FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup

Wow, long title.

I haven’t really gotten into a sports game since NFL Blitz 2000, but I picked up FIFA 06 Road to FIFA World Cup at Dave’s Video a while back for really cheap.  Besides the players being outdated this is a fun game.

If you couldn’t tell from the background of my blog, I like soccer. I am in heaven during the World Cup, especially since it helps get through the Premier League offseason.  So I was naturally drawn to this game when I saw it for a super cheap price. Controlling the players to do just what you want is fairly difficult. But this actually makes the game play more fun by adding tension to the game. If you ever get down by a point it is never a certainty that you will be able to make up the points, the shooting is a bit too chaotic. Or maybe I am just not very good at this game, which is usually the case. This also changes the game dynamic. A strong defense is needed because the offense may not always be able to make up the difference. It is also more important to be able to often get off good shots.

Let’s talk about the not so good. The computer-controlled players on your team are pretty terrible and will do truly stupid things. Having an actual person to play co-op with helps this greatly. It is also all too easy to hit the wrong button and do something that you obviously didn’t mean to, like pass to out-of-bounds instead of a chip into the goal. This can become increasingly frustrating and lead to profanities being yelled at the TV. Remember, it is rated E for what happens IN the game, not outside of it.

There are many options for game play. You can just play a quick game or play through the whole World Cup experience. Additionally you can play with or against up to 3 other players. The player can also customize the length of the game from just a few minutes to the actual 90 minutes.

Overall it is a pretty fun game, but nothing special above any other soccer game so I give it four out of five stars or thumbs or whatever.