Fifa 2007 Review

Fifa 07 Review on Xbox 360

EA Canada have gone all out for this 360 version of the Fifa 2007. It has been designed from the ground up. Has it been worth it? Well yes and no.

This is the third EA football ( soccer to AmeriCanadians ) game on the next gen 360 console. Fifa Road to World cup ws released on Launch - 12th December and Fifa World Cup 2006 was released in June. Both games were just updated from the popular Fifa 2006 on the original Xbox console. Neither game was brilliant but will this new highly anticipated game cut it.

First Impressions

First impressions were excellent the graphics and movement of the ball and players were something that they had clearly put a lot of effort into and the game looks brilliant. You can really notice a huge difference. There is now a much more organic feel to the whole game play. Balls can take numerous ricochets and end up in the back of the net. The defenders can make mistakes and it really does play like a game of football. The goal keepers are very hard to score against and a bit too hard really which detracts from the game.

Flaws

Getting more into the game it became clear that the game does have other flaws. Barging players off the ball is a very easy way to defend and in normal football this would be a foul in just about every occasion. Sometimes players can bump into each other and then look at each other for a second like they are lifeless. This is very annoying. The through ball facility works quite well but there are times when your player is right beside the ball and just runs past it like a robot. The high through ball is very hard to get working well when you are attacking, no longer can you place a ball ahead for a player to run onto.

Positives

Enough of the negatives though, this is a good game! In previous versions of Fifa the players have been very linear and played at right angles. This version allows the players a much more natural, organic movement. When running at players, sometimes they will get past defenders, sometimes they will get tackled. Its much less predictable making it much more realistic. The ball physics are far improved, in a minute period we hit the same post from pretty much the same angle, one time the ball went in , the other it bounced out into the keepers arms. The ball has to be under control when shooting, if the player is not balanced he will generally shoot wide or over the bar. Good players, as in real life get more shots on target and don't have to be so ' balanced'. The speed of the players and the way they move is also very realistic. The top players in the game have to be Ronaldihno and Ronaldo of Barcelona and Man Utd respectively. They are much faster than your general player and can change direction quickly, allowing them to skip past defending players. It seems that their teams are also amongst the best in the game, i guess like they are in everyday football.

Omissions

Unfortunately there are few teams and leagues to chose from in fifa 2007. You get 6 main leagues, German Bundesliga 1, the F.A. Premiere League, the LFP Primera of Spain, the Ligue 1 Orange of France, the Mexico Primera, and Italy's Serie A. You only get the first divisions aswell, which is disappointing. EA's response is that they spent the time working on the new pyhsics of the game instead of working on the teams. Skill moves are also missing from the game, instead the right stick allows you to flick the ball in a direction but its hard to master and skills moves would have been welcomed.

Looks

The look and presentation of the game is sleek. The menu system works well and is responsive which some previous EA games have lacked this speed. The overall graphics are lovely and on an HD TV they look very impressive. The stadiums and intros are very well done and look equally good. Graphics and presentation is something that Fifa has always outscored its competitors though, so nothing new here.

Sound

The sound is acceptable but its quite downbeat from the Sky teams Martin Tyler and Andy Gray. There isn't much excitement and they can be out of timing, when instance when we score they said 'great defending from the home team'. Each team seem to have their fans signing authentic songs which is a nice touch. Overall though the sound is reasonable.

Online with Xbox Live

The online play of Fifa has to be said is very good. In our experience there has been very little lag and games play flawlessly. There seems to be a healthy community and its not long before you get someone to play against. The game plays almost identically to the offline game and is very responsive, which is how an online game should be. As with just about every other football game, very few people actually talk as most take it very seriously. Out of the 50 or so games we played we only heard fom 3 other players, which is disappointing really.

Summary

Fifa 2007 is a big improvement and the new physics are great. Its disappointing that there are so few teams and that the skill moves have been omitted but the game play just about makes up for these negatives. Sure there are flaws of the game, but what game doesnt have?! If you are a football or sports fan this version of Fifa is a must buy. Lets hope EA learn from the feedback and and in version 08 they can make an outstanding game instead of a very good one.