main screen which helps in seeing other scores quickly. However, I wish that it was possible to check these scores during halftime of your game so you could see if you need to go for broke against Chelsea in the second half or if you can take it easy.
But wait, there’s even more to managing your side to a successful season. You have to juggle team chemistry, which means you cannot simply have a completely different set of players hit the pitch to begin each match. It takes a few games for your lads to gel and to reach their maximum potential—such as having the option of taking it easy against Chelsea one day.
The game also offers online play. However, I have not yet gotten to experience the thrill of facing off against a gamer from the other side of the world.
All in all, I think FIFA 2006 is a great game. I love playing it, despite the gripes I listed in this review, and I thoroughly enjoy the career mode and the licenses for the enormous collection of official leagues. (How cool that the Polish league has been added for FIFA 2006!) This is a game that I will be playing for a long time to come, and I even get to enjoy FIFA 1994 which comes with the game as a bonus feature!
I have many fond memories of cranking up the Ace of Base (hey, it was 1994) and scoring goals with “Joey Della Sava” (they used programmers’ names for the players) for Italia against my friends.
But the FIFA series, and my music taste, has improved significantly in every aspect since those awkward days, and FIFA 2006 is definitely worth a purchase for all types of footy fans.
Dan Budny | Goal.com
10/14/2005 12:35:00 PM
The latest version of the FIFA video game series from EA Sports hit stores earlier this month, and we hit up soccer fan Dan Budny for a review.
Having read the glowing reviews and informative news releases about FIFA 2006 I was very much looking forward to its release. The press touted new features and improvements, and since I’ve bought every FIFA game since 1994, I already was looking forward to the release of the next in the series.
The game was delivered to my home by ebgames.com on the release date earlier this month, and I spent the entire afternoon at work sitting there doing nothing but counting down the hours until I got home.
Upon arriving home I ripped open the packaging and fired up my PlayStation 2 with the new disc. The first improvement I noticed about FIFA 2006 was the ease of navigating the menus. There is also commentary from great goals that plays behind the music when you are in the menus, which adds a nice touch.
When the game first starts you are given the option of playing a "Classic XI," which means you play at the grounds of the team you select as your “favorite” team with a group of the game’s legends-- at least that is what happened to me.
Being a Gooner, I set my favorite team as Arsenal and I got to play the Classic XI at Highbury. Among the players on the Classic XI team are Manchester United legends George Best, Eric Cantona and Ryan Giggs to name a few. At first this seems like a fun way to start the game. But I believe it was added to help people learn the game even though they don’t tell you or teach you how to do anything when playing this match! Not being able to stand playing with so many Red Devils at my beloved Highbury, I quit out of it after about two minutes.
Alright, so now to the meat and potatoes.
Game play. The thing that makes a game is how it plays. The game play is a little different from previous versions of the FIFA series, but not in a drastic way. The easiest goals seem to come from getting out wide and sending crosses into the penalty area. If you have a good team, like Arsenal, you should be able to score one in every five crosses. It’s easy to put in around 15 crosses each match, so it isn’t too hard to score goals with the Arsenals of the world on the moderate levels.
There is no off-the-ball control, however, and I for one miss it. In FIFA 2005 I mastered this feature and became proficient at running players off the ball and creating more intricate scoring chances. If anything, though, the game play for FIFA 2006 is more so like the Winning Eleven (ProEvo) series, which is renowned for its realistic ball physics and subsequent realistic action. That being said, however, FIFA 2006 is not Winning Eleven, and so despite any improvements it is still has yet to reach the level of realism seen in the Wining Eleven series (although it’s quite close).
Another area where the game lacked realism has to do with the game engine, which EA Sports does not seem to update enough from year to year. It is almost impossible to score from distance shots, because the keeper will always tip the ball for a corner.
The field players also have some annoying tendencies, like committing certain types of tackles, or making the wrong runs into space. I also get mad when Thierry Henry can’t outrun a defender from Wycombe. From my brief experiences against the computer every defender is able to match speed with the striker. Unless there is some button that I am not pushing, and there very well could be since it’s still early days, it is almost impossible to shield the ball from a defender or to sprint past a marker with a burst of speed-- something Henry surely could do against any of Wycombe’s players.
Another gripe is the system for throw-ins. Nine times out of ten my player will lose the ball on the throw-in. The computer seems to “know” the exact moment to step in and steal the ball upon the throw-in, which isn’t really fair in my opinion.
The corner kick system has been revamped. You no longer hit a certain button to kick the ball straight at a target man. Instead you have an arrow to use to aim the ball into the box and hope a player runs on the end of the cross, which is a bit more realistic than landing the ball on Henry’s head whenever you please.
On free kicks there is no target on the goal like in previous versions. Instead you just get an arrow pointing in the direction of the goal. This takes some of the ease out of scoring from set pieces, but I think it makes the game more realistic because it makes it tougher to know exactly where the ball is going.
The graphics, always an area where the FIFA series have excelled in the past, actually have been improved over 2005. I think this is the department that EA excels in the most. The weather effects look very realistic, especially when you play at night in the rain. There are certain players who also look like the actual players, another touch that adds to the realism of the game.
The crowd noise also is better. I was playing against Leeds United at Elland Road and the crowd started singing "Glory Glory Leeds United!” Seeing as Leeds is a Championship team, it is nice to hear some songs for teams outside of the elite leagues.
The depth of the game is fantastic. You can take Stockport County to the Premiership, or pick a team from the Swiss League and try to be the ultimate minnow as you bump elbows with Europe’s best.
The career mode is vastly improved over the previous version, which could hook in some of you fans of the Championship Manager or Football Manager simulation games. Last year the menus for the career mode were very clunky and it seemed it took like forever to navigate. The menus are improved this year, but as any good manager knows it still can take a good amount of time to find information and set your squad right, like making sure Henry re-signs.
One of the added features of the career mode that I thought would be great was setting the ticket prices. However, all you do is set the prices for low, medium, or high for each game, which is easier than helping Arsenal put up a fiver on Sheffield Wednesday. I wish these elements of the career mode were more like the Madden (American) football series from EA sports, where you can set fixed amounts for tickets, merchandise, and refreshments, for example.
Another nice touch in FIFA 2006 is that there is now a score ticker below the main screen which helps in seeing other scores quickly. However, I wish that it was possible to check these scores during halftime of your game so you could see if you need to go for broke against Chelsea in the second half or if you can take it easy.
But wait, there’s even more to managing your side to a successful season. You have to juggle team chemistry, which means you cannot simply have a completely different set of players hit the pitch to begin each match. It takes a few games for your lads to gel and to reach their maximum potential—such as having the option of taking it easy against Chelsea one day.
The game also offers online play. However, I have not yet gotten to experience the thrill of facing off against a gamer from the other side of the world.
All in all, I think FIFA 2006 is a great game. I love playing it, despite the gripes I listed in this review, and I thoroughly enjoy the career mode and the licenses for the enormous collection of official leagues. (How cool that the Polish league has been added for FIFA 2006!) This is a game that I will be playing for a long time to come, and I even get to enjoy FIFA 1994 which comes with the game as a bonus feature!
I have many fond memories of cranking up the Ace of Base (hey, it was 1994) and scoring goals with “Joey Della Sava” (they used programmers’ names for the players) for Italia against my friends.
But the FIFA series, and my music taste, has improved significantly in every aspect since those awkward days, and FIFA 2006 is definitely worth a purchase for all types of footy fans.
