You see, with each year, each game makes a number of incremental updates, improvements and roster changes, enough to differentiate the new version from the previous version. Somehow FIFA 06 has strayed from this tried and try formula – it offers a few repackaged, yet almost completely disposable gameplay modes and the requisite roster updates, but the actual game of football on offer seems to have diminished in the last 11 months, making FIFA seem completely and utterly inferior to the competition.
Laying down on the job seems to be the main theme surrounding FIFA 06
We must commend EA Canada for trying, though. They have taken a number of criticisms about previous FIFA titles on board, and improved some of these for FIFA 06, but at the same time, a bunch of new problems has arisen as a result of the changes that have been made. Arguably the most notable improvement to the game is the increase in difficulty – this year you won’t have to stick the game on the hardest difficulty just to avoid scoring 20 goals in the first match, as the AI is much more competent than in FIFAs past. They execute a variety of plays on the fly, challenge your players for the ball, and put up one heck of a fight on defence. It seems like it’s harder to score at first, but once you realise that your main objective is to maintain possession and create the occasional chance, you’ll find the ball hitting the back of the net a little more often. It’s just a pity the rest of the game doesn’t flow as well anymore.
Control is probably the biggest issue with FIFA 06 – things just aren’t as tight as they have been with in previous games. Maintaining possession is a bit harder now, thanks to the better AI, but the game is very loose in terms of physics and flow when it comes to challenges – nine times out of ten, your player will lose the ball, regardless of what moves and tricks he tries to pull. On the reverse, it’s bloody hard to dispossess an AI player – it’s like the ball is glued to their foot. The soft tackle isn’t enough to get the ball away, yet the slide tackle is too much, always resulting in a yellow or even red card. First Touch and Off the Ball skills added to previous editions seemed to complicate the control scheme, and this year, the new play execution system serves to make the proceedings even more complex. While it is an addition that FIFA was sorely in need of, play calling crams in another annoying set of button presses into FIFA’s already bloated control scheme. Execution and the number of plays available just isn’t as good as that of Pro Evolution Soccer, and once you pair that in with the fact that you’re rarely ever going to have an opportunity to get your men in the right place to execute a play, it seems like the implementation of this system was all for naught. If that isn't enough, the ball physics could hardly be described as realistic, switching between being as light as a feather, and as heavy as a ton of bricks whenever it feels like it.
The ball is cursed...but you get a free Frogurt!
FIFA’s main single mode is the new Manager Mode, which is essentially Football Manager-so-lite-that-it-has-no-flavour. Essentially, the player creates a manager, a new kid on the scene, and can pick a team to control over the course of 15 seasons. The game does try to put in a few of the options from management games, but tries to give them a feel unique to FIFA – for example, you can watch a text-based commentary of a game, and if you’re team is up the proverbial creek, you can jump in and save the day. Unfortunately, if you decide to do this, you have to play out the rest of the match. The actual managerial portions of Manager Mode are embarrassingly lightweight. The transfer market is quite simplistic, and the ease at which you can get some of the best players is quite ludicrous. Inside your team, you will have to make decisions that affect team chemistry and morale. Team chemistry is a good idea – when you think about it, Australia is a good team on paper, but the chemistry between the players is quite lacking. Truth be told, it’s an intangible factor that you can’t really quite capture in a percentage, and then implement into a videogame. Finally, you’ll have to spend cash (which you make from winning matches and sponsorship) on upgrading your staff, who in turn will ensure your players are up to snuff. It all seems a bit meaningless after it’s all said and done – players don’t really gain all that much out of Manager Mode, and it’s not really that fun to play.
Fortunately, there are a few things to do outside of the Manager Mode, such as a fairly robust challenge mode which will take the player across the football playing world to complete various tasks in exchange for unlockables. EA have been a bit of a tease with the FIFA Retro option – it offers a short video of the past 12 years of FIFA, starting with the lovely FIFA International Soccer, and going right up to FIFA 06. The video doesn’t seem to show the best versions of the game, glossing over PC and 3DO versions in the early years by not showing the 3-D game until the 97 game, which was arguably the worst. It’s a pity EA Canada didn’t follow in the footsteps of Madden Collector’s Edition or NHL by offering a playable version of one of the older FIFA titles – without this option, FIFA Retro seems a bit pointless.
Multiplayer saves FIFA 06 from the dogs, as EA have included Xbox Live support, and the process for getting online is quite simple, and the game has a relatively good handle on the cheater/quitter situation. For those without Xbox Live, the game can still be played with a handful of friends offline, and is probably the better option for those with acquaintances that play videogames casually or not at all.
#15 had to have his name written on his shorts in order to not forget it
The big factor that put FIFA over Pro Evolution Soccer in the past was FIFA’s rather superb presentation, boasting a bunch of TV style overlays, instant replays and such, as well as the all of the league licenses and player likenesses. The game looked good and ran smooth, and everyone was happy. This doesn’t seem to be the case with FIFA 06. The game suffers from some excruciating slowdown whenever the ball goes across half the field, while unnecessary depth of field effects create a rather unnatural haze around the players. This looks even worse when the camera focuses on a player. EA has taken a shot at realism by trying to recreate the shadowing effect seen in bright stadiums, but this just makes the proceedings confusing and ambiguous. After seeing the beautiful looking FIFA 06 on the Xbox 360, looking at the current generation FIFA 06 is almost like sticking a pair of forks in your eyes – even when compared to FIFA 2005. In terms of sound, the commentary team has been changed, with John Motson not appearing for the first time since the series added commentary – instead, Andy Gray leads the proceedings, with Clive Tydsley acting as his side kick. While it’s disappointing to not have Motson in the game, it does ensure that the commentary is entirely new, even if it still does get old quickly – though we don’t have to listen to those random five minute long rants about the corporations and the spirit of football that seemed to pop up in FIFA 2005. The EA Trax selection is decent, with a wide variety of artists from across the world, such as Paul Oakenfield, Bloc Party, and Jamiroquai. The in-game sounds are not up to scratch this year – the crowds seem relatively disinterested in the game, barely letting out more than a whimper when a team scores a goal. In game Dolby Digital support is offered for the Xbox version of the game.
FIFA 06 is arguably the most disappointing iteration of the game in recent years. EA Canada showed signs of promise, having fixed up certain annoying factors, like the game’s AI, but that the same time, they’ve managed to disrupt the smooth flow of the game with some bizarre control choices, poor physics and bizarre graphical features which only serve to clog up the game. The new modes on offer are quite malnourished, with little to no substance to serve as incentive to play for more than a couple of matches. Multiplayer is alright with a few non-gaming friends, but any with a clue are going to want to play Pro Evolution Soccer, which is what we recommend you do this football season. Alternatively, you could wait until the rather attractive Xbox 360 version of FIFA 06 hits shelves along with the console this December.
) as it appears less noticable if you set your xbox to PAL 50, although it definately is still there.
.
Loading...
