Alright here we go, I have been playing the FIFA demo now for 4 games, well 8 45 minute halfs (what dumbass thought that up?) and this FIFA is average to good. The reason for this is indeed because they have copied Pro Evo A LOT ! For example you look at the control structures, Classic which is typical FIFA and new which to be honest they should've just called Pro Evolution. The whole layout is Pro Evo so naturally I chose that. Now onto the other lil copied parts, in Pro Evolution 1, 2 and beyond you could hold A while in defence and your player would move towards the attacking player, but a little hidden option was holding X as wellto bring over a second player to pressure the player (this was added to the manual in Pro Evo 4 but was always available in 1, 2 & 3) now guess what? FIFA 07 has this exactly.
So what is the match gameplay like ?
Well okay is all I can say, diving into the game we have Manchester Utd vs. Barcelona (as well as other selectable teams such as AC Milan and Werder Bremen), in typical EA fashion the presentation is there, the crowd is loud and there is now a stupid PA system that as well announcing the goalscorer will also call out marriage proposals and FIFA's no racism message which to be honest seems as if it's trying far too hard to introduce anything original that Pro Evo doesn't do.
Again so what is the gameplay like ?
Sorry I got carried away there with that stupid PA system which is ..... ahem. Right then the actual football is close to Pro Evo but it is not as close as you would like. For starters the players all seem to be stuck in this 4x4ft box of control that FIFA always seems to suffer from. The players glide along the pitch and the animations are very good in most parts but when the camera get's close it get's quite jerky. The ball has vastly improved in it's dynamics and physics, it will rebound, bounce, swerve, loop and ricochet off players, goal posts, ad signs etc making the control more realistic, if only the players were just as convincing. One thing of notice is that the crowd will sing and chant proper (clean) matchday choruses which does add to the overall football atmosphere.
One thing that annoyed me though is FIFA is still fairly easy and predictable, as I have mentioned I haven't played FIFA since 2000/2001 so I was very surprised to find that I could usually win or draw with my opposition, I only lost once. And the crazy scorelines are back, how does 6-1, 5-2, 7-3 and 3-0 suit you? And remember that was on World Class difficulty ! Yes it is quite easy to score in FIFA and it's usually with the star players who can waltz through a defence quite easy and then slot it home or for some reason will rebound to the other side of the keeper for your player running in to slot it in. This in fact is one of the best ways to score.
Other than that it plays okay, it looks fairly good and the presentation is top class, it's just that gameplay and represenation of the game of football that always seems to let it down, that is why in my opinion I'll wait for Pro Evolution Soccer 6. One glimmer of hope though, EA know Pro Evo is better, this is why they steal ...sorry take from it, so with this in mind I can't wait for FIFA 2011, by this time they should have taken enough "inspiration" from Konami's finest to finally make a decent game of football decent.
I thank you.
FIFA 07 demo
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Graphics: 8 - Looks like a match on TV
Sound: 8 - Proper crowd chants add to atmosphere
Presentation: 8 - Tries too hard in some areas
Gameplay: 6 - It's close to good but high scorelines too common
Keep from shelf: 7 - It's FIFA what do you think ?
Overall: 7 (not an average)
Still behind konami's finest, but with every iteration it does get better, but still chasing Pro Evolution from the sidelines. If you like FIFA then of course buy it, if you want a great football game that plays a great game of football wait for Pro Evo.