FIFA 06

THE BAD:
Same scoring techinque as the last game
Graphics a little darker
Man U kits are completely wrong
Still no Holland!

SUMMARY:
I bought FIFA 06 the day it came out and loaded the game up. First thing that happened, a legends team challenges you to a match and I knew that it had changed but for the good or bad? I won the challenge, collected the points and continued. I have to say it's excellent. They've set challenges for you to complete and earn points which you can spend in the shop. You can buy balls, kits, stadiums, teams and the option to play 5 star teams in Manager mode. It now has the ability to edit players (let's tweak Bergkamp a little bit more). Manager mode has improved, you are given a lot of decisions to make (Do I take the team to a restaurant? Should I promote a new sports drink?), you can also pick teams up to 4 stars like Newcastle, AS Roma and Athletico Madrid. So I decided to be Newcastle and over the matches I made Shearer improve on his pace and dribbling, Ameobi could score goals with ease and when I bought Saviola he turned out to be a legend in the making. There are new teams like Fenerbache, Besitkas, Shaktar Donetesk, Kaiser Chiefs and lol, Orlando Pirates.

However to every good thing comes a bad thing, they still haven't added any more international teams and they still don't include one of the best teams, Holland! Also they don't include some of the good quality Champions League teams like Lokomotiv Moscow and Spartak Moscow! Also if you look at the Man U kits, they are completely wrong and they have Wayne Rooney on the cover! You would have think they could have got it right! I'm also worried about the scoring techinque on the game, a lot of goals are the same, you don't get the volleys, you mainly get the chips around the keeper, it's the same goal enginge as last time.

To be honest, I love this game, I'm even playing it now. It's a major improvement since FIFA 05 but it isn't ever going to catch up with PES. Even though I'm an avid PES fan this is such a good game, it's just never going to beat Pro. I believe this is one of the good games out there with a lot of people buying it but it won't compete with PES.

THE BAD:
-Teams not complete, only updated to the 23rd August
-Has the occasional glitch

SUMMARY:
This year EA obviously are trying to win fans back following the dominance of PES, and have improved from last year in many areas

With career mode, you can now make loans which is something needed for people playing in lower leagues. And loans are needed with the new addition of finances taking a major role, if you can't control your finances you will be out of a job. You have to check on player wages, and you have control of ticket prices in home games. At the end of each game you get a summary of how much you either gained or lost. Players improve throughout your career, so if an upcoming player has a low rating at the start, there's a good chance it could rise as you go on. Finally, your opposition teams make proper signings to replace players (eg. in my career Bolton signed Yossi Benayoun after losing Jay Jay Okocha).

The actual gameplay has been improved, more realistic movements for players and the AI has improved and it is now a challenge to take the ball past defenders. You must use your timing correctly or risk failing and leaving yourself open for opposition attacks. The goalkeepers have improved, and it's become harder to score from long range (something which was ridiculously easy in 05). The main addition IMO, is the ability to change your tactics mid-game, with a simple move of your left analogue stick or d-pad you can tell your team to start counter-attacking, releasing the third man, pressing and more!

Set pieces have changed too, again for the better. While in FIFA 2005 you could score every time you had a free kick, it is now a big challenge. After having the game for almost a month I've only scored one free-kick. There is no longer an arrow to show you the movement of the ball and you must do it all on instinct and your own eyesight, you can also call players to tap it in front of you before and you can now pick to do low piledriver shots (ala Alan Shearer). Free-kicks aren't the only thing to change, corners are back to how they used to be. No longer do you have 3 options in one game, you point the arrow to where you want and you can cross it high or give a driven cross in, or if you so wish you can take a short corner- it's all up to you now!

Despite all these additions, if you want a completely updated game you must do it yourself in the Club Transfers section (players not transferred include Michael Owen to Newcastle, Van Der Meyde to Everton and Ramos to Real Madrid). And you will find the occasional glitch such as players going invisible, and I have had one time where my whole game has crashed as I was making a substitution. But only once and my current career hasn't been affecting by a glitch in a few weeks now!

THE BAD:
*Not as smooth as PES4
*Players feel sluggish and slow (but this is fixed by putting the game speed on fast in the options)
*No Owen at Newcastle, Van Der Meyde at Everton etc
*Minor glitches

SUMMARY:
Background
I'm a massive Pro Evolution Soccer fan, and have prefered the ISS/PES series to FIFA since 1998. ISS Pro 98' and FIFA 98' were the last time IMO that EA and Konami were level with each other, since then Konami (the creators of PES) have killed EA in terms of making realistic football sims. However this year could be different. Since PES5 isn't released and at the moment I think FIFA 2006 is the most realistic football sim to date.

EA (creators of FIFA 06), have always relied on the full FIFA licence and have been far too lazy to make a decent football game in terms of gameplay. Sound, graphics, commentary, and presentation wise FIFA games have been good. But gameplay wise they're been poor. I haven't bought a FIFA game in years, I've played them all. But too be honest, they've all been crap or average since FIFA 99'. Especially compared to ISS/PES. So since I haven't bought any FIFA games in a while, I thought I'd give the series one last chance. I went out and bought FIFA 2006'

Introduction
At first, I thought it was another dull FIFA game. Not worthy of PES1, let alone PES4. The players felt far too slow and sluggish, and not responsive enough. The ball looked like a small bloon that glided through the air and unrealisticly picked up speed half way through it's flight when shot at goal. Like it had a mind of it's own. I felt like back a few years ago, the last time I bought a FIFA game. I was going to give it back to the shop.

But, then I thought about playing with the games settings. And quickly found that you can put the game speed on fast. I then had a quick game, and it felt like a totally different game. It felt better, the ball didn't move so unrealisticlly, the players were more responsive. Gameplay was dramatically improved.

Since I'm used to playing Pro Evolution Soccer on the PS2. I wasn't looking forward to using totally different controls (i.e circle button for shoot instead of square). But amazingly FIFA have incorporated what they call New Analog/Digital Control System. Basically, it's an exact rip off of PES control system. But I'm not going to argue, since I didn't have to learn new controls. (apart from minor ones what I found out later).

At first, FIFA 06' doesn't feel right. Anyone making the move from PES4 to FIFA 06' will not like it at first. But once you've learnt the controls and the feel of the game. You notice that the game is more realistic than PES.

You can actually turn your players 360 degrees. In PES you can only turn them diagonally. It might not seem much, but that by itself means that the gameplay on PES is more limited. There are many things that EA have copied from PES. And this makes for better gameplay. Too many to list infact.

In FIFA 2006' it's not all about pass, pass, pass, shoot.....goal. It's far more complex than that. Infact FIFA 2006 is the hardest FIFA to date. You have to break up the AI's defences using your ability and imagination. Something you didn't do in probably none of the FIFA's I've remembered.

In fact the AI is better than PES4. It's hard and you'll notice that the way you break up defences is true to real life. There are many variations in which you can break down the defence, but it's not easy. You will not be able to just blindly pass the ball and expect it to go to your teammate. You have to judge. Shooting is not that difficult, but like PES is all about timing and the amount of power. You can score absolute screamers and tap ins.

I don't believe I'm going to say this, but FIFA 2006 is a game for someone who wants to play a realistic football simulation on their console/pc. FIFA 2006 is for the hardcore footie gamers. Pro Evolution Soccer is now the arcade style game. Something that was the total opposite only two years ago. In short, if you get this game expect a challenge. Don't expect it to be smooth, don't expect it to be PES, don't expect to be able to pick it up, pass, pass, pass, and then suddenly you're in the box and then you've scored. You have to get used to the feel of the game to truly appreciate it. and don't give up, you might not like it at first (I didn't) but you might come to love it

The Career Mode is great. You can take a Fourth Division English club all the way into the Champions League. It's a 15 year career. You can develop players, you sigh coaches/trainers/ etc. You do the tactics, you can sign sponsors, buy/sell players, expand the stadium, even talk to the media. All this is done in simplicity which makes the game still focused on being a football sim rather than a management sim.

I can't be bothered to say anymore. Gameplay is all what matters. And I'm going over the basics here otherwise I'll be here all day. You might not like it if your a PES fan, but FIFA 2006' rivals it. EA have finally got their act-together. And for FIFA fans of past releases, this is the best FIFA to date.