FIFA 2001 Major League Soccer PS2 DISC ONLY

by Playstation

Product Features

• Great game

Product Details

• ASIN: B00004U5VU
• Item Weight: 8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,941 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Regardless of whether or not you're a soccer fan, there's plenty to love in FIFA 2001, a must-have sports title for the PlayStation2. In typical EA Sports fashion, this officially licensed product features a large selection of playable teams--more than 300 in fact, from 17 leagues and 58 countries--with gameplay presented in a TV-style format and voice commentary by professional sportscasters. In addition to three game modes (exhibition, season, and tournament), you can customize players, teams, leagues, and playoffs, giving this game some serious replay value.

A real beauty both to watch and to play, FIFA 2001 features some of the most highly detailed, smoothly animated player graphics around, and intuitive controls that are exceptionally easy to learn for a sports genre video game. The controls make this a great two-player pickup game, and even more can play provided you hook some controllers up to the separately sold Multitap accessory.

Gameplay favors arcade fun over the sober realism of some sports simulations, meaning there are bicycle-kick shots aplenty, and you can view instant replays using a 360-degree "free cam" to get a Hollywood-budget second look.

While FIFA 2001 is not without its flaws (poorly drawn spectators and untextured turf), and certainly has room for improvement ("barely there" training mode) and additions (what, no women's teams?), these gripes are relatively minor and easily overlooked in light of the major fun to be had. --Joe Hon

Pros:

• Great fun for both soccer enthusiasts and nonfans alike
• Easy-to-learn, intuitive controls
• Highly detailed, smoothly animated player graphics
• Ability to customize players, teams, leagues, and playoffs

Cons:

• No women's teams

Product Description

This is the game FIFA 2001 for the Playstation 2. This game may not come with the original case and instructions. We stand by our products and offer a 60 day guarantee. If a game does not work within 60 days from the time you receive it we will gladly exchange it for you.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars disappoints on gameplay, November 27, 2000

By 

Rak (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: FIFA 2001 Major League Soccer PS2 DISC ONLY (Video Game)

I've been waiting a long time for the "perfect" soccer game but alas, my wait is not over. I've been purchasing the FIFA Soccer games since 1994, when the game started becoming popular. Since, then, I have purchased the FIFA 96, 97, 98, 99 and now 2001 series. I actually bought my ps2 really just for the FIFA soccer game. I awaited the arrival of this game at my doorstep with such anxiety. I visited the EA Sports site, downloaded the mpeg of the game, read all the reviews and prepared myself for the thrill of a lifetime.

Today (27th November), the game arrived at my doorstep thanks to Mr. UPS. I tore apart the amazon packaging, switched on my ps2, grabbed a beer and some chips and started playing for what I thought was going to be an all night event. The beginning sequence was marvellous. The graphics were the best I've seen from EA Sports. Then I decided to play a game... Manchester United vs Qatar. Here is where my hopes started to dash. First, the camera angles are very poor. You have a choice of tele, action, tower and end-to-end ... none of which give you a really good playable view. I chose tower with a bit of zoom as that gives you the best coverage of the pitch (action is great for other people watching the graphics as you play, but it's very difficult to really know where your other players are). There is a radar function that gives you a map of where all your players are but honestly, when one is engorssed in the game, there is no time for such distractions. The game play is not what I expected, the players are a bit sluggish and sometimes slow to react. The pace is not quick enough to get my blood racing. True, you can increase the game speed, but if you do, it goes beyond the pace the game should be played at. The artificial intelligence is very good though. The computer realizes what you are about to do most times and performs a good counter move. It's also much easier to control the ball at the byline without the ball getting knocked out.

Overall, to me, this game is not as good as FIFA 99. The graphics are much better but at the expense of the gameplay. I would choose gameplay over graphics any day. If you're new to the FIFA soccer series, then you will most definitely enjoy the game. Otherwise, if like me, you've played FIFA 96 or FIFA 99, then you won't be missing too much if you don't have this in your collection. However, in saying that, if you're a die-hard fan, it's impossible to resist owning every single FIFA Soccer game.

p.s. on a side note, this game is not geared to MLS as one might fear eventhough "Major League Soccer" is printed on the cover. This game has all the professional european leagues and even the K-League.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Ridiculous, December 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: FIFA 2001 Major League Soccer PS2 DISC ONLY (Video Game)

After buying Fifa 2000 for PSX I promissed never again to buy a game from the Fifa series since I was SO dissapointed by it. I broke my promise bought the PS2 just for Fifa 2001 and am I mad. I must admit that the graphics are the best I've seen on a Football game, but again couldn't expect more after having paid over (well over retail) for my PS2. When it came to gameplay there is where my worst nightmare came true. It is ridiculous how the guys from EA portray a football game. I bet they have not even seen a real game the whole 90 minutes. In my whole life being a football fan, I have perhaps seen on tv no more than 10 bicycle kick goals. On Fifa I have scored 5, in the same game, and with the same player, in world class. Well I don't know for the rest, but for me is enough to get rid of the game. From now on I will only buy ISS games from Konami. Perhaps they don't have the real names and the graphics are not that good, but oh boy, they really know how to make a game so close to being REAL. I recommend to everybody out there thinking in buying this game to think it twice and probably rent it first. By the way I gave it one star only for the graphics.

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A kick in the shins, December 6, 2000

By 

Giraldo (Orange County, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: FIFA 2001 Major League Soccer PS2 DISC ONLY (Video Game)

When a first generation sports game comes along that shows us exactly what a system is capable of, presenting gorgeous gameplay along with astounding graphics, we can't help but quietly awe at the television screen as we play the game over and over with nary a complaint in our minds. We hold it high, establishing new unimagined standards that future sports games must at least match, as it becomes the trophy game to show off your console with.

Sadly, FIFA 2001 is not such a game. Instead, FIFA is rather disappointing, especially compared to EA's supreme launch effort, Madden 2K1.

I'm not a huge sports fan, so this review will concentrate more on technical acheivements than strict gameplay - and technical acheivements is where FIFA is sadly lacking. From the badly compressed low-resolution FMV introduction, to the grainy, pixelated turf under the player's feet, this game has peeved me to the point of no return. Here are my top peeves about this game:

FMViolations - I think I've seen better FMV on a PSOne. Not only is the introducion in lo-res (you can tell by the jagged edges on the circular EA FIFA logos), but the main menu's constantly moving background seems like it was done in 16 colors and at a frame a second. I'm sorry, but after watching Madden's beautiful DVD-quality intro, this is just not satisfactory.

Where's the Estadio Olimpico? - I own the PC versions of Fifa 98, World Cup, and Fifa 99... and I'm pretty sure you can choose what stadium you're going to be playing in, temperature, weather conditions, etc. After watching Madden letting you tweak things like humidity and 4 general times of day, I can only sigh at the complete and utter lack of stadium tweakage in FIFA. I don't even know if the stadiums in the game correspond to the appropriate home teams or not.

Underacheiving grass - In Replay mode, one can really appreciate the detail in the turf. Or rather, the lack of detail... up close, the turf has huge multi-colored pixels that look fine from afar, but are really just an illusion similar to looking at a magazine photo under a magnifying glass. Again, Madden looks fine - but since FIFA's grass seems to be a huge bitmap instead of texture, it shows up close.

Shadows of the Umpire - I can understand the lack of realtime shadows... but do the shadow objects they use have to be so jaggedy? Most shadows seem like they're being cast by players wearing zoot-suits, and when a player is handling the ball, you see a double shadow - the shadow of the ball intersects the shadow of the player and overlaps it! I had no idea flesh was transparent to light.

Replay schmeplay - Again, I am spoiled by Madden's beautiful replay mode; any angle you want, as close as you want to be, from anywhere on the field. Yet FIFA's FreeCam replay mode was married to the ball in a church that praises the god Myopia. The ball is the only thing you can center, and you can zoom in and out rather limitedly. 360 degree spins around the ball are nice, but never will you be able to watch the game from any viewpoint you want. You can't pick a player to follow, nor can you effectively control the replay speed to slo-mo around the details you want. It's touch-and-go, and careful with pushing the analog stick too far, or you'll zip right past the play.

So their hair moves, so what? - Ok, so the players are made up of thousands of polygons. Ok, so they look like their real-life counterparts thanks to their digitized faces. Ok, so when they throw their heads back their hair moves in a way that invokes memories of hairspray commercials. But you can't tell a bloody thing during normal gameplay! Automatic replay is so scarce that you only appreciate those details during the few times you goal, yet I feel other things are terribly sacrificed in order to catch the glint in the eye of the goalie from Brasil. The cardboard crowd is something to squirm about, and since I end up playing in Tower Cam mode, I can do without the extra player detail and would rather have better looking scenery.

Gameplay is exactly the same - If given a choice, which in fact I am, I'm sticking with the PC versions of the older games. There is nothing new offered in FIFA 2K1 which improves on the gameplay, and it's not more fun.

In conclusion, I had to double check to see if I was mistakenly given a copy of the Playstation 1 version of FIFA. The game might be better than its previous console incarnations, but it really isn't much compared to what I know the PS2 can do. I hold Madden high, and the technical standards the game sets are something I now expect from all future sports games on the PS2, especially if they're from the same company. FIFA is a disappointment, and will not remain on my shelf. I'm trading it in for something better.

IF YOU SEE IT: Rent it! (Sorry, Amazon)