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FIFA 2000 Review
Noel Brady
00/12/0000
Holidays are coming, holidays are coming, holidays are coming. Tis the season, watch out, look around cos lots of games are coming to town.
It appears that Coca Cola is not the only thing coming to the land every Christmas as the annual stream of games releases also arrive to bring glee to gamers world-wide. Among them you can be sure that a FIFA title will raise it's head on at least one platform.
We all know what to expect. Better options, better graphics and a slightly improved control system, FIFA is guaranteed to sell at least a million copies but this year sales of the top footie game may tighten as games like This Is Football, ISS Evolution and UEFA Striker tackle the massive striker. If FIFA is to score this year, then it's gonna have to do some Ronaldo-type dribbles around the opposition before finishing the match with a Robbie Keane-style strike.
Visually, the game is a great improvement over last year's offering. Player animation, screen resolution and texture detail are significantly better. Sol Campbell has added his weight to EA's motion capture factory and the tackles and defensive moves have beefed up surprisingly as a result. Player detail is much better and the whole thing runs at a much smoother frame rate. It's quite easy to say that FIFA 2000 is the closest look-a-like to the real thing that you'll get on the Playstation.
Before the match, you can watch players run onto the field and stretch. The realistic animation continues during the game as well. Attackers have little difficulty fooling the opponent with spin moves, flickovers and double stepovers, while defenders show their love for physical contact by aggressively tackling opponents. Youāll see giant collisions and players falling over sliding goalies. Even the post-goal celebrations are better than last year. In addition to their customary flips, teams also gather around the scorer and waddle like ducks.
There have also been a number of tweaks to the now classic FIFA play system. You are given an indication, by way of a colour-coded arrow, when you have the opportunity to make a pass. This feature is especially useful when you are passing to players who are off the screen and it is reassuringly simple to understand and use. Green means a good chance, yellow is a 50:50 ball and red means that pass which just can't be made, unless you're David Beckham that is.
On advanced levels, opposing teams counter your moves if you use em too much. As a counter-attack, strikers can squeeze through defenders with the new shielding option. Press R1 while youāre moving to protect the ball from incoming tacklers or when youāre about to receive a pass in a crowd. If you do it right, the only thing between you and the net is that goalie. Just catch him out and your team is on the board. If he deflects it out of bounds, set up the lob for a classic volley, bicycle kick or header. These are more advanced options, but very familiar to FIFA 99 aficionados. This game gives you plenty of ways to score- itās up to you to learn the different techniques.
A new system has also been put in place for throws and corners. While the directional arrow remains, it was always a bit of a give away when playing in a split-screen mode. Now, three players will be assigned to the circle, square and triangle buttons and by hitting one of these, your player will attempt to pass to them. Obviously, this stops your opponent from seeing where you are passing the ball until the very last second.
There's an almost unimaginable number of teams and players as well as loads of management options, cups and leagues. You can now play a Premiership-like season that includes all the major competitions- FA Cup, League Cup and all the European cups. Also, the inclusion of 40 classic teams has given the game some added depth. Much fun can be had pitting the likes of AC Milan 1988-1990 against Liverpool 1977-1984.
The music, meanwhile, is provided by the rather eccentric Robbie Williams. Throughout the options screen and introduction you can hear his former No. 1 song, "Itās Only Us", bangin' in the background. Other tunes are provided by Reel Big Fish, Lunatic Calm, Elite Force and Sniper and then my personal favourite, ''Stop The Rock'' by Apollo Four Forty. It may not appeal to dance fans like last year's offering of Fatboy Slim aka Norman Cook but it's still a damn fine soundtrack and one that EA paid handsomely for.
This game is very similar to its predecessor, especially concerning gameplay. Itās improved in the graphics department, which make it better than the great FIFA 99. That said, it's the usual EA-style update- in other words, the old game with a few new tweaks. If you own FIFA '99, then I don't think FIFA 2000 is worth it as their simply not enough new features here to warrant the £35 price tag. However, if you have yet to be introduced to FIFA, I suggest you check out FIFA 2000 immediately
