Fifa 08 Review

[Epo]

If you’re a hardcore football gamer, FIFA 08 is probably not for you. If you follow the FIFA series, buying it year in, year out, regardless of the fact that the only difference is the players on the box art, FIFA 08 on the Wii is DEFINITELY not for you.

Let’s face it. The Wii was released as much for the family as it was for the hardcore gamer. In fact, it’s appeal in the UK is that almost anyone can pick up a Wiimote, swing it about and get a decent, fun, gaming experience. Past incarnations of the FIFA franchise have never allowed this, until now. There is a basic mode for kids where the computer controls the players, and you use just the Wiimote (bypassing the nunchuck) to pass and takes shots, which means the whole family can play for a change. The AI controls player runs, etc. so the kids don’t have to. Coupled with some of the party games such as keepy uppy, and table football, EA have excelled themselves and produced an excellent Wii family game.

I’ll be absolutely honest though, I didn’t buy FIFA for the family. I purchased it for me and me alone. I wanted, no, needed a football game for the Wii and rushed out to buy it the morning of release.

I had a few practice games to begin with, using the nunchuck, with the new default camera view. I played as my team, Rotherham United. I soon found that when I was shooting up the pitch, I could score a hat full of goals, but defensively, I was frail. Vice versa, shooting down I was strong in defence but couldn’t get into the shooting towards myself. I changed the view to what I was used to and wasn’t disappointed. It was easier to see runs, it was easier to defend and pass the ball about. I don’t know what possessed EA to change the default camera view to this, but it’s easily changeable, so no big worry.

The shooting on the Wii remote seemed innovative. Pulling up for a powerful shot and flicking down for a finesse shot. Playing against the computer, it was easy to find time to get the correct shot off. I soon found myself aching to go online, and when I eventually did, found myself getting hammered. You hardly get time on the ball and when you do, you find yourself pulling the remote up frantically and then finding out that the sensor has registered a finesse shot which rolls along the ground calmly to the keeper. Frustrating is not the word, and my 15 month old son looked at me with horror when a (nearly foul mouthed) tirade slipped out. After a bit of practice, you can get better and win games online, but the shooting problem remains constant, and it’s usually when the goal would count most that it kicks you into touch.

Tackling is poor. Players can skip past you when sprinting and more often than not, you’ll give away a foul. Slide tackling is pointless with the Wiimote. You can’t get close enough in time, and by the time you’ve executed a slide tackle, the player has got rid of the ball, ties his shoelace and had his half time Bovril. I do like the execution of the advantage rule in this version of FIFA. I’ve known an avantage played and then the ball has gone out, only for the player to get booked afterwards.

I think it’s a shame that you can’t use the gamecube or classic controller for this game. But then I’d kill everybody online, so I suppose it’s at least challenging!

The ball physics are good. How did I find that out, I hear you ask? When playing online, the amount of times the ball ends up in the net, it looks realistic. Even when the ball hits the bar and goes in. There’s only one instance (which unfortunately is repeated) where two players going for a fifty fifty, and the ball flicks off what looks to be a thigh off one of the players, backwards about 20 yards.

Player physics, on the other hand, aren’t so good. When two players run at each other, at speed, in real life, you’d expect them to fall over. Players seem to stop just as they hit each other. Goal celebrations look like they’ve been ported off the ps1 versions of fifa, and quite often, my goalkeepers hair goes missing. Rain is poor in game, as each drop appears to be a vertical line. The pitch plays as just green mud sometimes and the ball just sticks to it. Quite sluggish at points.

Sound…seems recycled. The commentary is just repetitive as always and seems like it’s been used the past three years. I swear, the next time Andy Gray tells me the balls been bogged down in the middle of the park, I’m going to mute him. The music is your usual stuff. EA grabbing some of the “top” emerging artists for the menus, etc.

The online mode is okay. When you can get on, that is. The EA servers seem to have trouble with just 50 players online sometimes. I like the ability to give feedback and the Did Not Finish statistic. Players do tend to just switch off as I’m scoring though, which is annoying. Half the satisfaction in playing online is watching the ball hit the back of the net.

In conclusion, it’s a game that’s easy to pick up and play, but does feel rushed. It seems that EA saw that the Wii was a success and decided to quick release something. However, it’s a game for the whole family. Which is what the Wii is designed for. However, if you are an ardent FIFA fan (which I didn’t think I was until I bought this), and want to be able to;

- Play manager mode
- Create Players
- Be A Pro
- Create Teams/kits

Then don’t bother with this game. I would recommend you grab FIFA 07 on the gamecube and keep playing that if you want all those features.

Pros

+ Instantly playable
+ Nice music
+ Good online mode, albeit a bit slow at the moment
+ Keep up
+ Ball Physics

Cons

- Above modes not included
- Poor graphic (Gamecube fifa 07 looks better)
- Shooting
- Not being able to use classic controller

[Ed00wii]

Quite true. Very good review. I like fifa and I think fifa 09 or PES will be awesome. I like it more than hate it. ATM I'd give it 7-8/10. I really like football though!

[SammyPegs]

Good review mate, can't stress enough how excited I am for Pro Evo to come out......

[OakyBoy]

Nice review mate.

As Sammy said, I can't wait for Pro Evo!

It's going to be something special.

[Ricksta7]

Very good review. This might be the year I switch to pro evo myself tho...

[KrazyZeldaFan]

Wow what a wonderful review mate

[LFC77]

Thanks, very interesting and thorough review!

Originally Posted by Wiifind

- Not being able to use classic controller

If Pro Evo does this too, I will cry and cry!

[Epo]

Thanks for all your positive feedback so far. Is there anywhere I need to improve my reviewing though? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[Ed00wii]

Well it was a good review, I think there where a few pros/cons.
cons-
Fifa 06 graphics, stadiums and commentry.
Every now and then theres a mistake (like when you have a shot it shows your keeper save it). Very weird...
pros-
Good challenges/unlockables.

I really like the game though. It's probably because I missed out on all the 07 football games so it's still pretty fresh to me I think the mini games and challenges will keep me entertained until the servers get fixed ... still though, good review - better than mine anyway

[Ricksta7]

Ed00Wii I emailed EA Nation as I can never seem to get an game online anymore, They didn't mention server problems? I am down at my parents at the moment and tried my login account here and it worked fine, I have just played 2 games no problem. So have you played many online matches Ed00Wii?