A great game even after the hype of the World Cup
Written: Dec 01 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Very realistic, quality graphics and very challenging. Also quite addictive.
Cons: The commentary is repetitive which can get annoying.
The Bottom Line: I recommend the game to most if not all sports fans. The game has excellent graphics, is very realistic and challenging. Hours of competitive fun.
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| duki's Full Review: 2002 FIFA World Cup for Windows |
I had never been a big fan of computer games because there was always something about using a keyboard that didn't appeal to me. This has though changed since I have started playing 2002 FIFA World Cup. While this game might seem to be quite out of date it hasn't lost any of it's appeal, and it's just as good as other FIFA games released by Electronic Arts except that it centers around the 2002 World Cup. Excellent graphics and the the fact that it's hard to be good at it amongst other things make this game very addictive and fun, especially if you are a sports fan. You also have the ability to play online, so once you have become better than the computer or your mate you can take it to a whole new level.
The game has basically only two playing options, which can be considered a downside by some. You can play a friendly match, where you choose your own team and your opponent (from approximately 40 countries) and you play one match. The second option is ofcourse the World Cup, where you get to pick your team but your opponents are those your team would have faced back in the World Cup. The good part of this is that some of the teams that didn't make the 2002 World Cup, such as Australia, are still included in the game. This is a negative as well though because Australia who are ranked 50 overall in the world are included, but teams such as the Netherlands aren't, and they are ranked in the top 20. This is probably for commercial reasons, because leaving teams such as Australia would alienate a lot of people, but even though if you are going to include mediocre teams you should also include the good ones.
The World Cup mode as well as the friendly mode can be played in four levels, depending on how good you are. There is Beginner, Amateur, Professional and World Class (which I am yet to get to). Unless you are missing some fingers you should be very good at Amateur within a week if not a lot sooner, but Professional and especially World Class are very difficult, which will ensure hours of practice. Even if you do manage to win in World Class you will undoubtedly keep on playing this game because it's just so addictive and fun, particularly if you are scoring heaps of quality goals.
As expected there during gameplay there are a number of options to suit every kind of player. You can choose from more than 10 camera angles, view the match stats and score sheet at any time as well as having the ability to save those awesome goals you scored and show off to your mates. You also get complete control of your team and the way that they will play and who will, which gives you the chance to be a manager and a player at the same time. There are basically only 6-10 keys you will ever use on your keyboard which means it doesn't take long to get into the game or to start to be good at it.
As I said earlier, the graphics are quite superb, with each player looking very similar to what they look like in real life and the stadium and the field looking very good at the same time. There are also special features such as the ability to view special footage to do with the World Cup and a number of interviews with the fans and the teams that are competing. Another special feature is that the ability of particular players matches their ability in real life, so each player has particular strengths and weaknesses which can be exploited in the game. In the settings you can get to define for how long you play for (from 4 minutes up to 90) and you also have the ability to define such things as the strictness of the referee and whether or not a player can get injured. Features such as these create a very realistic game and also give you the ability to change things if the game is becoming boring or one-sided.
Some of the downsides of the game (and there aren't many) is that the commentary is quite repetitive. For example every time you start the World Cup the commentator states the same thing, no matter what level you are playing at, and they make (usually) the same comment after the 1st, 2nd and 3rd games of the group stage for example. This gets annoying after a while, especially if you are losing and the commentator is making a negative comment and saying how crap your team is (not that this happens to me often). Also sometimes the goalkeeper has the tendency to wander off and do stupid things, which gets quite annoying, especially if you concede a goal in the semi-final and lose and have to start all over again.
Some of the special features as I said include special footage and interviews to do with the World Cup but the game also has its own bonuses and benefits. For example if you win the World Cup in Beginner mode you unlock a new team, and this occurs for Amateur and probably Professional and World Class modes as well. I'm not going to tell you what team you get because it would spoil the it but I'll just say that they are very, very good. Unfortunately you are unable to play in the World Cup with these new teams but in a way it's a good thing because then it would be quite easy.
Overall the game is very addictive and quite fun to play. The graphics are very good quality and the game is very realistic which makes it better and more interesting. There are a number of modes so you'll be entertained and challenged no matter how good you are, but the commentary is the same so that can get a bit annoying occasionally. Having said that the game is very good and I recommend it, but mainly to sports fans.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
duki
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Location: Perth, WA, Australia
Reviews written: 24
Trusted by: 6 members
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