FIFA 07 Xbox 360 review

Let's cut to the chase, FIFA 07 is a brilliant game. Much better in fact than we might have expected playing the rather good World Cup game released earlier this year. Normally such single-event games hint at the next FIFA to come, but the two-year project to rebuild its football franchise means what we have here in FIFA 07 is a very different beast with no direct lineage to games past.

That does make for one of the game's negative aspects though. A totally new game means totally new content and assets. So whereas in the current-gen versions the library of leagues, teams and stadiums can be copy and pasted over from previous titles, everything has been built here from scratch. That means the number of leagues, teams and stadiums on offer here is far below that of the current-gen game.

That said, given the choice between this game and the ones I reviewed on PSP, PC, PS2 and Xbox last week, I'd take this Xbox 360 incarnation every time. It is superb.

Newton Heath

The biggest change over previous versions is the level that physics play, both in terms of player movement and the ball. There's no longer any sense of the ball being tethered to the players' feet and can be easily knocked ahead while running and easily lost to a member of the opposing team. Keeping the ball is tougher now but defending isn't a piece of cake either. Keeping the sprint button held but relaxing the left thumbstick means the player will stop and trap the ball, making it possible to turn and shield the ball. Defenders now have a variety of options including pushing the ball carrier away from the ball and even ordering the defence to move up to catch an unwary attacker offside with the right shoulder button. The refs can get a little overzealous though.

FIFA veterans will find all this rather new at first as the game doesn't play like any of the previous games. It's as big a leap as FIFA 2002, yet at the same time isn't as jarring or ill-conceived version as that. Instead the game feels natural, flowing and the independent realistic ball physics make for exciting six-yard scrambles and accidentally deflected goals. It feels like football.

Shooting is fantastic, though the improved keepers make for very tough opponents. There are no particular easy goals or definite winners, you'll have to craft out each goal on anything above semi-pro level. The off-the-ball movement by team-mates isn't perfect, you will have to send them on runs manually to get the best out of the through ball and spend some time editing your squad's attack and defence settings.

Squad Management

There are plenty of options for tinkering with your favourite teams. If international teams are your thing there's the welcome return of the national pools to the franchise. So now you can pick entirely different national sides based on the pool of available players within the game. This is somewhat limited by the lower number of leagues in the 360 version.

For national and club sides there are many options which you can use to customize the way the team plays and raise team chemistry to an optimal level. Using menu system similar to management games you can set players to make runs in specific directions, control certain parts of the pitch and set how much defending they are expected to do.

While I did love all these options I thought the selection of in-game tactics was too low. Just four attack and four defence options are provided for use in-game on the dpad. A few more would have been more welcome, with the gamer having to pick their favourite eight before the game.

Management Mode

The core of the single player experience is the Manager Mode. This is where you'll take your favourite team through five seasons of growth in an attempt to dominate your chosen league and regional football. During that time players earn experience based on their performance which can then be spent on improving their skills and traits. EA has gone to great lengths to provide many statistics for each player with detailed attributes even recording such information as whether that player tries to avoid heading the ball.

Post match statistics exist in all modes but are especially useful to those playing the management game. The detail is exhaustive, both for teams and individual players. You can call up a pitch diagram and see where every tackle, foul, pass and shot were made. The diagram will even show where players made runs so you can see if you're make effective use of your wingers.

Lounging Around

If you plan on playing the game with a group of friends you'll love the new lounge system. Quick match can still be used to launch a two player game, but the Lounge is used for a much deeper experience. Lounge sessions can feature from two to 20 players, each with their favourite team stored. Sessions can be saved so you can keep a record of your battles with certain friends, and all manner of entertaining features can be enabled such as making an overly successful player start with nine men on the pitch.

Taking the game online via Xbox Live is a real joy. This is the smoothest online football you'll play. The feel is the same as playing someone in the same room - it really is that good. Players can now set up a custom session to share with a friend making it easy to start rematches. The real icing on the cake of the online experience is the co-op multiplayer, where two--players can control each team.

Presentation

FIFA 07 looks gorgeous. This is often the case with FIFA games, the difference this year is that it moves just as well rather than being an interactive slide show. The animation is really something special. It makes use of inverse kinematics, a method that creates very realistic animation by working backwards - for example working out how to animate the legs based on where the feet need to be.

Player models are detailed and convincing although some of the player likenesses aren't that much like their real world counterparts. Shirts and shorts now look like clothes, moving independently of the body underneath rather than being flat textures on the model. Kits get dirty during play and there's a level of detail that makes everything a joy to behold especially in HD.

The sound is equally good. The best in-game commentary I've heard in a football game is from Actua Soccer 3 on the original PlayStation. Here it's finally beaten by Sky duo Martin Tyler and Andy Gray. Not only is their performance superb, but the actual programmed logic behind their commentary means it all flows naturally and convincingly. Crowds act realistically, whistling for the ref to end the match, treating the away team badly etc.

About the only real fault I have with the presentation is the menu organization. The real-world news ticker, podcast and football news are all very welcome - I just wish EA got all the controls for these in the same menu instead of hiding some away in the Xbox Live section.

Final Whistle

EA Sports really has put in a supreme effort on this latest FIFA game and it really pays off. The on-pitch action does work very well indeed and looks and sounds fantastic too. While the actual content is cut down compared to current-gen versions, there's still so much depth to what is offered.

The management mode will keep you busy for quite a while, the lounge is just the thing for post-pub competitions with friends and the Xbox Live matches are smooth as silk. It's rare to see a game with so much polish pull it off in gameplay terms too, but FIFA 07 really is a fantastic piece of work.