 The
most popular team sport in the world receives another update in EA’s
FIFA Soccer 2002. Although not necessarily the darling of
critics, FIFA has always been a big seller. With the soccer
season starting to wrap up, and the World Cup kicking, how good is
FIFA?
This FIFA’s
theme is that of World Cup qualification. The game does not include an
actual World Cup mode, EA has a whole game dedicated to that. This
edition also includes many other modes: Club season, several cups and
tourneys. The game also features creation and editing modes.
FIFA’s
graphics are top notch. It seems as EA’s artists have gone to a lot
of trouble to match up players with faces. Player models look like the
real thing, and textures for team kit looks great. EA has almost all
of the team sponsors mapped right to the shirts (except for the
notable exclusion of Arsenal’s Sega endorsement), and even the
clothing manufacturer logos make it. Stadia and the pitch look great
as well, with special mention due to the crowd. EA has a 2D crowd, but
they have applied a nice depth of field effect, and the animation of
the crowd is really effective.
Sound is a high point
in FIFA. Tackles, crowd chants and posts are all in Dolby
surround. Play-by-play is exceptional; John Motson does the
play-by-play while Andy Gray provides color. They often mention how a
team is on a hot streak, or how many games they’ve won recently.
It’s very realistic and on the ball, so to speak. EA has a
reputation of grabbing some of the top electronic music acts to
provide music for FIFA. This year is no exception with BT, DJ
Tiesto, and Gorillaz to name a few.
EA has made huge
steps in the gameplay and control department with FIFA Soccer 2002.
Unlike earlier versions, this game is probably better than Konami’s
soccer games. Passing and possession is vital in soccer and is no
different in FIFA. There are a few different kinds of passes in
this game: A ground pass (A button), air/lob pass (B), and the one-two
(C stick.) The longer you hold the button, the harder the pass.
Passing is very hard at first as the ball isn’t on magnets as in
many games, and you will screw up until you get the hang of it. The
difficulty in passing is worth it, eventually, as it allows you to be
very precise in your ball placement. The one fault I found in the
controls was this: X controls conservative tackle and shoot. If you
are in a tight spot and possession is unclear, sometimes you will boot
the ball when trying to gain possession. Overall, though, I found
control to be better than Konami’s games.
FIFA is a real
treat for fans of the beautiful game. It has pretty much all you
could ask for: club tournaments, national tourneys, and a realistic
season game. The club season mode can be taken through as a franchise,
at the end of the season; you can choose to continue with your club.
Teams will be relegated and promoted based on their records.
Over the years EA has
taken a lot of deserved criticism of its soccer games. They were
sloppy, the controls were overdone, and often took style over
substance, and simply didn’t match the competition. This years FIFA
continues with the style that EA is known for. Cool electronic music,
licenses all over the place and excellent graphics. Now they have all
the substance to go with it. Excellent game.
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