Even for a non-soccer fan like myself, it's difficult to deny that FIFA Soccer is one of the better sports games to grace the PlayStation Portable. The game stands as pretty much a straight port of its console counterpart and the controls and features have survived the transition intact. There's a season mode for league play over a full season as well as the new mid-season mode which offers real mid-season stats for the teams who had started playing before the game's release. Along with the season mode there's a quick match option, tournaments, and the challenge mode.
Having never played FIFA Soccer 2005 for PlayStation 2 or a FIFA game since 2001, I didn't quite know what to expect from FIFA Soccer. Frankly, I'm quite impressed with the overall presentation and performance of the package, although the game includes a fair amount of frustrating elements. The menu system is relatively easy to navigate, although reading text can be a bit troublesome and the font size seems better suited to a TV as opposed to the PSP's screen. However, it's nothing you'll need to get your reading glasses out for. There are also some loading stutters, especially when you're navigating rosters and statistics, but unless you have a complete lack of patience, these slight breaks shouldn't be too troublesome.
There is an abundance of teams and leagues in FIFA, all of which have the appropriate players and uniforms. Chances are, if you have a team that you follow in the soccer world, then it’s in FIFA. Season mode can be played as any of the teams in their respective leagues, but you are also given the option of creating a custom league. I never really found myself engrossed in that mode however and instead gravitated towards the more intense, and rewarding tournament mode. You are able to start a tournament for each league, but once again there’s a custom option. You can customize just about everything in the tournament from number of teams, to whether or not a group stage will be included.
As I mentioned before, I have very little interest in professional soccer so the most enjoyable option for me was to simply create a tournament, select the Columbus Crew as my team, and then have the computer fill in the other tournament slots. The ability to have the computer pick your opponents is very helpful and cuts down on time tremendously. Especially since navigating through the different teams causes the game to stutter while it loads up club logos. It’s also interesting to note that the teams that the computer picks are usually around the same rating as the original team you choose. Of course you're also given the ability to edit the team choices that the computer makes.
Similar to most other PSP offerings from EA, FIFA is limited to wifi multiplayer and you are unable to take the game online. Downloadable roster updates, new players, etc. are unavailable, but there is the in-game 'FIFA Store' which allows the player to unlock alternate jerseys, stadiums, songs, and other such frills. Something I was not expecting was the create-a-player option, which is shockingly in-depth. It’s possible to create players who look eerily similar to yourself, although it may take seven hours.
The gameplay in FIFA is surprisingly smooth and playable. Even with 22 players on each side, all with independent AI, your teammates and opponents act with confidence. Each game poses a challenge to the player and number of goals scored and other statistics are realistic. This isn't a 989 sports soccer game. Controlling players is a relatively simple affair as well. The left analog stick controls movement, and the R button is used to sprint. Passing, tackling, and shooting are all easy enough to execute as well.
However, there are some quirks with the controls in FIFA. First of all, the first touch control which was this year’s big addition to the FIFA series exists in the game, but the controls for first touching are mapped to the d-pad. Freestyle moves such as spins, flips, and all that zaniness are also executed by using the d-pad. This creates a major problem with mastering the game because every time you want to spin away from a defender, you need to take your thumb off the analog stick, which more often then not causes your player to slow down or stop, and then hit the corresponding direction on the d-pad for the freestyle move or first touch. While this doesn’t seem to be much of a problem early on in the game, when your first becoming accustomed to the basic controls, later on it becomes quite frustrating to see great pass bounce off of its receiver in the wrong direction just because you couldn’t get your thumb to the d-pad fast enough.
Another issue that keeps rearing its ugly head is the gameplay stuttering. I mentioned this earlier when referring to the menus, but it’s apparent on the field as well. Whenever the ball goes out of play at the end line there’s a second long pause before it‘s set up for a goal kick. Now I am a very patient person, so this never bothered me the slightest, but knowing how many impatient people there are out there, I felt it necessary to address the issue.
I spoke of the artificial intelligence of the players earlier and like I said, they’re actually rather smart about their footy (footy being soccer). The great thing about having good a.i. in a game is that when you get beat or screw up, it’s usually your fault, and not the fault of some cheap gameplay measure. How good a team’s offense or defense is depends entirely on whether or not they’re good on the real pitch. So you’d better stay frosty against the bigger clubs, but get ready to bring in the subs when facing lesser opponents.
Graphically, FIFA is a bit of a mixed bag. First of all, kudos to the development team for being able to put 22 players, a fully rendered stadium with crowd, and a little referee all on screen with minimal slowdown. The player models aren’t very detailed, but unique players are recognizable in the game. The animations are also impressive although it’s hard to catch many of the subtleties due to the very high camera.
The worst graphical areas of the game are its cinematics and replays. When you manually view a replay through the pause menu, there is absolutely no slowdown whatsoever, but for some reason when the game plays back goals automatically, they take way too long. It’s either the game running slowly or the action being replayed in super slow motion, whatever the case, a change needs to be made. A final gripe in this department is that before the half you’re treated to a viewing of all the great plays that transpired, but the first replay is repeated about eight times from different angles. Add that to the aforementioned super slow motion effect and you might end up with an empty battery by the time you’ve seen all the highlights.
There's nothing better than listening to the roaring of a crowd complemented by the heavy British accents of FIFA's two commentators. The game definitely has one thing going for it in its sound. The soundtrack, featuring more songs than a Jock Jams album, is loaded with all kinds of music. The majority of which is European space-station party music, but there are plenty of recognizable tunes to the American ear from such artists as Scissor Sisters and The Bravery. As with all other EA Sports releases, FIFA comes packed with the Pocket Trax option from the menu, which allows you to listen to the music instead of playing the game you just spent forty dollars for. A few of the songs have music videos, but considering that most of the artists are European, these are usually more pleasing to the ear than to the eye.
Aside from the actual soundtrack, on the pitch noises are quite fine. Commentating is good and keeps up rather well with the action. Mention of player, team, and stadium names also adds to the presentation. Ball kicks, fan cheers, and penalty whistles are also present, which is to be expected from such a sports game.
On the issue of battery life, I was able to complete about six games on a road trip without running out of juice, so there shouldn’t be any reason for concern in this area. Then again that was with the audio completely off, due to the deafening highway noise, and the screen on medium brightness so expect a slightly shorter game experience with the volume up and the screen on full brightness. Even then, a reasonable high number of games can be played before the PSP blacks out.
Although FIFA Soccer has some great things going for it, I find the game very hard to recommend considering that FIFA 2006, the next edition to the series for the PSP, is already on shelves just a few months after this game's release. Assuming that FIFA 06 makes up for many of the original's shortcomings, it is only logical to purchase that game, even with the $20 price differential. On the flip side, for $20 cheaper than 2006, FIFA Soccer is a fine game for any footy fanatic. Just don't get too excited.
