FIFA 2006 Road to World Cup

Cash-in

By Alex Wallis

Another World Cup has come around and it’s joined by another version of FIFA. Following FIFA 2006 and FIFA Street 2, EA Sports has come up with the inspired FIFA Road to World Cup.

There is the familiar commentary team of ITV’s Clive Tyldsley and Andy ‘Tactics Truck’ Townsend and their accompaniment to the action is smooth and insightful. Along with all the details of licensed sponsors, kits, players and an array of decent cut scenes; EA Sports can boast an authentic World Cup experience.

Passing is crisp, and player movement gives options on the pitch and team mates with space raise their hand to encourage you to pass to them. There are a number of skills and touches on offer with a jiggle of the analogue sticks and three different game speeds add flexibility. However, once you start hitting long balls or crosses it feels like playing golf, such is the lack of realism in the float, bounce and ball speed. Players only seem to use the side of their foot when shooting, and successful tackling is based on luck rather than timing.

Aside from the World Cup qualifiers, group stages and knockout, it’s possible to customise your national squad from a pool of players, and to enter your team into ‘The Lounge’, where you can create a mini-league with other players. In addition, depending on match performance, you complete objectives, yielding points and ultimately unlocking features. After one game the computer said rather patronisingly, ‘congratulations, you have: beaten Kazakhstan, won by three goals, had two different scorers…’ There really is no need for this kind of incentive if the football is sufficient.

FIFA Road to World Cup is entertaining, and can claim to be the best World Cup replication on the market. However despite the authentic experience I can’t shake the feeling that this is a poor attempt to dress up a limited game.