Unless played in the Pro camera (which most people do anyway), FIFA’s atmosphere can get a bit dull due to the lifeless commentators and generic crowds. The Pro camera angle helps the player feel like they are on the pitch, and causes the experience to become that much more authentic and enjoyable. A football match is always bursting with energy from the fans at any given time, but unfortunately the fans in FIFA 08 are very generic. Players will notice the cheering becoming louder when near a goal, or when one is scored but do not get into chants and such, as real crowds do. The commentators on the other hand have some truly brilliant lines whether it is giving club rivalry info or game analysis. The commentators manage to keep up with the game almost at all times but never seem to get excited. Nearly all of the things they say manage to sound boring. It may be time to introduce some new blood to the commentator’s box, or give the existing ones a larger bag of money.
Presentation-wise, FIFA 08 is nearly identical as its predecessor. Being able to fool around in the arena while the game loads a match is still great, but the menus could use some more polish. Players that are playing on an SDTV will be frustrated with the tiny text size, and in the Manager mode there will be good chunks of information to read. Also, the menus are starting to become a little untidy, but overall this doesn’t have any effect on what matters the most; the game play.
The stadiums look excellent.
Visually, FIFA 08 is a step up from FIFA 07. The wonderfully modeled stadiums and fluid lifelike animations maintain FIFA’s visual dominance in the football games market. While playing the game, the framerate maintains its rock-solid performance and never stutters. However, during close ups when players score goals or bring in subs, the frame rate becomes a little jittery and the overall scene looks a bit jumpy. This doesn’t affect game play at all, but is an odd occurrence nonetheless.
FIFA 08 has incredible replay value, because of all the different game modes EA has included. Interactive leagues are a welcome addition and allow players to take control of their favourite team online, play real-life fixtures as they happen and help or hamper the club’s position overall. Other online modes include single ranked/unranked exhibition matches and leagues. Most of the online experience is fairly lag free but as with all online games, slight lag will occur occasionally, but FIFA 08 keeps it pretty minimal. Offline, there are also a large number of game modes ranging from user created tournaments to the fantastic manager mode. In the manager mode, players will take control of a team and guide them through all the ups and downs of football. Domestic cups are included in this mode, and stronger teams will be able to enter international cups. On the whole, the manager mode includes everything from training players, to upgrading stadium facilities.
Overall, FIFA 08 plays a great game of football, and is worth checking out by all fans of football games. The game has a longer than usual learning curve for a sports game, but ultimately provides an experience that’s more fun to play than ever before. By creating a more realistic pitch experience along with authentic presentation with a great deal of replay value, EA has managed to create one of the best football games in recent memory.
*Editor’s note: EA plans on releasing a free update within 6-8 weeks of FIFA 08’s release date, enabling the Be-A-Pro mode to be taken online. This information does not affect the review, due to the fact that this update is a patch and was not included in the original version of the game.
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