FIFA 08 review

Sept 28, 2007

Ironically, while this season’s Winning Eleven appears to have wholeheartedly embraced a faster-paced, more arcade-y style, FIFA has gone sim crazy. But, like the pain Spurs fans must experience with each passing year, all that pre-season optimism turns to mush as soon as the first ball is kicked. More of that later, though; let’s kick off with the good stuff...

It’s almost boring repeating the annual mantra, but FIFA 08 sure does look purdy. Though some of the players still sport waxen masks of which Madame Tussaud’s would be proud, they move wonderfully, and the actual presentation is slicker than Sky Sports, with its fancy cinematic camera angles and textbook commentary from Messrs Tyler and Gray. Squint a bit and it looks and sounds almost - almost - real. Full marks for the Beckham-esque presentation then, but sadly in the engine room EA’s young pretender doesn’t cut the proverbial.

FIFA 08’s biggest problem is that it makes it just too difficult to actually play the beautiful game. Crucially, it lets itself down with the small things - like making a simple five-yard pass to a teammate. We reckon it’s because the 360 is too busy calculating all those trajectories, momentum and points of impact that EA always bang on about to actually play things simple and concentrate on the important stuff.