Pull your boots on, it’s time for FIFA 09. With this long-running footie franchise, it’s soccer season all-year round, offering friendlys, challenges, knock-out tournaments, penalty shoot-outs and full season play.
From the moment you fire up the menus, it’s obvious FIFA is a Premier League game, letting you choose everything from your players and formation to the stadiums and even the weather, all to the accompaniment of some of the tinniest-sounding Euro pop ever digitised.
Out on the pitch, players are pieced together out of blocky polygons with disturbingly sword-like arms (we’re hoping for a FIFA/Soul Calibur cross-over next year). The lower-res graphics mean everything moves smoothly – if not swiftly.
Players amble about the pitch at a gentle trot, unless you double-tap to make them sprint. In which case, they amble about the pitch at a slightly less gentle trot. It’s like trying to rouse a £100,000-a-week super-star striker for a lowly Cup tie.
EA Sports has done a good job of shrinking FIFA’s complex controls to just the nav-pad and two buttons. You’ll soon pick up how to execute the game’s couple of skill moves and judging a neat cross-and-volley isn’t too difficult. Switching between players can be sluggish, though, and passes often fly awry.
That’s made up for by all the usual FIFA flourishes, such as replays, sarcastic pop-up commentary, good sound effects and full-time highlights. Despite occasionally frustrating gameplay, the wide range of game modes (although sadly no two-player options) means that FIFA 09 is rewarding enough to keep you playing, well, to the end of the season, at least.
Details
Price: £8
Rating: 3+
Size: 4MB
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