The 10 Minute Review -- FIFA 08

The 10 Minute Review is a new concept where I work for 10 minutes, and only 10 minutes on a blogpost.

EA Sports has just released FIFA 08 for all platforms. I picked up the PS2 version (a day after it came out....as no store in National Champhionshipville decided to stock it on the day of its release). The PS3 and X-Box 360 versions are rumored to have a new shooting engine. The PS2 version has the same as FIFA 07, but they have made a number of great improvements.

1) Passing. Aware that the tap-X-to-make-a-ground-pass was repetitive, the designers have updated the "through ball" feature. This allows you to pass the ball "into space" and switch to another player to retrieve it, so the game is not as linear as it was in previous years. They have also added a "make runs" button which, when pressed, sends the nearest player charging forward past the defense. The combination of through ball and runs made, once a player gets their timing down (which I'm still working on) should lead to a great deal more fluidity in the game and cut down on the repetitiveness. Finally, the added a three-button "give-and-go" combo pass that looks early on to be very useful for chopping up defenses.

2) Commentary. The commentary for 07 was pretty generic. It wasn't bad, per se, but it was pretty generic. This year, they have made it more "situational." If you play in one of the 38 real venues, the announcer tells you what stadium and city you are in (i.e. we're here at White Hart Lane, home of Tottenham Hotspur). They have also added more player names including, for the first time, some goalkeepers. It adds to the realism of the game a great deal more than you would think it does.

3) New Stadiums. So far, all I have found are the Home Depot Center in LA and White Hart Lane. Sadly, no Upton Park, home of West Ham United.

4) Manager Mode. The designers evidently read my review of 07. The "board expectation" that are an integral part in manager mode have been updated and should allow you to finish a career with one team. You will recall that in 07 I had West Ham built up so much that the budget didn't match the results and I had to sell a number of players. It looks like (and I'll know more as I play it) that the expanded expectations will take into account current results and allow for potential growth.

5) Training. You can now schedule training sessions in midweek that build up players stats, but also drain their fatigue. Just another way to customize your team.

6) Be A Pro mode. This allows you to play as one player of a team. You are assigned a task, the team has a task, and you get XP based on your performance. It is designed for the multitap, so up to four players can play on the same team. The problem, though, is that is extremely boring in one player mode. I played with Anton Ferdinand (a central defender) and it was only exciting when the opponent had the ball on attack. When West Ham had it, it was pointless and I spent most of the time off the screen.

7) Goalie Control. In 07, you had limited control of the goalie -- you could basically charge the ball by holding triangle. Now, pressing the R3 makes the keeper a live player with full control. I haven't figured out how to use this to my advantage yet, but it adds to the flexibility of the game.

There you go. This post is more a list of improvements rather than a review, but I can safely say that it is better than 07 by a longshot. I know that I am the only soccer fan on the blog, but if you have some downtime in a weekend, go out and give it a rent.