After years of steady improvement but still playing second fiddle to Konami’s Winning Eleven series, EA has finally got everything right and created a soccer game that can truly be considered WE’s equal. It packs all of the licensed teams and players the series is known for, but also has some fantastic gameplay to go along with it. Soccer fans, FIFA 07 is a great game that is worth checking out.
Quick Hits
- Title: FIFA 07
- Platform: Xbox
- Publisher: EA
- Developer: EA Canada
- ESRB: “E” for Everyone
- Genre: Soccer
- Pros: Nice graphics; tight gameplay; tons of modes; tons of licensed teams and players;
- Cons: Still not quite as smooth and instantly accessible as WE; occasional goaltending glitches
Features and Modes
FIFA 07 features more than 500 teams from 27 different leagues, and each has their proper uniforms, logos, and players. Whether you want to play with National teams, the Premier League, or the Bundesliga, FIFA has you covered.
As far as modes go, FIFA has a ton of different stuff for you to do. You can play exhibition matches, and an extremely deep manager mode where you are tasked with keeping your fans happy, the team owners happy, and your players happy as well as leading them to the championship on the pitch. Because of all of the different teams and leagues, as well as the ability to completely customize your own team, you’ll be hooked on manager mode for a good long time. Online play is also included, of course, and features EA’s FIFA Lounge Mode where you can play with the same group of people over multiple game sessions and the bonuses and other special items you earn carry over to the next session..
Gameplay
EA
We already knew EA would deliver in the features department, though. The wild card has always been whether the gameplay could match up, and this year I am happy to say that it does. It isn’t as smoother or as immediately agreeable as Winning Eleven, but when you put some time into it there is no doubt that this is the best playing FIFA yet. The AI has been tweaked so that your teammates make more intelligent runs and are usually in the right spot so you can connect on long passes and play a more free and open style of soccer. The defensive AI has also been adjusted to allow for a bit more running in the open field and they aren’t quite as aggressive to challenge you when you are trying to make a run up the wings. It is still tough to score, don’t get me wrong, but they aren’t as aggressive and don’t automatically win 90% of the challenges like they did in FIFA 06. The other major area of improvement in the gameplay comes from the new ball physics. Before, the ball reacted based on the animation that moved it. Now it reacts based on more realistic physics, which means you’ll see lots of strange bounces and rebounds off of the keeper that weren’t possible before. This makes the game feel more real, which is a good thing.
Graphics and Sound
Graphically, FIFA 07 is one of the best looking sports games available for the Xbox. The player models look very nice, and the stadiums benefit from some amazing lighting effects. The game has a softer, sort of blurry look than in previous years, and it makes it seem more fluid and realistic than the sharp and jagged player models of previous games. There are also a lot of little camera switches and pans and things at certain points and they look very good as well and really help give the game a broadcast feel.
The sound is another great aspect of FIFA 07. The crowd plays a huge role in giving FIFA a realistic feel because there are a ton of different team-specific chants and the crowd really gets excited and reacts to what is going on out on the field. The rest of the sound package is rounded off with excellent commentary and a phenomenal soundtrack.
Bottom Line
EA
I have to admit, FIFA 07 surprised the heck out of me. It is a phenomenal game of soccer this year and the little tweaks and touches that were added really do make all of the difference. It looks great, sounds great, plays great, and features a ton of real world teams and players which all add up to a fantastic soccer game that fans will love. Is it better than Winning Eleven 9? I’m honestly not sure. You’ll have to see for yourself. I can say, though, that the two series are now closer than ever before, which means it is a great time to be a soccer fan.
