No FIFA game has went up and down in my estimations quite like the 2002 edition, which I recently picked up at a very low cost for the PS2., because it was one of the only FIFA's I didn't own any incarnation of. I first encountered it on the PC right on release day, where I was stunned by how great the graphics were, but not really liking the new system of play, which was the first game to drastically change since Road to World Cup 98. Then, as 2002 went on, I found myself playing it quite a lot at my friend's house on the PS2, where I thought the graphics were pretty great, adjusted to the play style more, and found it easier to score. Now, after picking it up in late 2004, how do I feel?

As you may have gathered, FIFA 2002 is a football, or soccer if you must, game, where there is no real purpose as such, just various ways to enjoy a Videogaming version of the world's favourite sport. You can select a team from a host of International squads, or a club side from various leagues around the world including all the heavy hitters such as the English Premiership,Italian Serie A and Spanish Primera Liga, as well as the smaller leagues like the Scottish SPL and Dutch Eriedivision. You have the usual Season mode, as well as Exhibition and Cup,League etc to work your way through, and as you win competitions you unlock others to play, adding some single player replay value.
The Season mode here is quite well done, with you being able to qualify for Europe and play in the ECC(read:EA's version of the Champions League), thats in the European leagues of course, I haven't actually played any outside of Europe so can't comment, but I would expect you enter whatever the equivalent competition in outher continents is.
The game features a nice selection of ways to play, and while it doesn't offer anything new in terms of Tournaments, that's really not an avoidable fault due to the fact it takes in all the major tournaments there are and has done as a series for a few years prior.

But where football titles are concerned, the make or break aspect is the on the field action.FIFA 2002 is pretty mixed here. While the basic elements of it are ok, the game is far,far too easy to score in. One of the most surefire ways of scoring is coming right off kick off, running to the end of the centre circle and shooting at just under full power. Seriously, the easiest way to score is from just past the half-way line, EA what were you thinking?
Not that it's really very hard to score anywhere else mind, hitting a shot anywhere near the box either leads to a goal or at least a post/crossbar/parry on most occasions. I suppose to try and compensate for this, headers and overhead kicks are tougher to connect and score with, which was something FIFA was always faulted at, due to how easy this was, but the fact that you can score with less hassle by running and shooting anywhere in the opponent's half really kind of makes this void.
Also changed is the entire system of passing. Instead of just kicking the ball towards the closest player, 2002 requires the player to charge up the exact power of the pass(and for that matter shot or cross) and aim it manually. While this may sound good, charging actually proves very frustrating, and renders one-touch football obsolete. Responding quickly to spilled balls in front of goal also becomes a problem because of this. Using the fact the PS2 pad has buttons that can detect different levels of power may have been a good idea here, press hard for a hard pass etc, but EA passed this up in favour of this system which I can't say Im much of a fan of.
Another thing that annoys me is the set pieces. Corners and Free Kicks don't allow you to manually deliver them. Players who can recieve the ball get assigned buttons (eg when Arsenal at a free kick, Henry may have X above him, while Bergkamp has O) which you press to direct where the ball goes. This system is something else that is good on paper but in execution is horrible and rarely comes off.
I may be making this game out to sound like a disaster, but the truth is it is playable, and even quite enjoyable on 2-Player, it's just that it sports far too many flaws to overlook and class it anywhere near the top of the footballing pile, or even anywhere in contention for the best FIFA title.


The controls also don't help. While the basic,Pass,Shoot and Cross buttons are the same as always, this was before EA twigged to the fact that using a shoulder button for sprinting is far more practical, and trying to use the Triangle button to sprint as well as then perform a pass/shot/cross is pretty hellish, especially when going back to playing it after using the current system. Thankfully this was the last entry in the series before the switch to Trigger sprinting, and I feel it was a change for the better.

Sadly, the game was also the last to allow customisation of players and teams. While I rarely used these features on console FIFA titles, it was still nice to have them, and I assume the change was made as the game geared towards a more individual and realistic look, such as the players having unique models and such.

Actually, it should be mentioned that this was the first FIFA to have actual club badges and sponsors appear on shirts. They even created a sort of bent line to substitute for the Nike Swoosh, because Nike don't want to let them use it in games for some reason(probably money related). Sadly, the teams who have these kits cannot have them edited,which I find silly. You know what would have been an awesme customisation feature? to be able to actually customise strips using the kit suppliers,sponsors and badges of the teams included. Sadly this wasn't to be, and still hasn't made it's way into the FIFA games.

The graphics in the game, which I remembered so fondly, have aged badly in some aspects, but first lets do the good.The stadiums and pitches look great, even when compared to today's football games, the pitch is worn out and realistic, the weather is awesome, these aspects of the game are real winners on the eyes. Sadly the players haven't aged well at all, and their faces look like something from the Puppet Master movies when their mouths move. While this isn't a problem from the distance of play, it is quite off-putting during the replays and celebrations and such.
The sponsors on the shirts also just don't look right, Im not sure why, they just don't. On an amusing note, Arsenal's strip is strangley missing it's sponsor, which was at the time Dreamcast. Quite ironic given that Thierry Henry is sporting it on the game's (PAL) cover, and because EA never released a game on Sega's ill fated console.

The sound in the game is pretty good, with the crowd sounding lively, and decent, if slightly repetitive commentary provided by,as usual, John Motson, and here he is teamed up with Andy Gray.


On the whole, FIFA 2002 isn't a complete disaster, but I don't really see any reason why in this day and age anyone would want to play it. It's a competant game, but no more, and if you find it lying around, or for at real dirt cheap, and fancy a bit of silly, over-scored football then I suppose there is much worse you could do than pick it up. It is a decent 2-Player laugh, but you would be better putting your money towards saving for one of the current crop of football games on the market, or if you must go for an inexpensive PS2 footy title, the same year's Pro Evolution Soccer 2 doesn't cost much these days, and is probably better than this.
3 Stars and a Not Recommended is what Im giving FIFA 2002. While I accept that it is a generally decent game, especially for it's age, there really isn't any reason to recommend it to anyone, given that there are other, newer and better titles representing the sport out there, and even it's rival from the same year is better.

Related Reviews
FIFA 96 for Super Nintendo
FIFA 96 for Sega Saturn
FIFA 97 for Sega Genesis
FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 for Sega Saturn
FIFA 2003 for XBox
FIFA 2004 for Gameboy Advance
UEFA Euro 2004 for XBox

Recommended: No