difficult to get overwhelmed at the prospect of another FIFA title, regardless of the continued (sometimes troubled) improvement shown in FIFA 07. (Aptly demonstrated with a 73% in XBW46... we'll discount the nasty Champions League cash-in.)
As you'd expect, it'll be bigger, brighter, prettier and more stuffed full of licenses than any other game, including several thousand more players than in Madden. But after years where they may have out-sold PES, they've never conquered their Konami rivals where it matters: on the pitch. This year though, there are several improvements which they reckon will set up a much more level playing field.
First up, the ball is truly animation-free. Last year's version went almost all the way (although there were still some artificial limits); now the ball is totally physics-driven. It's not tied to a string, it's not pre-determined in animations, it's just, to all intents and purposes, a ball. Which is great news, but lest we forget, it's exactly what we've enjoyed in PES for an age. With this in mind, EA are determined that FIFA 08 will become far more freeform. You'll have a wider range of spontaneous moves and you'll have to get player-positioning right for shots. Which, er, is all in PES. Already. Still, if they sort it, then it's undeniably great news.
Kick It The other big focus is an area in which EA have far more expertise: a massively expanded skills section. On the one hand, combined with the physics engine, you'll have more opportunity to pull off sexy football tricks from all your favourite players, doing so by holding down the left trigger and using the right analogue stick. It's designed to be more organic and fluid than 'trick sticks' of the past and easier to pull off on the fly. Cruyff turns, Ronaldo stepovers and already over a dozen other moves are all promised, after they borrowed some technology from NBA Homecourt.
And let's face it, everyone wants to pull off the good stuff to truly humiliate their mates. However, we've got to be honest and say we're unsure of how much focus we want on these sort of individual skills; after all, it's a team game and to be fair, trick stick-style gimmicks have had dubious success down the years.
That said, the sounds coming out of EA Canada are encouraging, and if they can pull it off, this could rock considerably. Well wait to go hands-on with it before we give it a full endorsement.
I really hope that it is brilliant so I have a good alternative to pro evo, which also seems to be stuck in a time-warp. Would love to see a master league type option using a lower division side (or fantasise that man u are not in the premiership so I can use them). The licenses are the biggest draw for me.
I thought previews actually meant you would have played the game and gave a heads-up on how its shaping up. This isn't a preview, it's a generic write up from the press release!
Fifa seems to be improving every season. that's great news! At least they are doing things to the game, trying to let us have more fun out of it. Not just copy & paste & everything is still the same in the gameplay, let alone graphics. License does plays an important part of it. I greatly appreciate that. Hope to hear more news on Fifa 08. Getting excited about it.
EA have got 2 bring back sum of the gud stuff in FIFA, like saving your replays to look back at those beauties you have curled into the top corner, or them skills which took on your m8 and left him embarrased! also lets have create a tornmount mode and have the ref and linesmens on it, JUST MAKE IT LOOK LIKE YOUR ARE PLAYIN FOOTY! oh, ad some realistic fans in the crowd and make the atmoshere sound a little more real, have the crowd react to what kind of decisions the players and the ref make! Fifa seems to get frustrating every year, but i'll still by the game, after all EA know that fans will by FIFA even if they have just improved the gameplay and updated the transfers.
i still dont understand that why did they make FIFA 07 just with a few leagues in it....example FA League ..Spanish League ..... Italian League ... and there were some more like 1 or 2 more.... why didnt they put in the Dutch League i mean there are top teams in the Dutch League AJAX...PSV...FEYENOORD so i really hope that FIFA 08 has at least all the leagues in it so there is more choice to play from
i hope aswell that in FIFA 08 that we can see the referee on the field and not only when you get a free kick of a card....and dont forget the sidelines aswell we want to see them aswell with the flags....and i hope that FIFA 08 is fully updated with all the new signings from players like Henry at Barcelona .... Robben Sneijder Drenthe at Real Madrid....
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