Following hot on the studs of our FIFA 08 360 review, it's time to dust off the trusty PS2. Having hosted more versions of the game than any other console, it's arguably FIFA's natural home, and the PS2 game continues to be developed by a different team to the next-gen affair.
It shows too, with this version a much more compelling fare. Compared to the stunted action of the next-gen game, this feels right straight from the kick-off. Players are responsive, tackling is precise, it feels comfortable on the ball, team-mates run in to space and you can almost always find a pass. There's an argument that a football videogame should be the equivalent of the televised highlights of a full match and, on that criterion, FIFA 08 ticks all the boxes. It's horses for courses: if you want to be camped on the halfway line for 20 minutes probing for an opening, get the next-gen game. If you want end-to-end action, it's all happening on the PS2.
It still requires a degree of skill though, with the new manual through ball enabling you to play the perfect pass, and the manual crossing enabling you to ghost in at the far post with a bullet header, something sadly lacking on next-gen FIFA. While it's action-packed stuff, the experience isn't cheapened, and you really can play some impressive flowing football. It's not uncommon to put together a 20-pass move before stinging the keeper's hands and muttering under your breath in disgust as he tips it out for a corner.
The game has clearly been balanced and tweaked for years and, in order to keep the scorelines realistic, the goalies do appear to have been imbued with supernatural powers, with point blank saves proving commonplace. Thankfully corners can prove a reasonably potent weapon, with glancing headers sometimes catching the keeper out, or at least resulting in a frantic goalmouth scramble.
On the subject of keepers, it's all change at the other end, as you can now manually control the man between the posts. A swift click of the right stick, and you are the keeper, caught in the headlights of an oncoming striker, with the triangle button enabling you to dive at his feet. It's a nice idea, but it does take some getting used to after years of simply holding down triangle and hoping for the best. Old habits die hard and, having assumed control of the keeper, it's easy to instinctively press triangle and throw yourself on the ground in a heap while the forward casually strolls past and rolls the ball into the net.
It's another optional tool in your armoury, but it can also come in handy while defending free kicks, as you are now able to set your wall and then shift the keeper along his line to defend the other side of the goal, making you look even more stupid when striker curls it onto the opposite corner. As for taking free kicks, it's the tried and tested technique of tweaking the analogue stick - when they go in you feel like a world-beater; when they drift harmlessly over the bar you feel like a berk.
New stuff! Naturally EA Sports wouldn't expect you to buy the same game year after year, and this season sees the introduction of a number of interesting features, with the emphasis on co-operation. The Be A Pro Mode extends to three players, each controlling a single footballer and playing as part of a disciplined team (as opposed to chasing the ball all over the park and attempting to take on the entire defence single-handed).
On a similar tip, Zone Play is effectively the videogame equivalent of table football, with the key difference that the players aren't limited to lateral movement and don't have a pole through their bodies. The team is split into defence, midfield and attack, enabling up to three players to take control and, of course, scream at each other for the ball. As for the handful of people who have managed to take their PS2 online, they are ably catered for with the return of the Interactive League, enabling football fans to emulate their club's fixtures (providing of course they support a Premier League team). And for the solo player, the quirky Management Mode returns, enabling you to dabble with numbers, attributes and chemistry to little discernible effect.
Closing Comments
Ultimately, the real victory is on the pitch, with a flowing brand of attacking football almost reminiscent of that other football game, Pro Evolution something. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Konami can consider themselves duly flattered. The real winners are PS2 owners though, able to cock a snook at the fancy graphics of more expensive consoles while enjoying a supremely playable game of association football. Sometimes, looks aren't everything.
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