FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup (Xbox 360) Review

FIFA 06 was arguably one of the best instalments in the FIFA saga so far, and it received great reviews. Therefore, it would be easy to assume that EA would simply choose to convert this game directly to the Xbox 360, with a few added bells and whistles. Easy money, right? Sadly, things have turned out differently…

The Xbox 360 version of FIFA 06 carries the suspicious “Road to World Cup” subtitle, and you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know that this means that the game is all about next year’s World Cup. EA has pulled this trick before with unsatisfying results, but we’ll let the numbers speak for themselves. The Xbox version of FIFA 06 had about 500 teams, whereas RTFWC only has 72 national teams, 50 of which are European. The remaining countries (about 130) have been left out altogether.

Forza Europe

But this is not the only way the game has been limited. For whatever reason, you can only participate in the actual qualifying groups if you’re playing as a European team. The rest of the world can only enter random groups. The qualifiers have been spiced up with some friendly matches, as well as an international tournament, but this doesn’t mean much, because RtFWC does not have the team chemistry element from FIFA 06. So you can change the team roster and win or lose as much as you like without any consequences, other than what can be seen in your Xbox Live gamerscore.

On the other hand, EA has bought lots of official licenses, meaning that you get the official players and coaches. In other words, you can play using Rooney, Gravesen, Ronaldinho or any of the other multi-millionaires. You can also unlock extra goodies, such as new Adidas balls, and classic outfits. And apart from the World Cup element, the game also offers knockout tournaments, or group games against random teams.

Very different from FIFA 06

Oddly enough, the game also differs hugely from FIFA 06 once you get onto the pitch. It’s much harder to dribble and build up decent offensive plays in RtFWC, and the ball changes sides to quickly that it requires quite a lot of practice to get into position for a simple goal attempt. The shooting part itself is also different, and you will often see shots go off the mark, even though they would have been winners in FIFA 06. Your team mates also have a tendency to react sluggishly, and if you launch a sudden counterattack, they’ll often leave you alone against five defenders. This is unfortunate, especially seeing that the defenders will snatch the ball from you in a split second. (That’s not fair, where’s the ref? –Ed.)

The game doesn’t look that much better than FIFA 06 on the other platforms. EA has boldly chosen to give the entire game a glossy look with extremely bright lighting. This will not be everyone’s cup of tea, of course, but it does look quite nice, especially at a distance. The graphics engine handles an astounding amount of detail, and the stars themselves are well done, especially if you look at their legs and footwear. Naturally, it’s also extremely cool to be able to see individual blades of grass on the field.

Aww, what a nasty foul. Show him the brown card!

Sadly, the players’ hair and faces are so well done, and the referee seems to have brown cards this time around – we don’t recall hearing anything about these from FIFA. The animation is great, but it lacks individual flair – several players simply share the same standard movements. I also think that the game looks less spectacular in action compared to earlier FIFA games (although these might have been a little over the top), and this has a negative impact on the feeling of accomplishment when scoring.

Another interesting idea is the use of a depth of field effect that is relative to the position of the ball, meaning that the “camera” will change focus according to where the ball is, just like a real camera. This technique is becoming common in new games, and I like it, but it can be hard on the eyes when you’re trying to focus on anything other than what the camera chooses to focus on.

The sound in FIFA is solid as always, sporting a broad selection of decent songs, and commentary by Andy Gray and Martin Tyler of Sky Sports. They both have many interesting anecdotes, and their comments are usually relevant, but oddly enough, Andy Gray actually does a slightly better job in FIFA 06 when it comes to analysing the game, than he does here.

Practice before venturing into the world, my son...

The online part of the game works flawlessly over Xbox Live, as expected, but do practice before you take the plunge online, even though you might be a FIFA veteran. It’ll take at least an hour or two to get used to RtFWC’s peculiarities, and you will have crushing defeats if you encounter someone who’s been practicing more than you. Talent doesn’t count as much as experience here.

It might come as a surprise, but I would actually have preferred a direct conversion of FIFA 06 to this. One might suspect EA of thinking strategically here, because none of the other new FIFA games work on the Xbox 360. That’s a bit odd, because some of the older versions will actually run on the console’s emulator. But if you want a new FIFA, you’ll have to settle for Road to World Cup. Don’t get me wrong, the game is not half bad, and does offer some entertainment for footie fans, but we’ve seen far better games under the FIFA license, and Road to World Cup just doesn’t seem to be the right way to usher in the next generation of football games.

Source: Boomtown Denmark
English version by: Jonatan A. Allin (neonwolf)