FIFA Soccer: review by Chuck McGinley
A review by Chuck McGinley <mcginley@ll.mit.edu>.
Introduction:
First off I would like to say that since I am not a soccer player, I guess I
could not be considered an expert. But since I play Hockey 2 nights a week
since I was 11 years, (now 31), and have Boston Bruins season tickets that
makes me an expert on NHL. :) :) BTW I am at work so I can not spend much time
on this. ;) Seriously though I can't Imagine why you wouldn't have bought this
title if you are such a big soccer or "football" fan/player Marty. It is really
that good. Although the worlds greatest hockey video game would not make me
feel "Like I am playing hockey". I would need to cough up "Chucks of Lung"
after every rush to accomplish that. :)
Graphics:
Clearly the Best that has ever been put into a sports game. The
camera angles are selectable from a menu at any time during the game. I believe
there are eight different camera angles to choose from The
default is the TV cam which is very similar to watching the game on TV, or
the SNES view. The colors are deep and brilliant. There are different weather
conditions, and different grass fields with different patterns. The player
animations are done extremely well and the scrolling on the field is ultra
smooth. The Ball cam is graphically the most impressive and also the most
confusing to play with.
Sounds:
The Intro sounds are there to demonstrate the Dolby Surround sound,
(DSS). During the game, all ball kick sounds come from the center channel and
all crowd noise and chants come from the front and surround channels. To
hear them, is something to behold. The crowd is not the static hiss you are
accustomed to. Instead it sounds like digitized crowd noises with several
chants and songs integrated into it. I believe the referee's whistle comes
from the center channel also. I will have to check.
Controllers:
The controller functions are as follows: (this is all from memory so bear with
me)
- Offense:
- A: Ball lob. This is to push the ball upfield, or to any where the player
wishes. This is helpful when "Centering" the ball from the sides of the field
for headders in front of the net.
- B: Pass. pressing B will pass the ball in the current Dpad direction.
- C: Shoot. Pressing C will shoot the ball in the current direction
of the Dpad
- R&L Shift: The R&L shift buttons work in conjunction with the a,b,c buttons
for different effects. After shooting, pushing rshift will curve the ball
right, and pushing lshift will curve the shot left. I believe the manual called
this aftertouch.
- Defense:
- A: Tackle. (I believe that is what they call the foot slide to get ball) If
you use the tackle it takes a moment until you can get up to get the ball.
I have found that tackles only really works well when there are two defenders
in the general area, because as soon as you push the ball away, the opponent is
still standing and can get to the ball quicker. I believe this is like real
life and would be considered a "good gameplay aspect" of the game.
- B: Ball steal. This will steal the ball from the opponent on the run.
B also switches you to the nearest available player.
- C: Run fast. No definition needed here.
- Goalie:
- A: toggle up field for golie kick.
- B: Kick the ball.
- C: I forgot. I think it might throw the ball, but I can't remember.
- Specials:
- A+B = fake injury.
- C+RS,LS = Elbows and pushing during running.
- B+RS,LS = Give and Go play.
Gameplay:
As I said before I am no soccer expert, so I will give you my
humble assesment. When I am playing FIFA 3do it almost looks like there is a
"REAL" soccer game going on. The passing shooting and tackles are all done with
"Good ball physics". Dribbling is best done by trying to push the ball up and
run to it. If you try to run with the ball, and don't push the ball up, your
opponent will catch you.
The Crowd sounds really draw you into the game. The penalty kicks, off sides
and corner kicks are all there. As are yellow and red cards. The crash of
players to the ground combined with watching them clutch their legs is amusing
to watch. :) The computer opponent is very tough for the beginner. The six
controller option allows you to have any configuration of players.
(i.e. 5 on 1, 4 on wo 3 on 3 ....)
The game supplies you with a variety of countries to choose from. Each country
has abilities according to how good they have done in recent world cups. (At
least that is how it appears to me) You then select a game mode in which you
can select exhibition, tournament, and league play, among other things. After
selecting your mode you can "Move the teams you want to play with" to their
respective brackets or leagues. Then it is on to the games. At that point you
select which controllers control which team, by moving the picture of each
controller over the flag of the respective country. The controller's Dpad on
the screen will light up a particular color to tell the player which color will
signify which controller on the field.
The computer takes care of the goalies saves during the game. It does a very
job of it too. Also when the ball has been kicked in the air, the computer
takes care of headders, bicycle kcks or ball stops, automatically, depending on
the height, and the ball trajectory. All the player need do is press a, or b,
or c.
Instant replay:
After each goal an instant replay will appear from the stadiums
video screen. This effect is done very nicely, and can be skipped with a
button push. Instant replays can also be done from the game option menu which
is reachable with the pause button. All the camera angles are supported on the
instant replay, including a user defined angle.
FMV:
The game is packed with over 1 HR of soccers greatest moments. The
quality of the FMV is not that good for some of it though. I think it is due
to bad source material. Some of the footage dates back to the 60s. It plays
during halftime and at the end of the game. Also during the game, Irritating
advertisements for the Addidas Predator football shoe, and Panasonic appear on
the Stadium screen. I also noticed a full lenght FMV comercial for the
predator shoe during halftime. All of this can of course be skipped with a
button press. I have not checked to see if it can be turned off with the
options screens.
Thats about all I have time for now. I am sure I missed more aspects of the
controllers. But I can't remember any more at this moment. There should be
quite a bit of talk about this title in the magazines. I have played the SNES
FIFA, and this one surpasses it in realism, graphics sound and features. Come
to think of it, they don't even compare. This is the closest the 3do has come
to getting a title that should score very close to a 100 in the magazines.
Chucks scores are:
- Graphics: 100 (There will be no arguement here. This really shows off the 3do's capabilities)
- Sounds: 98 (The sounds would have gotten more if there were more than a
couple of chants. At least thats all I heard after about 4
straight hours of play.)
- Control: 96 (easy to learn. Pick up and play)
- Gameplay: 98 (Keep in mind I am not a soccer player and a casual Fan)
- Overall: 98 (I never give an overall 100. There is always room for small
improvement in anything
p.s. After playing this game, I am salivating over what NHL might look like !
Have fun
Chuck McGinley
mcginley@ll.mit.edu
Any questions E-Mail Me.
p.s. This post was done from memory and may have some inaccuracies, and will
be littered with bad ounctuation and bad spelling. :)
michel.buffa@essi.fr