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EA scores
again...or do they?
Genre: Sports (Soccer)
Developed by: EA Sports
Published by: EA
Why do I have to write down a review
on this game? We all know what's to tell. Better graphics, improved
gameplay, updated teams, new soundtrack. There. I'm done. See ya later.
I'm outta here.
<Shuts down pc>
<Goes to bed>
<Falls asleep with thumb in his mouth>
> Erwin!
> Aw mom, 5 more minutes...gimme a break.
> Erwin...this is not your mother...
> (Still half-asleep) Then who the hell are you man? Can't you see
I'm sleepin' here?
> I am...
> Yeah and I'm His Holiness the Pope. Look. I don't care who you
are dude. Just get out of here will ya?
> I'M THE ALMIGHTY EAGOD AND YOU WILL DO AS I SAY! Or else I will
make crappy sports games from now on!
> (Starts to panic) Okay man, fine, whatever you say, what do you
want?
> You will get out of your bed and start writing a decent review
on my latest spawn: FIFA 2002!
> Alright man...maybe after I...
> NOW!
Okay I'm back folks. I just had a...ehm...sudden strike of inspiration
by a force not stated herein...
Anyways, with FIFA 2002, EA releases the next version of their soccer
simulation. While this annual tradition is really beginning to tire,
FIFA 2002 is worth the effort not only because it keeps the gameplay
but, as always, evolves technically, and quite a bit too.
When you first start the game, you get the traditional clean menus and
front-end screens, guided with great tunes like a remix of Gorillaz'
19-2000 song. The best way to get a first view is of course to start
a Friendly game. Here I catch a first pleasant surprise: at the Controller
screen you now can alter you keyboard bindings. This ridiculous flaw
of all previous versions of FIFA is finally dealt with. You now can
assign any key you want. After picking a team, I start the game. The
graphics have improved quite a lot. Not anything I didn't expect, but
you can clearly see that EA has gone through great lengths to improve
the players and the way they handle the ball. While the groundworks
to FIFA's impressive motion capture had been laid years ago with FIFA
97 and Road to the World Cup, over the years, the player models have
become more convincing. In FIFA 2001 and 2002 they near the point of
sheer perfectlion, at least, they represent how far current graphics
technology can depict human characters in a sports game. In FIFA 2002
character movements have become even more seemless: you less have the
feeling of "Hey, now he's setting in the shoot routine, or now
the slide routine...". Unfortunately, while since FIFA 2001 player
faces have become more distinct, you still can't really tell who the
player is just by looking at his digital representation in FIFA 2002.
OK, anyone can tell who Barthez is because a) he's a goalie b) he's
bald c) he's got a goatie. But someone like Mark Degryse of Belgian's
GBA team you can scarcely recognize.
The gameplay itself has evolved from purely arcade in the FIFA games
up to the 99 edition to semi-realistic. FIFA 2002 is no different. You
have some tweaks: you will have to indicate shot strength at every action
you make, passes and strikes alike. Also, the pass itself isn't so straightforward
anymore: you now can give a directional pass with the result that the
receiving player will accept it in his run. This is of course a major
improvement since in real football direct passes are seldomly done,
especially during counterattacks and fast attack combinations. These
tweaks and the still fun gameplay, a trademark of the FIFA series, maybe
won't satisy hardcore realism fans, but make that FIFA 2002 is the most
enjoyable FIFA experience to date, and by saying so, the best soccer
game for the PC.
As usual with the FIFA series, the whole experience is carefully directed
and the people of EA have given attention to many details. The music
is, as I already mentioned, very groovy and fun. I've got my two cents
on the crowd though. The crowd is better than in previous versions,
and doesn't bother that much anymore, but generally, it's still a bit
annoying. For instance, they constantly cheer, even when the game is
completely dead. Also, you can hardly tell for who the crowd is cheering
for: no difference of colour or chants (although sometimes you hear
the chanting of the hometeam name). I mean, if the crowd in Manchester
United vs. Chelsea is one homogenous grey mass, you start to wonder
if EA hasn't made a terrible mistake. Another fault is the fact there
are only a few stadiums to choose from, and that these are all huge:
it might be cool to see a regional French team like Cherbourg play in
the Stade de France, but it also is a bit silly. The team rosters themselves
are, unlike in FIFA 2000, nicely updated. The player editor is also
fun, but nothing new here, really.
EP sez:
As I said in the beginning: better
graphics, improved gameplay, updated teams, new soundtrack. Although
FIFA 2002 keeps some of the flaws of it's predecessors, the improvements
aer suffisiant to say that this edition is the best to date and probably,
since Actua Soccer died a silent death, is the best pc soccer game out
there. Now can I go to bed? (silent nodding of EAGOD)
Pros and Cons
+ Improved gameplay
+ Key bindings
+ Gorillaz
+ Graphics
- Flaw payload from previous version
Score:
Gameplay: 8.5
Graphics: 9
Sound & Music: 8.5
Addictiviness: 8
Overall: 85%
(c) 2001 Erwin's Pages
Erwin "Reaper" Husin
Links
>
Official FIFA 2002 Site
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