Watch out Konami, EA have smelt the coffee!
We've waited patiently for too long now in regards to Electronic Arts taking the soccer genre seriously, stupidly thinking that their license stronghold over players names, kits, sponsers etc would get them by and remain them to be the most successful football video game. Well the last few years Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer series have been battle axing away trying to take out as many of EA's regular's players for a more humble lite version of the game but with super realistic physics and satisfactory goal scoring, they did that well and it was looking close to Konami barnstorming EA's dominence and being the only serious soccer game on the market. Sadly, the release of Pro Evolution Soccer 5 went one step too far, the realism was their but the fun went out of the game, beating a team on three star difficulty was an absolute chore, how could new players break into this game and enjoy it? Essentially they couldn't and the only good thing about PES5 is that it still holds very strong on multiplayer and is the industry standard soccer competition game. EA had to wake up, those Canadians in Vancouver had to finally take note that it wasn't alright to have glitches in the game, it wasn't just okay to have all the players names and rape the user by short changing them with shoddy physics and one minded gameplay. Fortunately the times have changed, not because I like to see EA succeed, I'd rather see them burn, but it now gives us a bigger choice of football games that are decent, afterall I was a devoted hardcore PES4 fanboy, even I've been turned by this impressive release.
Fifa 2006 offers us a ilustrious fan fare of gaming options including management mode, friendlies, practice sessions and player classic and world XI teams, but firstly I feel it would be prudent to talk about the new options for this years instalment. We know that the gaming world has turned into generation gimmie, we expect and demand more for our money and that's something EA in recent years has offered us, unlockable heaven. Third kits, new players, new stadiums, sounds and cheats but whats monumentary about this release is that they are giving you a whole second game free. You get to play the whole emulated version of Fifa 94, the megadrive classic. This may not sound like much but it gives you a real opportunity to see how video games have progressed over the years, that and to play as Gasgoine without the beer gut.
The greatest player in the world, in the greatest footy sim ever?
Also new for the 2006 release is the My Fifa 06 challenge menu, where you can take on the challenges for unlockable features directly, rather than having to unlock them by sheer coincidence. Perhaps what's most important is that team customisation and updates are quite simply very easy and very accurate, because of the wealth of in game teams, its very rare that a January signing goes missing as most players are on the database. New for 2006 is the chemistry feature, where players who play regularly together are most likely to perform better and putting players in the correct positions are rewarded, however this feature goes undetected and is hardly pivotal in gameplay, the wealth of tactical settings that can be issued on screen during play are more of a relevance.
So all those licenes, all those glamorous stadiums, all those sponsors and other widgets, are they making a substancial difference? Yes, simply because the games physics are so much more improved, the trick stick feature allows you to take on players, have control of your first touch on a recieveing pass and there are a number of new features that allow u to have that ultimate control, fakie (which is a pretend shot) and dummy (letting the ball go through your legs to another team mate) make a substancial and rewarding difference to the game and if used in the right way and cut through the defence like a hot knife through butter. During 06 the free kick system is similar to that of PES but the corner kick system is FIFA like. Unfortunately its not perfect, it doesn't have the natural ability like PES to give it that 100% realistic authenticity but its real enough now when combined with all the other lavish features to warrant playing this title more than PES.
Lastly is one huge heap of praise, Clive Tyldsley and Andy Gray have combined to bring football commentary in video games to a new realistic level, long gone are the days of sentences making no relevance, or said twice in a row, nor being dragged back 30 seconds behind and horrible cliches. EA have realised that this needed fine tuning and its now pretty much perfect, if only the current gen consoles could handle a plathora of names and other adjectives things would be different each time, but the commentary flows alongside nicely and even the crowds are good too, playing the pompey chimes during Portsmouth home matches really gave me that tingling sensation, however the sound peaks during goals scored are a little subdued, hardly a mumor from the crowd when players score really do not deliver that football fever element and seeing the goalkeeper celebrate after every goal isn't brilliant either.
Overall Fifa 2006 is back on top again, its renewed my faith in the series and perhaps, just perhaps EA actually give a crap about making a decent game, than making money. It's a real gem and followers of PES must give this a try, i was somewhat sceptical at first but now I've had the opportunity to play this beauty, I am converted back to the FIFA series and thats a big big statement.
PRO's
* Full licensing with pretty decent physics
* Unlockable heaven
* Seeing your team, look like your team does it for me.
CON's
* Physics not quite as good as PES4 but getting their
* Goal scoring SFX subdued, lack of passion
* It's made by EA, but its damn good
VERDICT: ESSENTIAL PURCHASE - Pro Evolution Soccer? Be done with ya! since the decline and sheer frustration experience with PES5 I cannot help but recommend this title from EA Canada, they have finally woken up and smelt the coffee!
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