Fifa 08 Review

FIFA 08 is the latest installment from EA games. Over the last few years EA has dominated the industry with high quality and high budgeted games. EA Sports releases the most well known sports games and the FIFA series has always topped the charts.

FIFA 08 (the PS3, 360 and PC versions) gameplay runs quite a bit differently from the 07 version. The players run more fluidly and the ball carries more weight. For those who have played FIFA's prior to 08, the new controls take a little time getting used to but overall the new controls are better. The conservative tackle is now also the same button as pass. This helps because before, tackle was also the shoot/kick button which got annoying if you accidentally kept on pressing it after you got the ball off your opponent. Now, if you make this mistake, the repercussions aren't so bad. At worst, you will pass and the opponent will intercept it. The power bar, however, isn't quite so good. I have played the game only on PS3 so I'm not sure if the 360 has the same problem but the power bar rises very unevenly, almost like the gauge is lagging. This means it's hard to make the precise power when kicking or taking a corner kick. Most of the time I was estimating when letting go of the kick button would be the correct power. The AI isn't too bad and can score good goals and set up nice plays out of nowhere which is challenging and makes for exciting gameplay. The overall speed is more realistic and has toned down substantially. This helps to create better plays and more planned strategies.