Customer Reviews

FIFA Soccer 2006

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Every year, EA's FIFA series seems to take two steps forward and one step backwards -- sort of like a nutmeg. There's always something to disappoint, and FIFA 06 continues the dubious tradition.

This year, the managerial mode is far deeper, turning FIFA into a poor man's approximation of Championship Manager. However, onfield graphics are -- well, odd is the best word for it. Players look sort of washed out, and unfinished. The pitch itself is appalling.

Animations are even more puzzling. At certain times, players will begin pumping their legs furiously, like onfield automatons. It's as though they're trying to catch up with something. Then they'll calm down to a more normal gait, just as mysteriously. Overall, the effect is rather Chaplinesque. You do get used to it, but it's a tad distracting.

Menus are some of the best I've seen in an EA Sports game. And the music continues to be marvelous. The broadcasting booth has changed, though -- goodbye to John Motson, and welcome back Andy Gray.

Licensing is where EA's FIFA series shines, and this year is no exception. All the major European nations are there, and with lower leagues to boot. Mexico and South America are well represented as well. Just about every professional footballer -- famous, infamous, and obscure -- is included. Deep customization options allow you to edit lineups to taste.

Gameplay is fine. Not outstanding, but more than adequate. Playing at Professional difficulty, at Slow speed, matches seem to accurately approximate a true soccer scoreline -- no double-digit blowouts, at least so far. More tactical options are available, and corner kicks are simpler. AI is decent, if not dazzling.

Overall, a mixed bag, and an uninspiring one at that. FIFA 06 gets the job done, but only just.

At first sight I like this game more than fifa 2005, that's because there are more thing relationated with my country (Mexico). One thing I like is that now it's no so easy to score a goal. In fifa 2005 all you have to do is take the ball an run like mad with no oposition. In 2006 the defense is more dificult, if I can say so. They chase you and steal the ball more easñy. Another thing is that the computer plays more defensive than the year before. Now they take the ball and stay away for your player, making a litle more dificult to steal the ball, however some times they send a pas rigth to your player and you have a very good chance to score. The AI is, for me, improved than last year, because now the players guard better the ball, and some times they kill time, sending pases or runing with the ball in their own field.

As always, you have hundres of teams to chose from, there are many leagues to play in (German, USA, Mexico, Brazil, England, Ialy, Spain), also there are a lot os ftadiums to play in, some are real like the Azteca 8mexico), Santiago Bernabeu ( Spain), and some other are like oval, olimpyc, square, etc. There are a lot of them and all are very well represented.

The sound is very good, for all the people who speak spanish (español), i definitly recomenden, because the comentators are Enrique "El Perro" Bermudez and Ricardo Pelaez, two off the best comentators in my country. Unfortunatly they said the same thing two or four times in each game, but tyhey are funy things to hear.

The graphic in the game are a litle improve than last year, you can recogniced some player the way they look, but in the game, some times thes don't loke realistic.

In all, this is a good game, whit parts which ned improvement, but I recomenden because you can have a good time whit it. Enjoy.

The manager mode is far more realistic than earlier versions, and in that sense more satisfying to play. Players grow old, lose their abilities and retire. Young players grow into their potential. Players balk at unattractive trade offers, but also respond to the growing prestige of particular clubs and managers. Managing requires that all of this be taken into account. The one frustrating thing, however, is that one can no longer play one's games in manager mode as CPU vs CPU. Instead, one is obliged to directly handle one's own individual players during "live" play. In my view, this reduces the realism of playing as manager. Also, to my eyes, game play looks more stilted in the '06 version (too much meaningless back play, for example) than it did in the '04 version. Still, on balance, a step forward. Why is it, though, that the FIFA Soccer series always seems to take one step back at the same time as it takes two steps forward? Why can't all genuine improvements be carried over from year to year, without the reintroduction of weaker elements from earlier versions?

EA sports is ruining this series and has been since 98. If you are not 10 years old and dont care about all the flash crap and want a real game get Winning Eleven 9. They might not have the commentating and all the teams but the game play is brilliant and the scope of the game is massive. FIFA 2006 is crap for people who only care about having the "real" kit on their players as they stumble around the pitch searching for a point to the game.

This is an improvement from FIFA 2005. It's even more fun that last year's too. Graphics are better and game play is a bit improved. Finally I can keep control of the ball on a throw-in. What a novel idea.

The only thing that is worse than FIFA 2005 is the free kicks. They're nearly impossible to convert, even after lots of practice. Give me a break EA! Also, the game is much harder in general than 2005. The Amateur level plays like last year's Semi-Pro. Still, it's better that this game forces you to play technically sound football in order to win. But 13 shots on target and only 1 goal irks me.

I've never played Fifa 2005, and i was very dissapointed with Fifa 2004. Before rewiewing Fifa 2006 in all fairness i wanted to log as many playing ours as possible, i've logged many hours over a month of playtime and i'm still amazed about the perfection of the game and the very bugs that i have found. This is the best football game ever, i must say i was impressed with "Winning Eleven Nine", but FIFA 2006 tops it. The gameplay is wonderful, in my humble opinion it is flawless, something of what the football gods would be really proud of. The Artificial Intelligence is spectacular, it will have you guessing all the time again and again, and if you think you can predict its next move, try setting a higher difficulty level. One common bug that people complaints about is the one that were the AI doesn't make any substitutions while playing unless the players get injured, but the AI makes subtitutions in change if you use the option of Quick Sim or Visual Sim a match which are great additional features. Don't try to play this game with the keyboard though, you will not appreciate it, buy yourself a controller, i did that for the first time just to play FIFA 2006 and i do not regret it. The game balances so many features and characteristics from individual players and teams, that you are going to feel that every match you play is different from the next, no two matches are the same, as in real football anything can happen on the pitch. EA Sports gave us back the Editor for editing players and adding in them to any team. The career mode is superb, you get to make many decisions which will determine your team trajectory on the league, you get your own budget, sponsors, etc. The manager grows in prestige and experience and has its own staff of coach experts in football concerning: Striking, Midfield, Defense, Negotiator, Stadium, Goalkeeper, fitness scout and upgrading the staff will translate in boosting your team's player attributes. Transfer system is excellent. Now you can sell, loan, borrow or buy players through browsing their particular contract conditions. Besides this, you can edit any team so you can keep up with the transfers from season to season, or just simply modify any team you wish. Other game modes are really rewarding and should not be overlooked or under appreciated. In tournament mode, you can customize any kind of tournament, wether that is from international teams (you can make a world cup if you want) or clubs from all the leagues which the game carries. The game includes a look back at the past of the evolution of the FiFA games back from 1994, which is really nostalgic to see. Football memorable goal moments from the present and recent past top players of football are also included. There are also video highlights from the Premier, German and French league. The sounds are excellent. The narrators don't get annoying anymore instead get you immersed in the game. The game's soundtracks are really catchy.

The best thing about FIFA 2006 is the REPLAY value. If you ever get tired, you can come back again and again for more and find it really entertaining.

The learning curve is normal, graphics are good. If you are a Footbal enthusiast buy this game now you won't regret it!.

I purchased this game and it would not even install, reporting a missing file on disk 2. I guess they do not quality control their game CD's such that it is hit or miss as to whether or not the game will install for you. Since they did not respond to my tech support request emails, I just borrowed a known good copy and installed it using my CD key.

Due to a broken arm ( from yesterdays real-life soccer match ), I'll keep this short. It is hard to control unless you purchase a game pad, difficulty is high, but at least the graphics are good.

On the positive side, it works well under Linux using Cedega application.

Don't buy this unless you really just have to have a soccer game.

I've been a long time fans for the FIFA soccer series which can be dated back to FIFA 96 and this game is just a total disappointment -- the FIFA soccer 2004 was IMHO a slight step back development especially in the game play sector compared to 2003, nevertheless it's still have lots of fun to play with.

After the first few moment of playing on this 2006, I immediately noticed that EA Sports had done a face-lift to the game, which SHOULD be good news. However on further encounter, I felt that it bears much resemblance of the OLD FIFA 1996 or 1997 especially in the game play control and settings -- a lot of the good elements developed from the long evolution of the series had been taken away for no good reason. I started to wonder if the whole original staff had gone and replaced by someone who had never played a soccer game in their real life!

To make thing worse, even the rendering are a lot worser than the FIFA 2004 -- players and stadiums are no longer realistic as before...did that help in improving the speed of the game? Well with my virtually "no-upgrading" PC, I could hardly see any improvements in any of those aspect compared to FIFA 2004!

I guess maybe it's about time to end this "long relationship" and look somewhere else for a better and more promising soccer game that offer better tactical and player control!

Just noticed there are so many used version of this game available here which speaks for the fact...should have studied that before the purchase...

In this game the graphics are good, Commentary is good, Voice is good and Gameplay is excellent (in my opinion) and also keyboard configuration is also excellent. In this game I like the teams - Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea etc'. `In the team of Arsenal there are great players such as Thierry Henry, Jose Antonio Reyes, Lgunberg etc. `In the team of Manchester United there are Wayne Rooney, Van Nistel Roy, Giggs etc'. `In the team of Chelsea there are Drogba, Lampard etc'. If you have FIFA 2005, then I am sure that you will like this game. The cool feature in the game is that we can create our own player with all the stats full and that we can purchase new players. Once the adults started playing this game then it is difficult to get off with this game playing on the computer.

Gameplay: 10/10

Graphics: 8/10

Commentary: 8/10

Configuration: 9/10

WELL THAT'S ALL.

I agree with all the people who criticized this game here. This game is terrible. The manager feature is an excellent idea only to be ruined by the games playability. The graphics are ok; when you see the player faces upclose, they're actually pretty scary. I really don't think that EA have been reading their FIFA soccer reviews from prior game releases or they're just ignoring them. They should stop the graphics development and concentrate on the game itself.