FIFA 08 Review

by Sam Fletcher - 2008/05/15 1:08pm

What makes a great football (soccer) game? Solid gameplay? Licensed teams and players? High end graphics?

FIFA 08 on the PS3 has all these and more.

When you first load the game up you’ll be asked to choose your favourite team, this sets them as the default selection for the game modes, which can be both a blessing and a curse depending on who you’d like to play as. Once selected your presented with the games somewhat awkward and dated menu system, from which you can jump into a game, manage teams or change your settings. Like other next-gen EA sports title the menu (and subsequent loading screens) is interactive, where you take control of a selected player, and have the opportunity to practice your skills and take some shots at goal.

The most basic game mode is “Kick-off” where you select your teams, quickly select the game options and jump right into a match. This is ideal for multiplayer (the game supports up to 4 people on machine) where you don’t want the hassle of flicking through menus to get into a game.

Other game modes include custom tournaments and leagues, a challenge mode and a manger mode. The manager mode is nothing special, you basically work your way through the seasons, with the abilities to buy/sell/loan players.

The games best modes lie within the fantastic online option. You have several modes here; both quick and custom ranked/unranked matches as well as online leagues and a represent your team mode, where your results are uploaded to your supported clubs stats, which affects its league position online. The best online mode though, is “Be a Pro.” Similar to the “Be a Pro” mode in the Madden series, you select one player in a team and play solely as them. This allows up to 10 people to play at once, either on the same or different teams. There’s nothing quite like 10 people playing together, all of whom have mics. This helps the tactics flow, and pulling together a beautiful play has never been so satisfying. The flipside to this however, is playing a game with 9 other people who can’t and/or won’t work as a team but this is the case for all online games.



The gameplay is the best in the FIFA series, and only a stone’s throw away from Pro Evolution (Winning Eleven) Soccer’s. Set animations have been pretty much canned in favour of a more dynamic system where each player reacts like you’d expect them to in real life. There is the odd occasion where the player doesn’t react quite to your liking especially when they stand and stare at a ball right in front of them, but these are rare occurrences and the game can be forgiven for it. There isn’t much in the way of new elements from the previous games, but it all feels refined to near perfection.

The only major addition is the new trick system, where holding down L2 while moving the right analogue stick in specific patterns makes the player either pull off, or fumble a trick depending on how well you preformed the gesture. It’s a rewarding system, where if you take the time to perfect the movements, you’re rewarded with a great looking trick to get past you’re opponent. The game also connects to the ESPN news server, so you can see the latest news and results whilst playing.

The controls handle like they always have, but for those of you used to playing PES, you can change them via the menu.

Graphically, the game delivers everything a football game should and more. With over 621 licensed teams and over 15,000 licensed players, the developers have gone out their way to make each of them look unique and like their real life counterparts. You can tell who the players are by not only looking at them, but by the way they move and act on the pitch. The game also offers over 40 stadiums, each looking the part. It is a shame the score boards aren’t dynamic though.



Sound wise, FIFA 08 goes above and beyond the other football games, with crowds singing their team’s chants and the best commentary in a sports game so far. If you keep your ears peeled you can even hear announcements over the tanoy, which makes the game all that more real.

The game isn’t without its cons. As mentioned the A.I. can be a bit weak at times, and once you master the trick system, it becomes nigh on unstoppable, making the game extremely one sided. However these are minor flaws and don’t ruin the game in too big a way.

FIFA 08 goes above and beyond every other football game on the market, including Pro Evolution Soccer. Where PES sticks to its tried and tested formula, FIFA 08 takes steps in new directions for the series and as a result, the beautiful game has never looked so good.

Resistance100: Meh FIFA is average at best, while they have improved it still doesn't feel realistic in the same way PES does. The only selling point for FIFA for me now, is that Exeter City will feature in 09