salaminizer

User Score
7.6

Presentation - 9.0
Gameplay - 7.0
Value - 9.0

When you play FIFA 07 for the first time, you'll probably like it, a lot. Then you'll improve, try a few well-known tricks and you still like it. But when you start to score 7:0 against a Legendary AI, you'll realize that it's still nothing more than a good effort.

Instead of comparing to older iterations (or newer, after all we're in 2009 and this game came out in 2006), I'll list what is done right and wrong regarding gameplay. The game lets you dribble using the C-stick and this is absolutely done right because it feels very natural. Timing must be accurate so you can leave your opponent on the ground, but if you are defending, good positioning is a must if you want to stop the other player.

And an overall good positioning is everything that the AI lacks. Unless you specify zonal defense, your defense will be a total mess and attackers will enter your area without any oppostion. This obviously leads to 7:7 scores when playing against humans, but the AI will not take advantage of this.

Some other minor issues shows up when you try to cross the ball, which invariably falls on the other side of the area and far away from the post. Corner kicks are usually a lottery, and if the defense clears the ball away, a counter-attack is almost certain. And then we have the most glaring overlooked fault: the easy free kick goals. I won't say how you do it, but if you remember playing WE on the PSone, it's almost the same.

The other most glaring and not overlooked fault is the AI. Unlike WE which maintains a good competition in higher levels, FIFA unlockable Legendary difficulty is still very easy. Skilled players will have no problems beating the AI, so the game quickly becomes boring. Picking a weak team against a strong team will only make you miss more goals than you would, but an easy win is the most likely result.

This is really sad considering the amount of challenges to be completed. Each zone, usually defined geographically, features challenges of varied difficulty. Beating cups and championships are the common ones, but there are also challenges that require you to shoot a certain percentage on goal, dominate possession or beat a stronger team starting with 1 player red carded.

The manager mode is also really good, even though the visual simulator lacks options. But, with the difficulty problems, the problem that should arise from having a weak team and no money isn't there. FIFA 07 also has a Lounge mode, allowing you to set up parties with your friends, including some cheap tricks that are earned as rewards. Lounge mode includes a ranking and also predicts the winning chance of each player.

The soundtrack is one of the best I've ever heard in a game. EA has really done a nice job in this one. Some of the tracks are more famous ones such as Keane's Nothing in My Way or Muse's Supermassive Black Hole. Other artists are only locally famous, such as Argentina's Bersuit Vergarabat or Brazil's Seu Jorge. It's a good way to discover new sounds, especially some artists that you'd never hear about.

And the last complaint is a minor one, but soccer fans couldn't be happy with it: certain players are present in game with their international teams, but there's no way to include them in a team. For example, Ze Roberto (now with Bayern Munchen) was a free agent back then and was a player of the Brazilian team (in the game too), but he's unavailable for club transfers. Of course everything would be alright if the GameCube could download new database, but it wasn't like this in 2006.

You won't be buying FIFA 07 today, but if you did, you'd find a good soccer game, just not a grea tone.