FIFA Soccer 2002

I got this game for exactly one reason: being able to have eight simultaneous players on one team on one PS2 console. To that end, it has amazed and impressed me beyond my hopes. Having 8 players on one screen is a tricky challenge and for most games it's impractical. That may be why EA Sports seems to be the only game producer out there willing to try. And not surprisingly, EA Sports is able to go beyond trying and achieve a great success.Game graphics are formidable. All of the players look very well done and the 3d model game engine lets you zoom in and out with great detail. Passing looks great as players will tap the ball behind them or wind up for a long lob across the field. You even notice the players shuffling the ball around with their feet when trying to avoid getting it stolen from them. The celebrations and tantrums thrown by the players after goals and penalties is humorous and enjoyable. Short players are in fact noticeably shorter than larger ones adding to the overall since of reality.The passing system is nicely done. You aim the direction you want to go, pick a lob or ground ball, set the power, add curl and then let the ball go. It doesn't magically travel to your players, but instead goes the direction you aimed the shot while you players will run to it. Learning to control the ball enough to get it in front of a running player so he can break away for a goal is challenging. Using headers or bicycle kicks can pull off some fantastic shots you'll want to go into replay to watch in slow motion. Slide tackling is a dangerous business as referees are more than happy to dish out yellow and red cards to players. Yet a well timed tackle when the ref isn't looking can injure and opponent and take him out without a penalty.For the soccer hardcores, this game can go into a deep level of detail. I mostly ignore the huge number of settings for team formation, aggressiveness of the players on offense/defense and a large number of other settings you can use to tweak the AI and setup of your team.Are you confused by the 400 different teams? You can get yourself into the creation centre and make your own team of characters. Give them height and weight and then adjust their facial type, facial hair, head hair, skin tone and more. I built a team out of my entire group of friends. You can guess which team we play when we're in 8-player mode!In the end, this game is amazing. I've got a strong dislike for sports games, but when my group of friends gathers, FIFA is the first game to go into the machine and usually stays there for hours.

First, let me start by telling you that I have played quite a few versions of this game. Fifa 98 RTWC (PC), Fifa 99 (PC), Fifa 2000 (PC), Fifa 2001 (PS2), and Fifa 2002 (PS2) to be exact. The best of the bunch is the latest version and the worst is last years title; ... Basically RTWC is as good as any other previous version of Fifa. Now on to Fifa 2002 which is the most realistic and enjoyable of the series so far. As always the graphics are excellent and improved from 2001. For examlple, player animations are more fluid; however, player details (faces, bodies) don't really look that much better than last year's title. The stadium, crowd and pitch look much improved and add a needed touch of realism to the game. This is a fun game to watch. The atmosphere is also right on and it gives you the feeling of really being in the stadium. The crowd chants, game effects and music are all very well done and help immerse you in the experience. The commentary is decent (English commentators, thank god) but I expect it will grow monotonous quickly, as in previous editions, and have to be disabled. EA sports has as usual garnered a plehtora of official licences so there is a wide variety of domestic and international teams and players to choose from. There is also an excellent choose of team management options and players and teams can be edited in almost every conceivable way. Think of your local Sunday park team replete with authentic kit and decent facial copies of you and your friends playing for the world cup. Your teams attributes may be slighlty exagerrated(basically you can make yourself the Fifa world player of the year and your teamates a close second).Now on to the guts of the game the gameplay an area where the boys from EA usually drop the ball. The new passing system is very good with analog controls to aim and power both lobbed and ground passes. You can actually swerve the ball in this version and it works. An other excellent addition is the one-two pass which when used effectively can split a defense wide open. The players also make runs to open space and this runs are shown prior to their inception by a trail. In addition, the gameplay has been slowed down-about time-and the game becomes more strategic in nature and not just a button mashing fest as in previous additions. You have to be very careful when aiming your passes as slight variations in controller movemnent will lead to errant passes. You also have to worry about the weight or pace of the pass. Players will sometimes miss trap a ball just like in real and the traps are more varied and realistic. Tackling is another area that has been totally revamped from 2001. The slide tackle has to be aimed very precisely or you'll either end up sliding for first base or cropping the opposing player. Actually, this tackle is far less effective than in 2001 so much so in fact that I rarely use it even in multiplayer games(unlike 2001 where the players spent have the game with their ... on the turf). The referees are much better and will call any slide that is illegal and may even throw out a card. Shooting is also more difficult and in this game you have more control over the keeper than in any of the previous versions. All these improvements add up to a vastly superior product when compared to last year's offering. However as with all EA sport's products there are some glaring faults and the more you play the game the more painful they become. The different views do not allow a decent view of the whole field making long passes very difficult. Yeah sure you can now hit a long ball with Beckham down the wing or through the middle but it's rather difficult when you can't see the players your attempting to pass to. Another difficulty I have with the new passing system is directing a pass in a direction different from the way you are running with the ball (it can be done but it's a pain). Also, there is still too much dribbling as its harder to dispossess your opponent. Shielding the ball(L2 or stop with the ball) and a little dash of the speed burst and you'll being running through defenses with abandon particularly in multiplayer. The shooting aspect of the game is not all that great. Because the game needs to be played zoomed out on either panoramic or tower mode shooting is not really intuitive or a great deal of fun.

Firstly let me say that i have enjoyed most of ea games createdbut over the years it seems that they are going down the ladderinstead of up.For instance i have been buying nba live, madden,ncaa and fifasoccer since they came out, and instead of adding new stuffalong with keeping what was there in the game they take it out.For e.g fifa 2001 had some advantages and some disadvantageplayers slide tackles too long, attempts at goals werelightning fast,leaving out nigeria from world teams and may beone or two little things but all in all it was better than 2002.2002 however slide tackles are on target, nigeria is back on,shots are still lightning fast but thats ok,player movementmore fluid. BUT let me say... i can play verywell and the controlling aspect of this game is horrible for thepeople who come over to my place to play, they say in our dialect (dis(this)game hard).In previousgames passing was notthat difficult, and in my case I have the dribbling down packin 2001 but 2002, how come R1 controls all the moves, where is360,flick,the evading jump with the ball, come on this was the life of the game, now its just kick the ball from end to endand hope you can press the run button fast enough, and directing a shot for me its trying but for your noneveryday gamers they will see trouble playing. but I would like to advisewho ever is doing 2003 put back these moves or your game willkeep going down the drain, I WISH YOU SUCCESS IN YOUR NEXT TRY.