FIFA soccer, to anyone that enjoys soccer games, is synonymous with the best. Ever since the series first incarnations on the SNES and Genesis, EA has been delivering top-notch soccer action. What everyone was eager to find out was, can Electronic Arts bring their franchises to a next generation console with the same impact that SEGA has with their 2k series? The answer is yes and no.

The first thing that people seem to be looking at when it comes to the PS2 is the graphics, so we'll start there. From the first moment the camera zooms around the stadium, flying by players that are chatting, stretching, and passing a ball around, this game looks impressive. The player models are very detailed and move from animation to animation very smoothly. During cut-scenes the players exhibit a variety of emotions: elation after scoring a goal, anger after getting a red card, and even pain after being fouled. The only thing that seems odd about the players is that they all look slightly Japanese. Certainly that is not a problem for the Japanese teams, but seeing European players with blond hair and Japanese facial features is a bit odd. The Stadiums, of which there are only three to choose from, are all nicely detailed right down to different cuts of grass, and security guards with their eyes on the flag waving crowd. The stadiums do not seem to be directly selectable; the only way to change them is changing the time of day that you are playing. The sounds of FIFA are not particularly impressive. The crowd chants, and the announcers seem to be of a decent quality (I don't understand Japanese so I can't really judge that), but FIFA World Championship does not offer anything new in this department.

As in any game, great graphics don't necessarily give you a great game. I'm happy to report that the gameplay lives up to the level that EA has achieved in the previous FIFA games. Anyone who has been a fan of the series can instantly pick this game up and win the world cup on the default setting. At first I felt the game was lacking a certain something, as I turboed my way around defenders, into the box for an easy goal. Then I realized the problem was me, turbo was the only move I knew how to do. I went to the practice mode, practiced my bicycle kicks, stepovers, nutmegs and then bumped up the difficulty two levels. This really made the game more enjoyable, as I now had to take full advantage of the arsenal of moves that I had just learned.

Another thing that has remained largely unchanged is the options that this game offers. Exhibition, World Cup, League Play, all staples of the series are here. The new option, which is not really that big of a deal, is a U-23 match. For those of you not too familiar with soccer, U-23 is just players that are 23 years or younger. Countries that are big into soccer have tournaments for these teams to show off what they will be fielding in the next World Cup, and to remind the United States that they will not be winning it anytime soon. The U.S. has a hard enough time fielding one competitive team, so our U-23 team is nothing to get excited about. You can still manage your teams, change their jersey's, edit players, and transfer players, in basically the same way as before. I have not really experimented with this option much, since it is all in Japanese.

All in all this is a solid first effort for EA Sports. It certainly delivers the quality that we've all come to expect from this series. Unfortunately, it does not make that giant leap forward in detail that SEGA has made with their 2K series. If you are a sports starved PS2 owner, this is a good title to import. Even with no understanding of Japanese you and your friends should be able to pick this game up no problem.

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