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It's time to put Subbuteo away! | | Joe Weissman from London, England says (15/Aug/2002): | For the first time in its history, FIFA no longer feels like a Playstation version of Subbuteo. Instead of the ball sticking to the feet of an attacker, for once the dribbling is realistic. No longer can Emile Heskey dribble like Zidane, or Phil Neville run with the ball like Roberto Carlos.
Of course, before you buy FIFA World Cup 2002, you might (and quite rightly) be thinking: why do I need this game, aren't Brazil, Argentina, England and the rest all on FIFA 2002 anyway?
Well yes, but the gameplay is nowhere near as good. And plus, if you need any further convincing, just try to win the World Cup as Senegal on FIFA 2002. There are two major snags: neither Senegal nor the World Cup itself are featured on FIFA 2002. So if you like the real McCoy, then FIFA World Cup is the game to get.
Instead of standing still, players make intelligent runs. Watch as Trezeguet snaps onto a Zidane pass, Totti joins Vieri and Del Piero in the box, and Roberto Carlos makes the overlap outside Rivaldo.
The graphics are a lot more detailed, with a closer view of the pitch and players, which gives you the feelng of being in the front row. Also players have personalised faces and attributes - so much so that Andy Gray comments on the speed of Rio Ferdinand, and the passing ability of David Beckham.
The commentary team of Andy Gray and John Motson is probably a dream pairing for most football fans, and it's improved from FIFA 2002's commentary, and it looks like Andy Gray's done his homework on every team in the world cup and the star players - for instance: make a tackle with Nicky Butt in the World Cup and watch the stats roll off Gray's tongue.
It would be nice to hear Motty get a bit more emotional when England are a goal down (or a goal up, as viewers of the England-Argentina game will have noticed) with five or ten minutes to go, and it would be good if Sol Campbell and Rio Ferdinand came up for set pieces rather than the tiny Michael Owen and the hopeless Heskey against the towering giants of Nesta and Cannavaro and the like, but you can't have it all.
FIFA have admitted that they are starting a ten-year plan to make FIFA total, real football, but judging by this release they're off to an encouraging start.
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