2006 FIFA World Cup

We’ve all taken in the World Cup madness with the remembrance of the soon-to-be infamous head butt by Zidane of France that gave Italy the World Cup victory. Even though the amazing saves and bending shots are over, soccer [I mean, Futbol] games are just around the corner with the upcoming FIFA 2007. However, it may have a lot of catching up to do based on the resounding success of yet another EA Sports-published title.

2006 FIFA World Cup for the Xbox 360 is a bright showcase of EA Canada’s latest soccer offering; re-creating the crazy atmosphere that surrounded the actual competition in Germany just a couple of months ago. And until FIFA 2007 comes out, this is the game to relive the memories of one of the most competitive World Cup games in recent history.

Gameplay options in 2006 FIFA World Cup include quick matches, practice modes, online play, and penalty shoot-outs. Combine this with the global challenge scenarios and guiding your favorite team through international competition in the quest for the World Cup, and you’ve got your work cut out for you. The best thing about the World Cup mode remains the ability to choose between any of the 125 different teams, regardless of their realistic standings in qualifying for the cup itself. Want Fiji as one of the top 32? Of course you can. Furthermore, you’re given the option of going through the territory’s qualification process, or jump straight using realistic or randomized group formations for the final tournament bracket.

One of the things that jump out right at you when playing 2006 FIFA World Cup is its ability to recreate a near-flawless essence of the Worldwide Tournament spirit. The team selection screen is shown in a global view of the Earth relative to the country’s geographical region, as it zooms into the stadium filled with thousands of fans wearing your country’s colors, including confetti and streamers to liven up the mood. Even the game’s soundtrack gives a sort of flair to the presentation value, as EA Trax has included several licensed songs, all of which span a total of 14 different countries. Add some World Cup trivia before each loading screen and the crowd singing victory hymns and such, and you’ve got one terrific, authentic product.

Gameplay-wise, 2006 World Cup plays so similar to FIFA 06, that veterans might be hard pressed to notice a significant difference. There aren’t any noticeable slowdowns during gameplay either; something that really plagued it’s other Xbox 360 soccer cousin, FIFA 06: Road to the FIFA World Cup. The pacing of the game is rather fast, and mirrors the same type of soccer game you’ve come to expect from a World Cup match. However, I do have some minor complaints. Ball physics could definitely do some work, as collision factors don’t always go the right direction, and the audio commentary can be inaccurate during fast plays – lagging throughout the match if this pace is kept.

Where’d the ball go?

Instantly surprising, especially from a challenge view of an EA game, the AI can be incredibly smart. Goalkeepers on the highest difficulty setting will almost always keep the game to a complete shutout or within a single goal. Controls within the last game has been unchanged, however first-touch moves with long passes and keeping fluidity of a possible goal-scoring play will ultimately result in a successful attempt.

With over 200 different objectives to complete within your profile, unlockables are plenty if these challenging tasks are completed. Things such as invisible walls, slow motion, turbo mode, different soccer balls, classic soccer plays will be unlocked if these objectives – which include tasks such as beating certain teams by a certain number of goals, or scoring at certain times of a match – are done within the time limit. Sure these unlockables may sound nice, but they don’t really do anything to make the gameplay overly interesting. What I don’t understand is why EA decided to restrain these objectives from translating into achievements on the Xbox 360, something that could’ve been remedied with just a bit more time for the title’s development.

Soccer veterans will thoroughly enjoy the game’s global challenge mode, which allows you to re-enact classic team performance from World Cup history in over 40 different scenarios. Think of the days of Pele, when your team is losing by one goal and you’re given only several minutes to re-create that once memorable futbol magic. The results of each challenge include different medals with a separate point score to reflect your performance. With a lot of memorable experiences from past World Cup scenarios, this mode may just be the most effective formula in grabbing the attention of long-time soccer fans.

When you’re feeling bored of playing against a stiff CPU defense, you can pit your skills against a real human opponent online via Xbox Live. Sadly, a non-updated lobby system doesn’t support the Quick Tournament mode that some of us are already used to. Even worse, there aren’t a whole lot of players going online for matches, especially in the game lobbies, requiring players to submit to the quick-match option. Luckily, there are match preferences that can be changed throughout the online mode. But without a stable connection (the game lags as matches progress), results are a mixed bag when it comes to trying to play a competitive game over Xbox Live.

A soccer referee’s dream

Although presentation should be revered, there are some major flaws that keep this game for being one of the better soccer games around. Luckily, there isn’t a better option for a FIFA game other than this Xbox 360 title, but that may instantly change when FIFA 07 is released for all consoles soon. For those who don’t mind the flashy visuals and presentations, it might be a better alternative to go with the PS2 or Xbox versions instead. We’ll see how FIFA 07 progresses soon, but it won’t be too hard for the ever-popular soccer franchise to top this. Still, 2006 FIFA World Cup is as solid as it comes for that retro-soccer fix.