FIFA 07 Demo Now Available - General Discussion

[CheapyD]

Enjoy

[VanillaGorilla]

I'm downloading it right now. Last years FIFA demo seemed like the game speed was cranked up to 140%. Hopefully this time, it's more realistically paced. Doesn't really matter how good it is though, I'm just renting the PS2 version.

[Tha Xecutioner]

Make this the 50th demo I'll need to download once I get home later today. No Xbox Live in 2 weeks here, so I have some catching up to do.

[ryanbph]

any comments on the game itself

[coltcannon]

Im a big football fan and ive been excited about this. It has the new Wembley stadium and you can play as Barcelona, Manchester United, CD Guadalajara, Werder Bremen, AC Milan and Lyon. The time is (i think) 4min. half. The movement has the usual "lag" for football games but it makes certain players "feel" different depending on their skills. The right stick controls seem to be off as it is unresponsive. The speed of the game feels and looks right. I dont have an hdtv but the graphics are quite up to par for next gen. I did notice some jaggys on ronaldinho during the loading/1on1. My favorite thing so far is the lack of play-by-play. The commentary in the past was repetative and annoying. This time its just crowd roar/cheers, though I believe the full game will have commentary. I am fully looking forward to purchasing this and cant wait to compare it to WE2007.

[guyver2077]

pretty sure its just the demo that has no play by play

[SteveMcQ]

The right-stick controls don't make it feel arcadey do they? And has there been any official news as to what the final club team count is going to be on the 360? Way less than current gen stuff? National teams are all in there as well I'm hoping?

360 is out for repairs so I can't try it out myself, but I'm very interested in the game.

[mtxbass1]

Downloading now. Full review soon. Thanks OP.

[VanillaGorilla]

Heaven forbid EA let you play an entire game. F them.

[getmyrunon]

Allow me to preface this by stating that my prior console soccer experience is limited to around 100 hours of Winning Eleven 7 for the PS2 and the occasional Fifa game thrown in, so that serves as my chief point of reference. I'm going into detail for all those who are Xbox360 or Liveless, so no need to read if you've already played the demo.

When the demo first boots players are treated to a night time one-on-one session featuring Ronaldinho against a no-name keeper. The bright stadium lights, the dark green grass, and the fluid player movements had me drooling. A jumbo-tron behind the goal shows a reverse-view of Ronaldinho in real time as you mess around.

Players are free to shoot and dribble around a vast area without any loading times if the ball goes out of the field of play. I spent approximately 10 minutes just running around, experimenting with the shooting and ball physics, and came away fairly satisfied. Putting touch and spin on the ball is achievable, and the one-time ball animations are extremely lifelike. Disappointing was the slightly cumbersome right-stick - flicking it in any direction has your player dribble and cut to that side, but the move is not as effective in a real game as a step-over or helicopter might be. Player feel is a little on the arcade side - quick cuts and shots are a little too easy, and I have the feeling that stick jockeys will be able to dominate the game with solo runs (more on that later).

The presentation is nice as well. Music plays for the duration of the shootout, with a decidedly wordly theme to it as I caught several languages. It appears EA couldn't resist inserting one of their trademark custom EA raps -- the type where they rhyme something with 'Ronaldinho'. The menu options fit with EA's next-gen presentation style - black backgrounds, white lettering, and a slew of text and options on screen.

I played six halves in total - 1 on the default difficulty level, and 5 on 'World Class.' I used Barcelona / Man U for all of them, and swapped teams for my opponents.

A nice treat is the re-introduction of the one-on-one mode while the actual match is loading. Given that commentary was disabled (and the opening cinematics seemed truncated) I don't imagine the final version will load this quickly, but each half loaded in about 7 seconds, which fly by as you're dribbling and shooting around.

The player models and stadium are above average (players are instantly recognizable) and almost worthy of the title of next-gen. The various pitch options themselves look believable, but fall short of the "true grass" color that I'm longing to see in a game.

Once the actual game began, my enthusiasm significantly dampened. The same tactics that I used to dominate WE7 were 100% applicable to this game. Holding down the sprint button (right trigger), positioning your player (left stick), using the "lock into ball" (a button) and sliding (x) will steal the ball away from virtually any defender. Penalties are fairly unpredictable, but leading towards the side of ticky-tack.

It appears that EA has implemented a ratings system where better players will actually lower the awareness of the defenders around them. I noticed this most apparently with Ronaldinho, Rooney and Klose. Taking control of either one you can essentially turn the game into a one man show, get yourself inside the box, and score without much effort as the defenders appear reluctant to challenge you at all. This applies to both computer controlled attackers and manually positioning the players. I managed to score 5 times against Man U using Ronaldinho alone in one half. Hopefully this is tuned up before the game's release.

The computer AI on corner kicks (and in the box in general) was nothing short of atrocious. Out of about 10 corner kicks I had 7 excellent shots on goal. Players seem to lose track of their marks inside the box (and this is against Barcelona on World Class difficulty). The effectiveness of through passes, headers and one touch passes seemed fairly arbitrary. The same defender would read the ball brilliantly one time, and then allow the attacker to completely blow by him the next.

While the commentary was mostly absent, I did hear a muffled broadcaster talking about some woman calling to tell her boyfriend she loved him. Inside joke, perhaps?

All in all, I wasn't terribly impressed. This doesn't seem like that much of an upgrade over WE7, so I can't justify spending $60 for it. For huge football fans, I would think that it's definitely worth $40 as it is by all means a fun game to play (as long as you don't mind a little arcade football). I'd advise hardcore sim fans or those who already have a soccer game that you're satisfied with to wait for WE07 to compare and contrast.

[SteveMcQ]

Thanks for that post. I'm intrigued by the game, though I'm not sure if I want to try it out for $40 or wait on 06 or RTWC to drop in price and get my football fix that way.

Are there any sort of player specific attributes by the way? As well as player specific animations in the vein of NBA 2K7's signature style? I just wanna know if I'm gonna see Rooney lose his head and knock a guy in the nuts.

[getmyrunon]

Are there any sort of player specific attributes by the way? As well as player specific animations in the vein of NBA 2K7's signature style? I just wanna know if I'm gonna see Rooney lose his head and knock a guy in the nuts.

After scoring a goal, Ronaldinho does a nice little samba in the corner of the pitch, but that's a cinematic. I'm not sure if this was intentional, but once I was dribbling with C.Ronaldo just outside the area, ran into someone, and Ronaldo dove to the ground and threw his hands up. As a Portuguese, I laughed out loud at that, and if he's a programmed diver, then EA gets a big :applause:. Rooney kept his feet away from everyones nuts, though.

One other cool thing - you can view a TON of details (long passes, total, passes completed, dribbles, completed, distance covered in yards, tackles, etc.) in a player details mode, which might be cool for stat geeks out there.

Player attributes appear pretty generic: ATT, DEF, MTL, SKL, MOV, POW. Before the match you can configure individual player's attacking styles and directions.

[mtxbass1]

getmyrunon nearly hit the demo on the head.

The 1v1 was very nice with Ronaldinho, however the game itself was no where near as smooth looking. It felt choppy at times. The crowd also appeared to be composed of low resolution legos. During the initial stadium pan, you can't even make out the fact that there are people in the crowd due to the blur/blockiness.

I found the gameplay itself to be the same old fifa formula. I noticed as well that once you get a "star" player in or near the box, you are pretty much going to score. I scored 3 goals with Klose within a few minutes of each other.

I'm not too impressed by it. The game felt sluggish. I'm a BIG Winning Eleven 9 fan and was considering trading my copy in towards getting this one (Rhino 2 for 1 ftw). I'm probably going to pass and hang on to WE9. I've also read that EA is cutting a significant amount of teams out of the Xbox 360 version as well as a few other features that are found in the non-next gen versions.

[SteveMcQ]

Portuguese bitching...I'd say that's pretty authentic. Until I see Rooney going ballistic though, I'm gonna be disappointed in any football game out there.

[coltcannon]

The official league list is EPL, La Liga, French Ligue 1, Mexican Primera, Bundesliga and Serie A. I dont think the national teams made the cut either.

[mtxbass1]

The official league list is EPL, La Liga, French Ligue 1, Mexican Primera, Bundesliga and Serie A. I dont think the national teams made the cut either.

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108541&highlight=fifa

The Xbox 360 version gets 7 leagues. The PS2/Xbox versions get 28. FUCK that.

[JDMxB]

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108541&highlight=fifa

The Xbox 360 version gets 7 leagues. The PS2/Xbox versions get 28. FUCK that.

So is this final...I was hearing rumours they were putting all 28 leagues in after all.

[Chris Dillon]

I'd pay for some leagues if they werent to expsensive. Espeically international teams. Love the dutch.

[nyprimus4]

Demo is awesome.

[Chris Dillon]

Don't like the right stick. Its kinda weird and doesnt seem effective.