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'2006 FIFA World Cup (PS2)'. (EAN 5030930049751)

In a nutshell:
The official game of the 2006 World Cup has all the stadiums, players and kits of the real thing, but the biggest surprise is that it actually improves upon the usual FIFA gameplay too. So if England does not win in real life, you can at least make sure they do in the virtual world.

The lowdown:
. In previous years, FIFA Word Cup games have meant little more than a cut down version of the existing FIFA game, however this version features not just the 32 teams from the finals but the chance to play as any of the other 95 countries from the qualifying rounds. There’s even the option to replay historic World Cups – although only a handful of older players are included. In terms of gameplay things have been noticeably speeded up and there’s even an alternative control system that exactly mimics rival Pro Evolution Soccer. PES fans will still be suspicious but this really is the best FIFA yet.

Most exciting moment:
Reliving the glory of 1966 with the current England team and then going on to do the same thing in this year’s Cup as well!

Since you ask:
Many of the England team, including Wayne Rooney, claim to be video games fans and many have mentioned playing the FIFA games between real matches.

The bottom line:
A genuine improvement on FIFA 06 with the usual top notch EA presentation.
Harrison Dent

Time and time again i have to argue with people that you can't judge any game with decent variety of options on how good it is versus the AI.
The real game is ONLINE and against your mates.
You can't have an online game thats too easy, quite simply because even the best players on the Planet lose.
The online of Fifa is very much like Fifa 2006's online, although slightly quicker, and the community is if anything very slightly larger.
Never less than 50 people online and ready to play, so its a pretty varied experience.
I could write the same about the game as everyone else, and leave out the difficulty, (which is pretty much the only problem), this game will hit 5*s everytime if you play online.
One thing that disturbed me about previous Fifas is that there used to be a way of scoring really easily, that seems to have dissapeared.
They seem to have got a good balance between wing-play, and ground-play, between long shots, and short shots.
The online play is incredibly narrow, there really is only one thing to do, and thats play constant 1v1s without any real follow through from one game to the next (Although there are cups, these often go awry because of players with faulty connections)

My View on the game:
Pros:
@Slicker shooting system, with more realistic curve.
@More realistic heading system
@Less 'UBER' skills
@Player Signature skills
@MUCH more responsive goal keepers, the numbers of rebounds they let in is far fewer
@They seem to have made a lot of the skills on players more realistic, for instance Thierry Henry has been boosted from his pitiful 91, and is now much more able to leave defences in his dust.
@Truly horrific amounts of teams, i believe over 100, everything that could have been put in has been

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Note to all
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This is the last FIFA that will ever be truly catered to the Playstation 2, and its gold.

Cons:
@Not enough to do online
@Sometimes plug-pullers can not be punished (although 90% of the time they are)
(Most of the problems other people listed are true, so i won't repeat)

And that's it unfortunately; I have a whole host of issues I want to put across after spending the majority of a month trying to find this game fun to play.

First thing I noticed was that the controls are ridiculously unresponsive e.g. basically you start running with the ball, you have about 3 seconds to make a decent pass or cross before you inevitably lose possession, for some strange reason, passing in this situation works only some of the time because of the added 'realism' and if you do manage it, you've probably pressed it too many times with impatience and the receiving player will just meekly kick the ball in any direction, thus you just lose possession anyway.

And then there's the shooting...sure the computer can score from midfield and on most opportunities from a corner, but when you try somewhere outside the box it's sure to go either wide or high, injuring a few security guards on the way.

Thirdly the keepers should be lynched... the goal posts save more shots than they do.

The last World Cup based game I played was World Cup 98 for the N64. I remember having a hard time trying to get England to win the world cup in World Class mode, now I can do it within half and hour with this game. From Semi-Pro upwards the difficulty settings feel exactly the same. It's just a simple case of `lob it on the box... header or volley... goal!!! which to be honest takes all of the fun out of the gameplay.

The computer have a strange fetish for passing backwards; depending on where your players are positioned against theirs, chances are the ball will eventually end up at their keeper, which after a while ruins the atmosphere and the progression of the game especially during 6min half settings.
The computer also have a knack of sprinting past at double the speed of your defensive players, whether your playing against Brazil or Israel the same issue always arises.

The screenshots of the graphics look great on the back of the case, but then when you do start a match your faced with the usual blurred, blocky textures from the close ups of the ball and both crowd and players faces; I've also got FIFA 2001 for the PC, and it looks the same.

The worst navigation and menu screen I've seen in a footy game in a long time, took me a good 20 minutes to find the options menu so I could change the difficulty settings (which, might I mention again, never made much difference).

Apart from this the presentation's ok, the commentary acceptable (don't know how long until it gets repetitive), the intro video's worth watching and lastly the shirt logo's seem accurate.

Overall, maybe it's just my copy of the game that's useless, but I think they've tried add so much of what they'd call `realism' to the gameplay and that it's just become annoying and unplayable, I'm not going to list all the problems, because hopefully by reading this you would recognise what a cheap, rushed, pathetic attempt of a football game this is, I want my money back!!

I bought this game on the back on a wave of World Cup optimism. Overall it's enjoyable, especially for multiplayer, but in single-player it's generally frustrating.

Good Points:

* This is without a doubt the slickest version of FIFA ever. The menus are smart, the game loading screens are montages and facts on one of the countries involved in the game, there is a virtual FIFA magazine that updates as you progress through the game, etc. Altogether, it's very polished. In-game you also get score-flashes of other games going on at the same time. When playing in the qualifiers or in the final group-stage game in the WC itself, this is a great touch.

* There are over 120 international teams you can play. They are selected via a smart-looking revolving globe. Rather than having the standard 5-stars to grade a team's strength, their FIFA ranking is used instead. It's a very nice touch.

* Gameplay options are varied. Yes, this is a game released specifically for the 2006 World Cup, and unlike other FIFAs you can't play the league and cup competitions of different countries. But EA have counterbalanced this with a number of different features. You can not only play in the WC 2006, or a randomly generated alternative, but you can also play in the qualifiers of any world region (it is quite fun trying to get Fiji into the WC!). There is the usual "Play Now" option for quick games, as well as an instant "Penalty Shootout" competition, and a "Global Challenge" section.
In the Global Challenge you must complete a series of tasks for each region. For example, one of the tasks in Europe is to get England to beat Germany in the semi-final of Italia 90... but you start 60 mins into the game, 1-0 down. There are gold, silver and bronze medals depending on how well you do. In this respect, EA are starting to introduce elements of other games such as Tiger Woods Golf into FIFA, which is welcome. Where EA have missed a trick is to include the historical squad player names. In the Italia 90 game for example, it just doesn't feel right scoring an equaliser with Michael Owen instead of Gary Lineker.

* The comparison with Tiger Woods continues with the introduction of objectives. Any game you play gives you the chance to achieve a number of objectives and points. There are hundreds available. Objectives include scoring a hat-trick in a game, scoring with 3 different players, etc. It's very much like the "Trophy Ball" set up in Tiger Woods.



Bad Points

* First and foremost, this game is far, far, FAR too easy. Note that I consider myself a 'casual' gamer. I normally buy games like this to play with mates and kill a few hours - so I am not one of these people who normally dominates a game within hours of buying it.
There are the usual 3 skill-levels: Amateur, Semi-Pro and World-Class. Amateur is so ridiculously easy that I am confident that someone who has never even picked up a console controller before can be beating Brazil within a few goes. Don't even bother. By default the game starts in semi-pro, and while it's a meaty step up from amateur, it's still frustratingly easy. Here's why:
- Computer AI. Computer controlled player are REALLY stupid. At first, you are quite impressed with the opposition. Even little teams like Fiji have an amazing ability to hold possession. The players retain the ball like their little lives depend on it, doing an amazing myriad of step-overs, pirouettes and Cryuff-turns. It's suprisngly hard to get the ball of them, and even more annoyingly, it's impossible to emulate this masterclass of close-ball-control with your own players. Unfortunately they do nothing with it. In fact, at times, if you put the controller down, you can sit and watch an opposition player repeatedly pirouette round in circles for a few minutes. When they do eventually move, they have a strange desire to run back toward their own goal. Players through on goal, rather than shoot, seem to stop, pirouette, then turn back to look for a pass, and failing that, they run back toward their own goal. After a few games, even on world-class mode, you will be screaming at the opposition to sort themselves out. It really spoils the game.
- Goal variety. EA have improved the variety of goals you can score. This is welcome. It adds a new dimension of realism and enjoyment, especially in multiplayer mode. Unfortunately, it just means it is easier to score from all over the park against the inept computer-controlled opposition.
- Through-Balls. The old triangle-button, through-ball in previous versions of FIFA was an annoyingly easy way to score. In this version... it's even worse. Your players tend to get caught offside more, but once you have 'mastered' (10 minutes should do it) when to press the button, you've done 99% of the effort required to score a goal.

* Considering the slickness of the menus, the in-game graphics are generally poor, and in my opinion, a step-back from previous FIFAs. The World Cup stadiums lack the realism of some of the club grounds from FIFA 2005 or 2006. There is far too much ticker-tape and streamers, it just looks stupid. The lighting tends to flicker as well.

* While the Tiger Woods style objectives and points system is welcome, it's wasted. In TW, you can buy hundreds of items of equipment and clothing for your golfer, most of which has an impact on the game. In FIFA, your options are very limited. You can buy match-balls or football boots - all of which look the same when viewed from the high camera-angle of the main game, and none of which have an impact on the game itself. You can buy classic players to add to "Play Now" squads; but the selection of players is poor, and their impact is negligible. Finally you can buy "game modes" such as Turbo-speed. These are interesting, but nothing more than a novelty.

I am mainly a pro evo fan but this year I decided to by FIFA 06 and was dissapointed.
I bought the FIFA World Cup game and played it and it was very good.
Here are reasons I enjoyed it

1. The Squads. England have 40 players to choose from which is great and Liechenstein have probably got the entire population in it.(Sadly no Aaron Lennon or Theo Walcott in the England squad)
2. The Graphics. The players look sooooo real. You could probably even recognise Zat Knight.
3. The Commentary. One Million times better than pro evo, great commentary that even mentioned bobby moore.
4. The teams. 127 teams is fantastic. I am at the moment trying to take Luxembourg to World Cup glory but I am failing terribly.
5. Penalties. These are soooo much fun. You can make the keeper wiggle jump and vibrate the opponents controller.

Bad things.
1.Through balls and runs. Make a player run forward and play a through ball and it is a 99% chance he is through on goal. I like that but some people are very fussy.
2.Free Kicks. Even with Beckham, Ronaldihnio or Juhinio you will not score. it is really hard.
3.Andorra are actually quite good and the stats are not that good.

This is a great game and Konami need to do something special to Pro Evolution Soccer 6 or FIFA will win at last.

I feel as if a stranger has just swiped £30 out of my back pocket without me noticing!...where do I begin!?
As a seasoned pro evo player who's becoming increasingly disillusioned with the lack of atmosphere and the unironed errors that seem to grow in stature with every edition.I decided (in the spirit of the upcoming world cup) to finally give FIFA a whirl.
On first boot the game soaks you into the atmosphere of football the way Pro Evo has never done for me.Graphics,sounds,stats and even pointless facts about small countries you never wished to know all add to sense that your part of something big...'The World Cup'.You cant help but feel a little boyish excitement,akin perhaps to an empty Panini album that you stared at as a child and visualised complete.Unfortunately unlike EA,panini demanded some effort on your behalf.
Admitedly there was some sense realism in my first two games,both nil nil draws,as I tried to acustomize myself with the buttons (quite difficult after many years of Evo)...bear in mind however that id set the game to "world class" and was in complete virgin territory.Then with my confidence in begginers luck decided to enter the "big one" with my home team Scotland (Ahh you can only dream).Two cups of coffee later Scotland were world champions!.Finishing with a satisfying 7-0 over Brazil in the final.World class difficulty!?,i could press triangle with my eyes closed and my striker would be through on goal...then as I approach the goal slow to a sudden walk and press shoot as the keeper stands static on his line leaving the majority of the goal open!.The only smile i managed to raise during this hour or so of "playschool" football was upon knocking England out of the semis 9-1.Perhaps EA should print an 'ages 2-6' on the back of the box.Next time I have a spare £30 im going to the pub with it!