Customer Reviews

FIFA Soccer 06

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is by far the best EA has created in their FIFA series. The atmosphere, graphics, and user interface are much improved over last year's version, but there are still some areas that need improvement.

First, the positives:
The gameplay is pretty realistic. The defense is much harder to break down than in previous versions, which seems to keep the scoreline in check.

The players don't have superhuman ball control like in 2004, and are even less sure-footed than 2005, so you'll actually see even the best players take a bad touch more often.

As far as the graphics go, I believe they're pretty strong. EA could have definitely done better on some of the players' resemblances, but the overall look of the stadiums, game action, and atmosphere is much improved over previous versions.

The new commentary is a nice touch. Having played the last two releases of FIFA, hearing some new commentary and a new voice is a nice touch.

Career Mode is much better in most ways. Although you are still limited to a 15-year career, the team management, player contracts, sponsor deals, and scouting add some new challenges to the career-minded player.

The negatives:
AI on the defense is ridiculous at times. It's been hard to gain a lot of possession due to the fact that if you're pressuring a defender, he will dribble away from you. He'll just dribble back to the 18-yard line and then kick it out-of-bounds. The fact that the computer is happy with dribbling in their third of the field with little ambition to move forward is a bit annoying and unrealistic...especially when they are losing by just a single goal.

This is not so much of a negative, but a warning. In career mode, you need to be careful with your budgeting. After 2-and-a-half seasons with Fiorentina, I was fired with a 17-1-0 record, while also still being alive in both the Italian Cup and Champions League. Performance on the field didn't matter when the money started drifting into negative numbers.

Finally, it's very difficult to build a powerhouse like Chelsea did in real life. The amount that the sponsors give your team doesn't seem to foot the bill for a team with more than a couple high-quality players. Winning tournaments and fulfilling sponsor agreements will provide you with the means to purchase good players, but the weekly salaries of these players might find you in a precarious position (see previous warning). It's also difficult to recruit these players, as many of the teams that I have tried to purchase players from, like Milan for instance, will tell you that they don't have enough players for an outright purchase. This can be frustrating since EA makes you start with a sub-par team.

Regardless, I have to give this game four stars for its attempts, successes, and improvement in realistic gameplay. Although there are a few flaws in the gameplay, it's still the best that EA has put out to date. EA's ability to provide up-to-date rosters, true-to-life stadium environments and kits, and solid graphics definitely help make it fun to play. I'd recommend it for any soccer fan who has stayed loyal to the EA series. You'll definitely enjoy the improvements.

After years of sloppy gameplay and after almost beating my XBox to death over frustration of playing the FIFA 05 version. EA Fifa's is finally looking like a player's videogame. In this year's version the gameplay is WAYYYYYYYY better. You can actually control what you want your player to do. In the past years that was only a dream. The reason why I bought it this year is because I actually played it before buying it and love it. Great chants of popular teams, and like previous editions great graphics, Included as well are all the latest FIFA rosters plus some cool new stadiums. The reason why i give this game a 4 star is because is because is FIFA 06, the year of the World Cup. And the tournament is NOT included like in FIFA 2002. The reason for that is that in November 21 the Xbox 360 version of FIFA 06 will come out, and there EA included the World Cup for the low hyped price of $59.99. I guess they thought we will spit $60 for the game after spitting the $400 of the Xbox 360. Thats this years choice. Buy the xbox version or wait a month and half for the xbox 360 version in you have that kind of money.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but I must say that some of the negative reviews I have read are completely unfounded. You must first ask yourself what you are looking for in a game:

* a challenge? In Fifa 06 the AI is much improved, and you will need to utilize strategy in order win. Basically, this isn't a game that you will simply pick up right away and beat opponents 4-0. It is competitive but not so challenging that you will throw down the controller in frustration. Obviously, the more you play, the better you will become, and you can always change AI levels to suit your taste.

* fun? Whether it is a single match or head-to-head play with a friend, Fifa 06 will have you cheering outloud when you score the go ahead goal. It really doesn't matter if you are a fan of soccer or not, you will enjoy this game.

* replay value? There are plenty of game modes for your entertainment: manager, dynasty, tournament, practice, etc. Plus, contrary to another review I saw, there are many, many teams to choose from (international and regional leagues).

* graphics and gameplay? The graphics of Fifa 06 really pull everything together quite nicely, and the realistic touch controls allow for smooth gameplay. Add in the stadiums, the crowd, and the announcers, and you have a real winner in Fifa 06.

Bottom line: Fifa 06 is a great game that should be in your collection. Feel free to rent it first, but you won't be disappointed if you buy it.

FIFA Soccer 06 its a good game but it could have been so much better with just a couple of changes, and i'm not talking about things that have never been done before, but stuff they've done in previous fifa games. I remember FIFA Road to the World Cup 98 from Sega Saturn it had so many stats, options that you felt really in charge of the game. Not like FIFA 06 where you cant control your player when the goalie from the other team has the ball, you have to guess to what teammate you're passing the ball because they dont highlight what player you're going to pass, in stop balls you cant pass it to a player thats behind you nor pinpoint where do you want the ball to go to. And dont get me started about the goalies if they have a 50 or a 99 rating they stop all your shots, you can shoot 20 times and they stop you the 20 times but if they only have 1 shoot they score, it so frustrating!! i could go on and on with a bunch of little things that could make this game a lot better. It's like they didnt test the game with people who really know soccer, they took away a lot of great features of their previous games. They center all there energy in graphics, teams and players names and stats that i think they forgot whats important. This review can also be used for FIFA 06 World Cup the only difference is that it's only national teams and that they took some good features off but they improve some bad ones.

I've been loyal to FIFA Soccer but i'm really thinking of traying Winning Eleven, if they dont start focusing in the game and to the graphics.

Things have changed a lot for Electronic Arts since the mid 90s. They have turned from an upbeat company that released nothing but the highest quality games especially in sports, into the biggest game company on the block & unfortunately with their quanitity over quality bend, they have allowed many of their strongest franchises to go right down the drain.

FIFA is a perfect example. FIFA 94-96 really was just a treat to play, whether you liked soccer or not, just like the NHL franchise until 95. Now they're just bland, bland , bland. We don't need 200 billion leagues, or soccer season previews. We just want solid, fun gameplay. The control has gotten so horrible in the name of 'realism' that sometimes you feel you are watching the game rather than playing it. There really is no excuse for a 5 second delay between a button press & the corresponding action, when the same franchise had instantanious precision controls a decade earlier.

EA seems so dedicated to the dull, lifeless pace of the game that they felt the need to severely penalize any upbeat defense as well. Slide tackles are all but forbidden altogether, even if you don't actually touch anyone. And though you can take a nice minute-long stroll into the fast-paced older FIFA games, you can't actually play them.

I sometimes wonder why I bother even renting the old standby franchises from EA Sports. Maybe deep down I hope that they will finally come to their senses and realize that good games aren't about realism or about rendering sweat in real time, just make games the fun arcadey experience they used to be. I would pay $50 just to have a basic roster update for FIFA 95 or NHL 94 before I would pay $20 for a roster update of last year's awful FIFA game.

My first soccer game was Winning Eleven 8. I traded it for this game thinking newer would be better and that if I didn't like it, I'd just trade it for Winning Eleven 9 when in comes out. I will be doing that -- it's in my car right now for the next time I make it by the game shop. Actually I may just trade it back for the Winning Eleven 8 that I traded in for it to begin with as I think it's still there.

I'm not a big gamer so I can't discuss the finer points ... I just know I enjoyed playing Winning Eleven much more. Outside of general gameplay, the training mode in Winning Eleven 8 far surpasses what is available in FIFA 06. WE8 actually has various challenges to help you gauge your level of achievement of the controls. Fifa 06 just lets you play without time constraints and cards.

The only thing I did like about Fifa 06 is the greater team selectiona and more current rosters ... but that is really not critical to me.

I wrote a negative review of this game a few weeks ago, but after playing it some more, I am coming around. There are still some negatives - which I will address - but overall, the game is fun to play, even if it takes a ton of practice to finally conquer.
Positives:
- Graphics are great
- Selection of teams you can control has improved
- Managers have even more control, including stadium upgrades (which aren't always visual, sometimes just in tickets sold)
- Once you learn how to play, it's a lot of fun
Negatives:
- Defenders still only have to make contact with you to steal the ball
- You can win the treble and still get fired if you go too far in the hole with your budget (which is a bit unrealistic)
- If the other team wants to win, you are going to lose, no matter how hard you try or how good your players are
- Players retire early or sometimes disappear. I wanted to sign Michael Owen and even though he would only have been 27 at the time I was signing him, he was nowhere to be found.
- You can't delete previous games and profiles. I have tried everything and have yet to figure out how to delete my old teams/seasons.
It took me a long time to be able to play at the professional level, much longer than previous versions. Now that I have figured it out, it's a lot of fun. It just takes a lot more patience than previous versions.

This game is really good. It is way better than last years. It is so much fun. I just got it yesterday and i'm still discovering new things.

I've been an avid FIFA fan since it came out. In fact 99% of my gaming is spent on the most recent version of FIFA. FIFA 2006 is by far the best version yet. Game play has been touched up to give a better handle on the game. Players movements on both sides of the pitch seem to be more accurate to reality. Additionally refs handing out cards and calling hand ball seem to be more on par with the numbers you may see in a real match. As far as game play this game has made up for unrealistic versions of the past. Added features to '06 are also improved. I appreciate the "loan" feature in the transfers section, as well as the sponsors, leader board, and other fine tuning the creaters have done. Chants and pitches are great. The extras seems a great improvement as well (more 3rd kits available this time around). HOWEVER, they still have missed two or three key elements. One, in manager mode you still can not choose all teams from the onset. This has been my biggest frustration. Being a Manchester United fan for almost 20 years, it frustrates me that I can not take on the club in Manager mode from the beginning--sure you can get there in a season or two, but then some players have retired, such as Roy Keane and Ryan Giggs. Allow all teams to be choosen from in the Manager mode. Second, allow player to set up the starting 11 in the CPUs team before the game begins. Sure some folks may weaken a team, but I'd like the option of setting up the CPUs team from starting 11 to the bench. Third, allow person in Manager mode to have a say in CPU transfers. Again some folks may use this to weaken teams but others will utilize this option to make the Manager Mode more difficult.

I seem to be alone in thinking that Fifa 2005 is a very good game that has several quirks which keep it from being a great game. That's why I was disappointed when I first began playing Fifa 2006. The commentary isn't as good as Fifa 2005 (in fact it's almost the same commentary, just different announcers). The movements and graphics of the player actions, graphically, are very good, but are less true to life than 2005.

And I have to repeat how crazy the menus are. This has always been a weak point in almost every game in this series. the buttons react slowly, and you have to go through menu after menu to achieve menial tasks (like exiting the game).

Corner kicks are back to being a grab bag (just kick it the right strength and hope to get lucky).

And they got rid of selecting 1 of three forwards to control, or pass to. This took practice but added a lot to the game!

Some improvements are: Graphics, and they made it possible for defenders to sprint after forwards. Also, there were lots of improvements in the control of Manager mode.

All in all, after giving this game plenty of game time, I'm back with 2005, and am considering trying Winning 11.