How does it play?
But how does it play?
Match days are an exciting time, and despite us knowing that EA had tweaked the gameplay, we weren’t expecting a huge change in the gameplay. The first thing we noticed was the entrance scene, as players walk down the tunnel shaking hands or jogging on the spot you’ll see a short dream-like sequence that normally shows one of your strikers scoring a goal in a previous game. He’s obviously getting himself in the mindset and as your players run out onto the pitch the roar of the crowd hits you and the authentic chants of the crowd put you in the zone. The crowd chants are accurate of modern day clubs, “Carefree wherever you may be, we are the famous CFC.” or “Villa, Villa” are common chants that you’ll hear down at Stamford Bridge or Villa Park and each club that you’ll play as have their own specific chants. Not only this, but the crowd noise changes depending on the action on the pitch. For example, if you’re winning 3-0 and you decide to showboat by keeping possession in your half of the pitch the crowd will shout “Hooray!” every time you pass the ball.
FIFA and Pro Evolution soccer fans have had many a long heated discussion on the two different approaches to goal scoring. In Pro Evolution super goals are rare, and require precision passing and pin point accuracy to create the chance, when you do score a wonder goal you’re almost jumping out of your seat. Scoring spectacular goals in FIFA is a frequent occurrence and, whilst some people love this aspect of FIFA titles, the thrill of scoring such a goal just doesn’t exist. In FIFA 07, EA have addressed the issue, and although you can still win matches by 8 or 9-0 in amateur mode as you bang in goals from every conceivable angle, if you step up to semi-pro you’ll have a much tougher match which means you’ll need to work the ball into position to enable a decent shot.
On shooting the players appear to put more ‘welly’ behind the ball than previous FIFA games. We’ve scored some cracking goals, but instead of hitting the ball at every opportunity and watching it hit the back of the net, the balance between scoring and missing appears to have been tweaked, meaning that you’ll need to more precise and careful with your shots.
Passing is far smoother and faster than ever before. We didn’t enjoy in previous FIFA games how the lobbed ball would appear to take far too long to reach its destination or would dip in the air half way along its route, but now you can pull of David Beckham style passes with pin point precision (very Pro Evolution). Ground passing is executed by facing the player you’re aiming for and your attackers make superb runs; it’s a case of executing a pass at just the right time in order to send your player through on goal.
The A.I. is also extremely responsive and will find space on the pitch and deliver accurate passes. If you bring a defender out of position and he gets caught out at the back, another player will cover his position as players run backwards on their toes into position never taking their eye of the ball. This happens all around the park as players react accurately to their team-mates and oppositions movement. The opposition are also extremely adept at blocking shots by sticking their foot out at just the right moment, so you’ll often have to change your direction to make the space.
In previous FIFA games we’ve found it quite difficult to score from free kicks. In FIFA 07 it’s not easy but it’s certainly easier to get the ball on target. It’s simply a matter of pointing towards the goal and pressing down the shoot button for the required amount of power. Extra touches can be applied via the right analogue stick to swerve the ball, drive it or aim it for the top corner and there’s a good variety of novelty free kicks available, such as laying a man off with the R2 button to create some space for his shot.