Customer Reviews

FIFA 2006

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup is not a yearly FIFA title, but rather a game based on the World Cup qualifying process. It's a pretty safe assumption that the main reason this direction was chosen by EA Canada is because of limited time available to make the 360's launch. The end result is a game that loses many potential features in the online space, as well as some basic modes like Season/Franchise (only international teams). However, if you just want to play the sport in question, FIFA 06: RTFWC can provide a decent experience.

In the game, you pick an international team - there are 72 total - and go about the qualifying tournament that leads to the FIFA World Cup. A standard Tournament mode that takes place in non-World Cup style is also available, but the most interesting (and the only "meat" of the game) is the World Cup qualifying. Other than the tournament modes, the only other game types available are a Friendly Match and a Practice Session - both of which are pretty self-explanatory. One little cool addition to FIFA on the Xbox 360 is the loading screen at the start of the game. As you're waiting for a game to load (or just thinking about what you want to play), you can play around in a futuristic stadium with your preferred team. It's honestly kind of a throwaway feature, but it's still cool to mess around while you wait, nonetheless.

Overall, the game plays better than previous versions, and it provides a fairly enjoyable match of soccer. The EA Canada team was able to get the game running at 60fps, which not only looks great, but also allows for a whole new level of animation for the players. This pace translates to every aspect of a game, whether it's a frantic situation in front of the net or a dramatic corner kick.

You'll have access to the usual assortment of FIFA moves, including through passes, headers, lobs, chip shots, crosses, and volleys. On defense, you can execute slide tackles or conservative tackles, and this year there is a "mark" feature that lets you hold down the B button and pursue your defender quite vigorously; this is quite useful for not letting someone breakaway towards the net. Of course, it might be a bit cheap to have one of your players pulled back by a charging defender who tugs on your shirt and hauls you down after using this move. Either way, the move is a different addition to the series and helps change the dynamic of defense a bit.

FIFA 06: RTFWC still features the advanced moves from previous years, and as before they are performed with the right thumbstick (plus the left and right bumpers). The moves can't be exploited too heavily this year, and you will likely only be able to shake off one or two players before someone checks you. The AI on the default and higher settings is challenging and doesn't allow you to walk over them. The goalie AI has also improved, and it'll be harder to score against the computer.

Some of the previous FIFA issues unfortunately do show up in this version. It is annoying to not be able to cancel a move after it's been initiated. The passing still feels like somewhat of a crapshoot, and you'll be unsure as to why a pass only went three feet when the A button was held down for a good few seconds. None of this ruins the gameplay by any means, but it is bothersome seeing as the rest of the gameplay is strong.

The new in-game action menu lets you change options on the fly. By pressing the d-pad after play stoppages, you can execute quick substitutions, alter game strategies, and rearrange your player formations. This feature benefits online matches a great deal, seeing as there is no need to pause the game anymore.

Speaking of said online play, it is once again enabled over Xbox Live. Unfortunately, EA has opted to go for the same "server" mode from previous years, which makes for a redundant sign-in process and dramatically elongates the time necessary to join an online match (as you get thrown back to the starting logos of the game). The same "lobby" system is available to cruise for a game, but you'll also be able to set up quick matches or private matches to get directly into the action. No tournaments are supported for the game, which is a shame, and the absence of any multiplayer support (say, four players?) hurts. FIFA 06: RTFWC plays well online, and I experienced very little lag while playing with various opponents across North America.

Visually, the game looks quite strong on the Xbox 360, but not completely next-gen yet. There are all sorts of new animations, and the player models themselves are quite good, albeit a tad on the shiny side. Stadiums are somewhat of a mixed bag; on the one hand, the scope, lighting and grass look amazing, yet the crowd does not look very good.

Sound is such a key in soccer games, and this FIFA installment understands that principle well. There is the standard array of ball thump and player slide sound effects on the pitch, as well as a great deal of player and coach chatter being yelled out at any given time. The crowds get involved - as is the norm in FIFA games - and isn't afraid to yell out a chant or a song to motivate its home nation. Sky Sports stalwarts Andy Gray and Martin Tyler provide commentary, and each of them add a decent amount of material to the matches. For the most part, they keep up with the play and only repeat themselves every once in a while. The duo may sound familiar to some novice players as well, seeing as they are the usual pair doing official World Cup commentary.

If you're just looking for a fair game of soccer without the trimmings, FIFA 06: RTFWC may fit the bill. For those wanting a fully featured franchise experience (with club teams) and a better set of online options, waiting for FIFA 2007 might be the way to go.

This game is Fifa 2006 Road to World Cup and is similar to Fifa 2002 Road to World Cup in that it is a mini game release that EA has been doing recently. Its just about the World Cup so there are no Leagues or career mode only the World Cup play mode. Amazon's description is for Fifa Soccer 2006 (PC & PS2) that game has 10000+ player and 20+ leagues and a 15 year career mode. That being said, this game is not worth $60 and as with 2002 RTWC it will probably cost alot less after the world cup is over in July

This game is even worse than the Road to the World Cup from 2002. I have been playing FIFA soccer games since World Cup 98 was out on the Sega Genesis. This is by far the worst of all of them. I would rather play FIFA 98 on Sega than this game on 360.

The game play is terrible: passing is unpredictable, players IQ on your own team is subpar, and shooting is impossible.

The description for this game on Amazon is not for this game, b/c you can only play with international teams on this game, there are no club teams or career modes.

By far, this game is terrible, and if I were worried about the money I spent on this game, I would complain to Amazon, EA, and Xbox 360. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME FOR ANY REASON. FIFA World Cup 2006 is a great game with great gameplay. Please do yourself a favor and buy it instead.

Maybe i suck at this game but i find World cup Germany to leaps and bounds better. FIFA 06 game play is ok but i think the players on the field are idiots and they all stand five feet from me and it makes it easy for the other team to steal the ball. I have not played alot of soccer in my time but even i know not to get a bunched up. But then again it could be because i dont now how to work my offense.
Over all I'd say dont buy this game just buy World cup Germany or save your money till next year version and hopefully it will be better!

You are better off buying Fifa World Cup 2006...The accual World cup soccor game. I made the mistake of buying Road to the world cup. You don't play in the world cup on this one!! Also you dont get the new jerseys for the teams. Once I realized I had the wrong game I immediately retuned Road to the world cup. I bought Fifa World Cup 2006, and the game is awesome! New jerseys and the Cutscenes are astounding. Refs are just as hard as the ones in the real world cup. It adds to the realism. Playing the game with friends always is fun too. (especially on a plasma!) All in all, Im telling you that the Fifa World Cup 2006 is your best bet. Not Road to the world cup. Dont make the mistake I did and get them confused.

This was the first game i bought when i got my first xbox 360. Unfortunately the system didn't last long enough for me to enjoy it to the fullest. I'm buying it now at a great reduced price. The game is tough, shooting is tough, defending is tough, so what, stop crying people. The sense of achievement is much greater when you win because it's so difficult. In my opinion the substitution system is still the best because you call for one while the game is still going on and the substitution takes place at the next dead ball. Plus it has that great soundtrack from Fifa 06. If you are not up for a real challenge go by Super Mario soccer or something, if you really want to work for every goal, get this game. I'm not even getting Fifa 12 this year because i just got back this one.

This is probably the worst game ever created. It's an xbox 360 filler game. It was only put there so EA sports could say they have a soccer game on the 360. It's a sad excuse the designers took about 2 hours to create this game at most. Passing is terriable. At times the player just bumps the ball 4 feet in front of him so that the opponent can just jog on thru and take the ball. I crossed the ball from the outside into the box probably 20-25 times in one game and everytime it was the same repeatitve thing of the opponent heading the ball away. It's not harder to score then other games it's just idiotic. The other team can score form 50 yards but you almost have to be behind the goalie to get your shot to go in (in less of course your losing then it let's the goals go in to keep a close game). It's just a very bad game and just wanting to warn everyone that this in not the game to buy. I'm going to see what FIFA world cup is like it sounds so much better. But this it's a sad excuse. It doesn't even have all the international teams...heck Canada isn't there and isn't that EA's country. Oh and the ratings for players, you can tell that was favorized USA is like rated 70 something and Italy 84 didn't USA tie Italy which was a controversy that USA should have won the game. How can this be that they are only like 73 or what ever. It's a joke.

Soccer isn't the American sport. For whatever reason, it's never been the huge craze that football, basketball, or baseball have been in the 'States despite being the biggest and most popular sport everywhere else in the world. Because of that soccer video games are still a big market. With FIFA 06, I think soccer fans can find a little to appreciate but for the rest of us, this title won't make you fall head-over-heels for the sport.

FIFA 06 on the Xbox 360 isn't loaded with a lot of features, which has been a reoccurring trend on EA Sport's launch lineup. It's disappointing, because there are really only two or three gameplay modes, with Road to the FIFA World Cup being the primary selection. This is a very basic franchise mode where you'll take your favorite soccer team through qualifications, tournaments, and eventually the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The franchise options, like stat-tracking and such, are pretty much the same thing you've seen in every sports game and there really isn't much to set RTTFWC apart from the crowd.

On the pitch, it's the controls that will feel awkward to first-time players, much like everything else in the game. FIFA 06 controls very slowly while maintaining a realistic feel that soccer gamers will appreciate. As one of those first-timers, I wish it had been sped up, because it seems like it takes ages just to run down-field, even when you're not passing the ball around to othter players. On defense, tackling and sliding both pretty intuitive and it feels very realistic to slide in front of the attacker, intercepting the ball from him. While attacking, I felt that the kicking controls were a little too basic--it didn't matter if I'd tap or hold the kick button, it seemed like my player would send the ball to Russia and back either way.

Visually, FIFA 06 reminds me of 2K Sport's NHL 2K6 that also launched on the 360. The game is nice up-close, and you'll notice a lot of clear, crisp details on players, fields, coaches, and referees. However, like NHL 2K6, the game is played from a very lengthy distance so this detail isn't seen much and FIFA 06 has a stark feeling, despite being very bright and surprisingly colorful. Animations couldn't be smoother, though. Tackling, running on the pitch, kicking, and almost every other action looks very realistic thanks to this. As for the commentary, I know there's not a whole lot to say in soccer but the two guys leading FIFA 06 are as boring as they come. At least the crowd sounds and acts as realistic as ever.

While FIFA 06 isn't a bad game by any means, it isn't something that is accessible to everyone. I was disappointed by it because I was looking for a soccer game that could throw me into the international phoenominon and this simply isn't the one. It's still a decent game, and I found myself having trouble putting it down after I got a feel for the controls, but it's not worth your $60 unless you're looking for the high-definition graphics of the Xbox 360 or you're a soccer fan with nothing else to play.

(NOTE: I also have this review posted on [...], where I write reviews on a regular basis.)

FIFA 06 - Road to FIFA World Cup - takes soccer to a new level with XBox 360 quality graphics. It's not as complete as other soccer games out there, though.

Soccer is a game that's hugely popular in much of the world - but less so in the US. I personally think soccer is a great sport and am happy to see sports games covering this for gamers to learn and enjoy.

The graphics in FIFA 06 for the XBox 360 are rather impressive. In the team selection screen, it looks like real embroidery on the patches and uniforms. You get to choose through a ton of teams - everything from Brazil to Ukraine and everyone in between. There are 5 difficulty levels to tune your challenge level. You can even choose your ball color. Take a look at your roster, and you can even practice while the loading screen is going on! Now THAT is a feature I'd like to see on every game I own.

On to gameplay. The crowd, as usual, looks really bizarre. Someday game makers will figure out this crowd thing. The character models are nice, although a bit "plasticky". Certainly better than old-gen games on the XBox and PS2, but not as good as some other 360 games on the market. Character movement is generally nice although a little jerky. You don't get a lot of the fine detail that you get on some other sports games since here you're usually watching a far-off view of the characters.

Commentary and sounds were OK. What can you really expect from commentary in a game? Are you really listening to what the commentators are saying? It's usually better to play some of your favorite iTunes sets while playing a sports game vs hearing "crowd noise".

I have to say that I found the real life ads running down the entire side of the screen REALLY annoying. I'm already paying a pretty high price just to get this game - I don't see a need to be bombarded with commercials too!

On one hand, if you have an XBox 360 and enjoy soccer, you might as well get this for the nice graphics and the wide screen gameplay. There's plenty here to keep you entertained. On the other hand, the game could be MUCH much better if someone put the time into it. I realize that the XBox 360 is relatively new so maybe they did the "best they could" to get this out for the 2006 season. I really hope that they now have a full year to work on the 2007 version, and now that they know how to code for the XBox 360, they can finally get the new version really tricked out with a number of improvements.

No club teams or league play and no way to create custom players are features that are sorely missed from past gen FIFA games. But the graphics are amazing and the gameplay is very realistic. You won't be racking up goals like in past versions, but when have you ever seen a footbal match with a score of 11-7? Recommended for all football fans looking for a realistic soccer experience without leaving your couch.