Review: FIFA 2005
Score:
83%
Version Reviewed: 1.0
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Has It Been A Year Already?
Electronic Arts are known to throw another new version of their sports games on the market each year, aptly named after the year to come (much easier to remember than Nokia's phone IDs, by the way) FIFA on the N-Gage is no exception. It is special on the N-Gage, though, as it is the first sequel of a game there.
Let me add a personal note here, so that you know where this review comes from: I actually don't play many games, but EA's FIFA has made me buy a decent bunch of hardware since roughly 1997 just to play that game. My addiction to computer football began with soccer on the C64 and has continued until today. I have bought a Sony Playstation, a Nintendo GameBoy Advance SP, an XBOX and lastly an N-Gage, mainly to be able to play a game of FIFA now and then.
A shrink would maybe say this is a way for me to compensate for not being a good football player as a kid, but what do they know...
But What's it Like?
I won't go into too much detail about the general gameplay, as this has been covered in Ewan's review of FIFA 2004 already, and who am I to correct him? I do have to correct my fellow reviewer Jim Hughes regarding his review of Marcel Desailly Pro Soccer, however: compared to FIFA (2004 or 2005), Marcel Desailly on the N-Gage looked like seniors playing football to me.
What's New, Then?
There are some differences in the graphics: players seem smaller than in 2004, and the circle around the active player has been replaced by a smallish triangle, which is a bit harder to see. I'm sure there are also many large and small enhancements to the animations, but I may have been too busy chasing the ball to take notice.
Probably the most important changes can be found in the controls. Compared to the "desktop" versions, I always missed the finer ways to control the players. It all seemed more arcade than sports to me. EA have done a lot for the 2005 version. Attackers can now play a through ball or even a 1-2 pass (which always gets me into offside - need to practise more...). Defenders are given more control over the last defender and can make the goalie rush out to get the ball (don't do that too early!). All this adds a lot to the fun. Now if you let me do headers, I'm a happy camper.
There are two new game modes which add a lot to the fun. In career mode, you can manage a team over a period of time to become the premier manager.
Challenge mode is the one that I found most interesting: chose a challenge to complete (win a game with only a few minutes left) or design your own (sorry - only after you completed the given ones, and at least for me that's a long long way to go).
EA also claim to have added lots of new teams, but I'll leave it up to you to do the counting.
What About The Network?
You can count on EA to keep the good stuff, which means it is still possible to play via bluetooth, which is a hell of a lot of fun.I'm always surprised how well this works, given the trouble bluetooth can give you in other areas.
This version now also supports the N-Gage Arena, which frankly is a huge disappointent for me. On the PC, you can play with people all over the planet, and at least this is what I thought the Arena would now make possible in the palm of my hands. This is not the case. All you can do is post your best goals, view others' best goals, or track your career prestige points.
The Verdict
My first impression of FIFA 2005 after playing a quick friendly was disappointment. In direct comparison with FIFA 2004, I think they should have stuck with the graphics of the "old" version which I liked better.
Tackling and other moves take a bit of getting used to as well, due to the "new and improved offensive and defensive AI", but this is ok. At least I haven't encountered the 2004 quirk that bugged me the most: in some situations where the computer was losing, suddenly an attack on your goal that could not be stopped began, and the computer scored a goal, when just seconds before that you were leading 10:0.
Do I like it? Oh yes I do. The challenge mode gives me lots of new objectives ( I only just managed to finish the first one, to be honest), and the improved game controls are way more fun than in 2004. If you're into football, this is (still) the game to get. You won't regret it. Highly recommended!
Reviewed by Rafe Blandford at