Trick stick, superb gameplay flow and accurate stats
The tricks are back, but this seems to be the one area that hasn’t been improved on. In Pro Evo the tricks feel natural, but in FIFA 07 they often feel too clumsy. Amongst the fancy manoeuvres is the step over, fake kick and 360 roulette. Strangely they don’t always seem to work, either that or the right analogue stick we’re using isn’t quite in synch with the gameplay controls. Once again you can confuse the opposition by changing direction with the ball, but the animation of this movement neither feels nor looks natural. Despite this EA have done a great job in making the gameplay of FIFA 07 better than it has ever been, even penalties are more exciting.
You can’t pull of a Bruce Grobellaar’s wobbly knee trick, but whilst controlling the keeper in penalty situations you can use the right analogue stick to crouch down, wave your hands in the air or move along the line in an attempt to break your opponent’s concentration.
The game flows superbly thanks to a referee that plays ‘advantage’ at every opportunity. We’ve played dozens of matches and those opportunities to take a free kick from just outside the box are rarer than previous FIFA games. He’ll give you a few seconds to retrieve the ball before he pulls the action back and this makes for some thrilling flowing football. We had one defender to beat and we’re hacked down from behind, it was a blatant foul but we just about managed to stay on our feet and the referee played the advantage allowing us to have a clear break on goal.
We remember when EA were recruiting from the general public to create the player stats for the clubs and whoever they chose has done a fine job. My favourite team is Walsall F.C so I’m delighted that I can not only play as my favourite team but how accurate the individual player ratings were. I actually posted the ratings that EA have given on the Walsall FC forums and the majority of people agreed that they are spot on. Now we can’t verify that EA have got it correct for every club, but this example of a Second division team bodes well for the rest.
FIFA has forfeited some of the polished graphics to concentrate on the gameplay. That’s not to say the graphics aren’t still great, but some players do lack the detail that we’ve become accustomed to, just check out how Robben from Chelsea appears to go completely bald during some close up shots. The stadiums still look great but check out the stewards who look like they’re made from cardboard. There’s some excellent animations though, including side-line tussles over the throw ins.