It's coming home, it's coming home, football's coming home. This June sees the biggest sporting event the world has ever seen taking place in the land of the rising sun, the FIFA World Cup. And the Rising Sun is just where I'll be watching it. The Rising Sun pub, Bracknell. When I'm not in there though, I'll be taking England to glory myself, barring the dreaded penalty shoot-outs of course - which could see me back in the Rising Sun drowning my sorrows at yet another humiliating exit. To restore some national pride to our long suffering battered emblem, myself and resident FIFA convert Gary Foy took 2002 FIFA World Cup through its paces on the next-gen consoles, PS2, Xbox and GameCube.
The first task to fall on our heavy shoulders was to make the all important team selection and the excitement of the opening match against Sweden had us both leaving Seaman on the bench, as according to the stats, Martyn is a better keeper! McManamanamanaman is placed in the starting line up by EA, and promptly dropped by us in favour of Bowyer, statistically a better player but an inferior likeness. In fact Bowyer has to be the worst player likeness in this game. Sporting a jet black barnet and not a single aggressive movement he's nothing like the Bowyer we know and love. Other higher profile stars however are eerie in their effigies, Beckham and Owen in particular. Unfortunately Beck's haircut will be at least three styles out of date by June.
The first thing that strikes you about this game as being different from FIFA 2002 is the crowd. They are far more realistic in terms of animation and sound, with individual chanting depending what team you play with. 'Come on England! Come on England!' could be heard echoing from the stands. Even Argentina's fans sounded good, though naturally we gave them nothing to shout about.
This crowd atmosphere is supplemented by a full on orchestral score that's more 'tasteful BBC coverage' than 'tacky ITV glitz'. It is perhaps a little over dramatic, but when it accompanies a golden goal winner by Beckham in the final against Italy you can't fail to be moved on an emotional level.
Important goals are also accompanied by a rendered celebratory sequence, such as the opener in a match or the late equalizer against Belgium in the Quarter finals. Paul Scholes milked that one for all it was worth, standing god-like on the advertising hoardings in front of the adoring Belgian fans. That was no mistake, you read correctly. Both sets of fans celebrate a goal. It is amusing to see the French going wild as Fowler nets an injury time equalizer - doubt that would happen in real life.
This game is extraordinarily easy to pick up, allowing you to whip in corners and score from bicycle kicks at the first play. Each star player has individual skills that add to the carnival atmosphere of the World Cup, finding and using these unique talents is tricky to say the least.
Like FIFA 2002 the through ball function is no more, forcing you to use skill and judgment to pick out that killer pass. Of course relying on the AI to make that killer run is like expecting Bolton to beat Arsenal (I'm not bitter) but luckily I had a human team mate capable of making those runs for me. This is where the game really comes to life, and teamwork produces some of the truly most satisfying moments.
'Communication guys, you're only sat next to each other' advised a colleague as we both slid in on the same man, missing him completely. He raised a valid point. Communication between team mates is vital, thus avoiding school boy errors such as bunching and both going for the same ball.
'Anyone can pick up and play, only a few will master' is the slogan on the back of the box. It's not strictly true though as mastering FIFA on its lower skill settings isn't the great challenge it first appears. Of course winning the World Cup on FIFA's world class setting is about as difficult as England will find winning the real thing. Not having played any FIFA for a prolonged period since the ancient FIFA 95 on the Megadrive I was surprised at how easily I got to grips with this game. The standard skills are very easy to use, easier than in FIFA 2002, yet they are not necessary to win any games. More emphasis seems to be on pass and move to break down teams, and the all important commodity of pace.
In fact the Chris Waddle step over is the most useless skill of all time. It just doesn't work. For some reason Waddle would perform this same move every time he got the ball on the right wing, the defender knew it was coming, the commentator knew it was coming and the crowd knew it was coming. No one could stop it though. In 2002 FIFA World Cup it never works. You try this fancy little step over and you'll get clattered.
Clattering is of course a vital part of the game, and the aspect of jostling for the ball seems to have been improved. As two players fight for the ball, the one that gets the upper hand will invariably hand off his opponent with extreme aggression. Pressuring a defender into running the ball into his own net is also a sure fire way of scoring in those frantic goal mouth scrambles.
Our path to the final comprised of two golden goal winners and the inevitable semi final penalty shoot-out with the Argies. Two nil up and coasting, we took off Gerrard and Owen to save them picking up second yellows and missing the final. Didn't want any repeat of the Gazza scenario. A quick Argentina goal caused us to regret our conservative substitution but we held on 'til the end, or so we thought. It was like playing at Old Trafford as they scored a dramatic equalizer in what seemed like ninety eighth minute. Typical Argentina, even their video game team cheats.
The penalty shoot-out had us thinking back to '98 and yet another disastrous England exit, but we had an advantage over Hoddle's men… Ince and Batty weren't there! For the first time in any football game, and possibly the first time in England's history, we triumphed in a semi final penalty shoot-out with some great precision shooting.
An interesting dilemma occurred in a second round match with Uruguay. Five - Nil up and Michael Owen's pace was causing them to slide in at every opportunity, resulting more often than not in a red card. After four players were sent off I thought I was playing against Sheffield United, what would have happened had they gone down to six men? Would the game have been stopped as the rules dictate?
The commentary is again provided by John Motson and Andy Gray. Now I like Andy Gray, I find he rarely gets things wrong and genuinely knows what he's talking about. This commentary however was as enjoyable as watching repeats of Wish You Were Here. Andy would drop in little facts about the players and stadia as though he were a tour guide. Once you've played through the game twice you'll have heard all there is to hear several times over. Yes Gerrard is a good passer of the ball and Beckham was sent off in the last world cup, you've told us before Andy. I guess it would be different should you play with through with other teams, but let's face it, who wants to win the World Cup with France? Not me.
Winning the World Cup with England unlocks an all star European team consisting of Zidane, Raul, Figo, Dessaily, Morientes, Beckham and Owen. This truly is a dream team, one that Man UTD are no doubt hoping to put together, and I used them for the purpose that god intended - I battered the Germans. Having a team full of stars such as this makes winning so much easier. They are all faster, more skilful and better shots than most mere mortals.
The star players also have an arcade style whoosh sound attached to every pass and shot, complete with a colourful trailing effect. Seeing a colourful blur following the ball around does nothing to add to the realism, except of course for Paul Merson.
Winning the tournament with other nations unlocks even more special teams. A Brazil victory unlocks an all-Americas team, but they're not half as much fun as the Europeans. Not having won with teams from other continents I'm not sure what other hidden sides exist. I'd like to think there was a mascot team somewhere, but that may just be wishful thinking.
This game also comes with a bonus film montage of football fans from across the world, similar to something that might be shown on Trans World Sport at 2:00am. This isn't really worth having on the disc, or wasting time watching. If it had been a collection of great World Cup goals or behind the scenes on the making of the game then fine, but the DVD extras style attempt here fails. More gameplay options would have been a better use of time.
It may just be my ogre like hands but I found the Xbox controller ill suited for FIFA. The close proximity of its buttons meant I was shooting all over the place, and making passes at people to whom I really shouldn't have been. The Xbox version looks much better than the PS2 though, and doesn't suffer from slowdown as much. The slowdown on the PS2 is a real problem, taking me back to the dark days of playing fps games on an archaic PC. This shouldn't happen, yet does.
The detail and refinery present in the Xbox version make it stand head and shoulders above its PS2 counterpart, but I believe that they both pale when compared to the GameCube. This is a controversial belief, but for me the GameCube version is the best of the three. It has the graphical beauty of the Xbox version, without the slowdown present on the PS2 and a controller more suited to frantic play.
The big drawback with this game is its lack of longevity. Once you've won the World Cup, a mere seven games, you've completed it. Sure you can up the skill level or take another team to glory, but it's always the same. If like me you only want to be England, you'll always start against Sweden. There's no option for customizing the cup, or at least making it a random draw. There are of course no club sides, meaning that for a fuller footballing experience you'll need FIFA 2002 as well.
A major niggle that we found during multiplayer games is at the start of every game you have to go into options and select which players are on which team. It doesn't remember this for you. So as the tension builds during each round, the elaborate intro, the crowd roar and you click pause, go to set up and select your controller. What a mood breaker.
For some reason there are teams that didn't make it to the World Cup available to you in friendly mode, such as Scotland. Now I've nothing against Scotland, but why are they included when Holland are not? Surely the total footballing Dutch with stars such as Bergkamp and Van Nistleroy would be more entertaining than a nation of players with a league the strength of our conference?
2002 FIFA World Cup looks better than previous versions, it plays well and has a great atmosphere but unfortunately the game is too short with too few options. If you own FIFA 2002 already then this may be an unnecessary purchase, unless of course the World Cup is the be all and end all of your summer. What better way to get in the mood for a match than rehearsing it several times first?
If you've grown out of World Cup football stickers though, this is the World Cup item, and no humiliating England defeat would be complete without it. admin
This crowd atmosphere is supplemented by a full on orchestral score that's more 'tasteful BBC coverage' than 'tacky ITV glitz'. It is perhaps a little over dramatic, but when it accompanies a golden goal winner by Beckham in the final against Italy you can't fail to be moved on an emotional level.
Important goals are also accompanied by a rendered celebratory sequence, such as the opener in a match or the late equalizer against Belgium in the Quarter finals. Paul Scholes milked that one for all it was worth, standing god-like on the advertising hoardings in front of the adoring Belgian fans. That was no mistake, you read correctly. Both sets of fans celebrate a goal. It is amusing to see the French going wild as Fowler nets an injury time equalizer - doubt that would happen in real life.
This game is extraordinarily easy to pick up, allowing you to whip in corners and score from bicycle kicks at the first play. Each star player has individual skills that add to the carnival atmosphere of the World Cup, finding and using these unique talents is tricky to say the least.
Like FIFA 2002 the through ball function is no more, forcing you to use skill and judgment to pick out that killer pass. Of course relying on the AI to make that killer run is like expecting Bolton to beat Arsenal (I'm not bitter) but luckily I had a human team mate capable of making those runs for me. This is where the game really comes to life, and teamwork produces some of the truly most satisfying moments.
'Communication guys, you're only sat next to each other' advised a colleague as we both slid in on the same man, missing him completely. He raised a valid point. Communication between team mates is vital, thus avoiding school boy errors such as bunching and both going for the same ball.
'Anyone can pick up and play, only a few will master' is the slogan on the back of the box. It's not strictly true though as mastering FIFA on its lower skill settings isn't the great challenge it first appears. Of course winning the World Cup on FIFA's world class setting is about as difficult as England will find winning the real thing. Not having played any FIFA for a prolonged period since the ancient FIFA 95 on the Megadrive I was surprised at how easily I got to grips with this game. The standard skills are very easy to use, easier than in FIFA 2002, yet they are not necessary to win any games. More emphasis seems to be on pass and move to break down teams, and the all important commodity of pace.
In fact the Chris Waddle step over is the most useless skill of all time. It just doesn't work. For some reason Waddle would perform this same move every time he got the ball on the right wing, the defender knew it was coming, the commentator knew it was coming and the crowd knew it was coming. No one could stop it though. In 2002 FIFA World Cup it never works. You try this fancy little step over and you'll get clattered.
Clattering is of course a vital part of the game, and the aspect of jostling for the ball seems to have been improved. As two players fight for the ball, the one that gets the upper hand will invariably hand off his opponent with extreme aggression. Pressuring a defender into running the ball into his own net is also a sure fire way of scoring in those frantic goal mouth scrambles.
Our path to the final comprised of two golden goal winners and the inevitable semi final penalty shoot-out with the Argies. Two nil up and coasting, we took off Gerrard and Owen to save them picking up second yellows and missing the final. Didn't want any repeat of the Gazza scenario. A quick Argentina goal caused us to regret our conservative substitution but we held on 'til the end, or so we thought. It was like playing at Old Trafford as they scored a dramatic equalizer in what seemed like ninety eighth minute. Typical Argentina, even their video game team cheats.
The penalty shoot-out had us thinking back to '98 and yet another disastrous England exit, but we had an advantage over Hoddle's men… Ince and Batty weren't there! For the first time in any football game, and possibly the first time in England's history, we triumphed in a semi final penalty shoot-out with some great precision shooting.
An interesting dilemma occurred in a second round match with Uruguay. Five - Nil up and Michael Owen's pace was causing them to slide in at every opportunity, resulting more often than not in a red card. After four players were sent off I thought I was playing against Sheffield United, what would have happened had they gone down to six men? Would the game have been stopped as the rules dictate?
The commentary is again provided by John Motson and Andy Gray. Now I like Andy Gray, I find he rarely gets things wrong and genuinely knows what he's talking about. This commentary however was as enjoyable as watching repeats of Wish You Were Here. Andy would drop in little facts about the players and stadia as though he were a tour guide. Once you've played through the game twice you'll have heard all there is to hear several times over. Yes Gerrard is a good passer of the ball and Beckham was sent off in the last world cup, you've told us before Andy. I guess it would be different should you play with through with other teams, but let's face it, who wants to win the World Cup with France? Not me.
Winning the World Cup with England unlocks an all star European team consisting of Zidane, Raul, Figo, Dessaily, Morientes, Beckham and Owen. This truly is a dream team, one that Man UTD are no doubt hoping to put together, and I used them for the purpose that god intended - I battered the Germans. Having a team full of stars such as this makes winning so much easier. They are all faster, more skilful and better shots than most mere mortals.
The star players also have an arcade style whoosh sound attached to every pass and shot, complete with a colourful trailing effect. Seeing a colourful blur following the ball around does nothing to add to the realism, except of course for Paul Merson.
Winning the tournament with other nations unlocks even more special teams. A Brazil victory unlocks an all-Americas team, but they're not half as much fun as the Europeans. Not having won with teams from other continents I'm not sure what other hidden sides exist. I'd like to think there was a mascot team somewhere, but that may just be wishful thinking.
This game also comes with a bonus film montage of football fans from across the world, similar to something that might be shown on Trans World Sport at 2:00am. This isn't really worth having on the disc, or wasting time watching. If it had been a collection of great World Cup goals or behind the scenes on the making of the game then fine, but the DVD extras style attempt here fails. More gameplay options would have been a better use of time.
It may just be my ogre like hands but I found the Xbox controller ill suited for FIFA. The close proximity of its buttons meant I was shooting all over the place, and making passes at people to whom I really shouldn't have been. The Xbox version looks much better than the PS2 though, and doesn't suffer from slowdown as much. The slowdown on the PS2 is a real problem, taking me back to the dark days of playing fps games on an archaic PC. This shouldn't happen, yet does.
The detail and refinery present in the Xbox version make it stand head and shoulders above its PS2 counterpart, but I believe that they both pale when compared to the GameCube. This is a controversial belief, but for me the GameCube version is the best of the three. It has the graphical beauty of the Xbox version, without the slowdown present on the PS2 and a controller more suited to frantic play.
The big drawback with this game is its lack of longevity. Once you've won the World Cup, a mere seven games, you've completed it. Sure you can up the skill level or take another team to glory, but it's always the same. If like me you only want to be England, you'll always start against Sweden. There's no option for customizing the cup, or at least making it a random draw. There are of course no club sides, meaning that for a fuller footballing experience you'll need FIFA 2002 as well.
A major niggle that we found during multiplayer games is at the start of every game you have to go into options and select which players are on which team. It doesn't remember this for you. So as the tension builds during each round, the elaborate intro, the crowd roar and you click pause, go to set up and select your controller. What a mood breaker.
For some reason there are teams that didn't make it to the World Cup available to you in friendly mode, such as Scotland. Now I've nothing against Scotland, but why are they included when Holland are not? Surely the total footballing Dutch with stars such as Bergkamp and Van Nistleroy would be more entertaining than a nation of players with a league the strength of our conference?
2002 FIFA World Cup looks better than previous versions, it plays well and has a great atmosphere but unfortunately the game is too short with too few options. If you own FIFA 2002 already then this may be an unnecessary purchase, unless of course the World Cup is the be all and end all of your summer. What better way to get in the mood for a match than rehearsing it several times first?
If you've grown out of World Cup football stickers though, this is the World Cup item, and no humiliating England defeat would be complete without it. admin
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