Customer Reviews

FIFA World Cup Germany 2006

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I originally worte this in May of '06, but now Ifeel I need to update it. I've added some things to my review, now that I've played the heck out of this game.

First of all, I have to say I have been playing the "Winning Eleven" Konami games for the past few years, giving up on the EA Sports FIFA games back in 2002, after the last World Cup video game. FIFA just isn't that realistic, going for the arcade action rather than realism. This is the first FIFA game I've played in years, picking up the first '06 World Cup game I could find, and it doesn't disappoint.

The '02 game was a bit more glamorous, but it seems the designers at EA must have been playing the Konami "Winning 11" series, because they picked up a bunch of it's movements and in-game options and mixed it with highlights of its own series. Now don't get me wrong--some W11 person will get on here and say, "there's no way it can be just like W11!" It's not. It has picked up many of its stronger selling points, though...you can force a defender to follow the ballhandler all over the pitch while you control another defender; the passing techniques with thru balls, sending players on runs, give and go's, tackling, the realism and a few other aspects. Right now, it's the perfect soccer game, since Konami hasn't released it's "Winning Eleven 10" yet, which I hear is going to be a World Cup edition as well. And the price is good, too. If you're a footballer and you want realism ,pick this one up. The buttons are vastly different from the Konami configuration, but you'll figure it out.

Something I've noticed, though--if you have trouble getting the ball in the net in the first 20 minutes, be prepared for an unbelieveably frustrating game. Almost like the "momentum meter" in the EA-NCAA football games, if you hit the post once, you'll hit it another 4 or 5 times before you get the ball in the net. And, if you score a quick one in the first 5 minutes of the game, you absolutely CANNOT lose the game...trust me--I've tried. Another annoying tidbit--the opponent will ABSOLUTLEY MOLEST you to get the ball away from you, without a call from the ref. Usually, ANY contact with an opponent means you will be dispossessed. But if you so much as GRAZE up against an opponent when he has the ball, the offical will blow the whistle. Some players, like Zidane, Ronaldihno, Ronaldo and Totti simply CANNOT be dispossessed...you can practically rape them on the field and they will still get their pass or shot off. And don't expect your goalkeeper to be in the right place...he tends to drift around, putting himself in the wrong position alot, looking like a little retarded kid who has wandered onto the field.

Honestly, I give this game a 3 or 3.5 for buth "fun" and "overall."

This game is very cool. It features practically every national team in the world! It is tough at first if you're used to dominating in the other FIFA games. There are a lot of new attacking moves for when you're on offense. It does take some getting used to but is well worth the price. I definitely recommend this game for anyone who enjoys FIFA games. You can take any team and play them through the qualifying rounds into the finals in Germany. You can play with as many teams as you want to. This game features over 2000 players. Overall a very cool game.

I am an avid FIFA fan, and have both owned and played every single edition that has been released. FIFA 2006 marked the pinnacle of their games so far, coupling great graphics with realistic gameplay. I have no explanation for what could EA did with 2006 FIFA World Cup. The graphics are worse than they are in 2005, yes 2005. The gameplay is terrible the players move so, and everytime you try a through pass its completed. I would have been much more content if they had taken 2006 and remade all the teams and leagues; but they didn't they took 2002 FIFA World Cup, gave the players first touch, and re-released the same crappy graphics. Do not buy this game. If you are so inclined to play as international teams, FIFA 2006 has an International league. Terrible Game!!

Now dont get me wrong. This game in itself is very good, but only if you play the PC Version. I dont know what has happened to EA, why they are making the palyers smaller and smaller and yet more smaller.
When you are actually playing the game, the camera is so far back that you have to literally SQUINt your eyes to get a clear picture. This is pathetic. The core gameplay is good, but whats the fun if you need to sit glued to the TV.
I had the PC version and liked it a lot. So thought of giving the PS2 version a try. I did the intelligent thing so as to go ahead and rent the title instead f buying it straightaway. And boy, did I make the correct decision.
I am happy with my PC version of this game ( a good game, mind you).
It's just that I am terribly dissapointed in EA for making the PS2 version so lame.
Try it out for yourself and see what I am talking about.

Once again EA sports is showing why there soccer game is not cutting the mustard. Every year the game gets worst i think they need to go back to the 2003 game and look how Big the Players are . The presentation of this year's world cup game Sucks . Go back to the 2002 world cup game and see the laser light presentation . The Big problem i have with this game is the Size of the Players. You have to squint your eyes to play the game Why doesnt EA sports give us the a chance to choose are own Camera Angle . Konami's Winning Eleven Series By Far is Better. Bigger Players Better Presentations Fast game play .

This game can be very frustrating. Essentially, if you score the first goal you will win. Your players have easier tackles, cleaner shots, and more possession. If your opponent scores the first goal, tackling becomes next to impossible and pressing is a joke. The soundtrack is wonderful, selection of teams is incomparable, and the British blokes doing play-by-play are wonderful. But if you care for your sanity, stay away. This game is the most frustrating PC game I have ever owned.

This is probally the best soccer game i ever played after fifa 2006. The amount of national teams is enourmous with 127, the most i seen in a video game was about 170 in fifa 98 road to the world cup. The cool feature about this game is that you can play either the qualifying rounds for each confederation or skip the qualification rounds and head to the fifa world cup finals. The play now option allows you to pick any 2 teams and play any match of your choice, qualifying round, quarter finals , semi finals , and the fifa world cup final. So you can pick the suckiest teams from the roster and have them compete in the final. The only negative comment i have about this game is that in the qualifying rounds you dont start from scratch in the qualification process. For example, in the Oceana qualification there are alot of teams missing that Australia beat during the whole qualification process i.e. American Samoa, Samoa, etc. Overall this is a great game with tons of goodies to unlock.

Great shipping and great game! For a PS2 game it doesn't get much better. It's very easy to play once you figure out the keys and how sensitive each button push is to do each action.

This game is a lot of fun. It is is not difficult to control, and is perfect for both the casual soccer fan as well as the die hard

Jameson Thottam keeping up with the World Cup


Soccer is the worlds game, and the World Cup is soccer and the world's greatest event. EA Sports has acquired the exclusive license for the World Cup in 2006, and did so in 2002 as well. Even through I never watch any soccer on non-world cup years, I still manage to get excited when this event rolls around every four years. Besides watching just about every game of the month-long tournament, I purchased this game to help satisfy my soccer fix.

Replay Value [ Jameson Thottam ]
I did have some concerns about the replay value of this game at the time of purchase. EA Sports also released FIFA 06, which has features country specific leagues such as English Premier, Mexican Leagues, MLS, and more. I was worried because just playing the World Cup would lose fun after only a couple of times played. EA has managed to counter that by making the qualifying stages much more in-depth and realistic than ever before. They also threw in some other things to make the game more interesting.

Game Modes [ Jameson Thottam ]

Well, as foremensioned, the World Cup is really one of the only modes in this game. The qualification process for each region is unique and the same as the qualification system in reality. For example, to qualify in the Oceania region, you have to compile the most amount of points of the other Oceania teams, but then you have to play a team from South America who finished third or fourth. The best part about the qualification process is that the results are truly unpredictable. Even the teams that are ranked near the top of the game don't always advance from the regional qualifying.

Don't feel like it? [ Jameson Thottam ]
When you don't feel like winning the World Cup again, the other playable game mode is Global Challenge. Global Challenge places you in control of a team that is usually losing to a better team and challenges you to comeback from the deficit to win. There are some other scenarios where you are tied or winning, but the majority of the scenarios place you behind on the scoreboard. You also earn tokens from your performance in matches and meeting certain objectives, which can be used to unlock legendary players and other goodies such as shoes and other soccer balls.

Gameplay [ Jameson Thottam ]

The gameplay is certainly one of the strongest aspects of this game. The controls can be as complex or as simple as you would like them to be. You can do the basic run, pass, and shoot or learn the more advanced moves such as cross, chip shot, slide tackles, and others. There is a little bit of a learning curve, but it's not too bad. In terms of the game, the physics are pretty good, and the frame rate is good as well. My only complaint is sometimes your player dribbles the ball a little too far in front of him and makes a steal for your opponent too easy. Overall you have good control over how hard your shots are and how far your crosses travel.

Graphics [ Jameson Thottam ] Graphics add to the appeal of this game. The player models are well done, and players actually look like they do in real life, faces and all. The stadiums that you compete in are modeled closely after the stadiums being utilized in Germany and the regional stadiums used in qualifying. Even though the cut scenes get a little repetitive, they are still impressive graphically.

Sound [ Jameson Thottam ]

In addition to the graphics, the sound also adds to the gameplay. The crowd noise is pretty good, with the crowds sometimes performing cheers to encourage their players. The commentary is done by a man who sounds like Tommy Smyth(the guy you always see on ESPN with the cool accent), I actually recognized him from EA's Rugby series of games. In the menus there are a number of EA Trax, that are actually pretty good. The genre of music is more like new age, rather than the rock/rap usually found in other game's EA Trax.

Final Thoughts [ Jameson Thottam ]

The United States just got eliminated from the World Cup, but you can always play this game and lead them to the virtual World Cup. Anyway, 2006 FIFA World Cup is an excellent game that would be a great addition to any sport's fans quiver of games. It allows you to take control of current stars of the game such as Ronaldo, Zidane, Beckham, and Donovan. It's always fun to see if you can lead a country to the World Cup.

[ Jameson Thottam ]