In article , moon@fastlane.net wrote:

-   Let me first say that i'm not a huge soccer fan but a huge sports and
- video game fan.

I'm both, and that may account for some of the differences in our views of
this game - which I think is the best sports game I've ever played.

[...snip...what's up with this Virtual Stadium stuff.?...]

Yeah, I don't understand what all the fuss is about either.

- ANYWAYS,on with the review.The graphics
- are bland.And I mean BLAND!!What happened EA?The 3do version was MUCH more
- colorful than this!Its hard to understand why the PSX version is
- so...bland.

Since you like Gameday so much (as do I,) I'm surprised to hear you say
this. The player movement is much faster and much more fluid than what you
get in Gameday. The players are necessarily smaller, since (a) a soccer
pitch is quite a big larger than a football field and (b) you need to see
more of the pitch than you do of a football field. Can't speak to the 3DO
version, though.

- O.K now the sound.The sound is fantastic! Dolby no less.Sound
- great though my Dolby surrond sound system.

The sound and the music and the informative yet unobtrusive play-by-play
are all top notch.

- Now the bad part...the
- playability.This games control stinks.I tried for an hour to  get the hang
- of the passes and they never consistently worked.I'd try to pass the ball
- to the player on my right but have the time the ball would go off some
- place else.Like the LEFT!!I really thought that I had not read the
- instruction manual right but I had,its just that the control sucks.

Here we have a major disagreement; I found the controls incredibly
intuitive. I first looked at the manual and thought "Jeezus, that's a lot
of stuff to remember," but it's actually easy! Each button does the same
sort of thing whether you're on offense, defense, or in transition between
the two. Eg., Square means "get the ball": so on defense it makes your
player tackle the ball-carrier, if the ball is in the air it makes your
player challenge for the ball, if it's a throw-in or free-kick, it gets
the ball to the selected player.

I have no idea why you're having trouble passing the ball; just pick a
direction using the D-pad. If you wait to long, the ball may go in an
unpredictable direction because you are being challenged by a defender.

- The
- action also was not there.The game seemed slow and boring.Not near as much
- fun as the 3do version I had.The computer continued to steal the ball from
- me even on the easy mode and shooting was a real hit and miss.Anyway,i'm
- dissapointed and this one gos back.

It sounds like you were expecting something other than a soccer game. The
pace is almost _perfectly_ matched to that of the real thing; if the 3DO
plays much faster than this, it is unrealistic. A soccer pitch is 120
yards long and 60-70 yards wide; even the fittest of athletes can't run
4.4 40s all over the field for a 90-minute match.

If the computer is continually stealing the ball away, you're just waiting
to long to do something useful with it. Soccer is a game of quick touches
(especially on offense;) holding onto the ball for more than a couple of
seconds is not a recipe for success.

As for goal scoring; a typical match averages about 3 goals; that's one
every half-hour. Just how many were you expecting to score?

- If you like this game tell me how you control it and i'll give it another
- shot (no pun intended :) before taking it back Sunday(after the mall cools
- down...hopefully).Thanks and remember that I may just be tripping out or
- something its just that this version of EA's popular title doesn't seem to
- have it all together this time around.

I'm really sorry that it isn't working out for you. Try making quick
passes; as soon as your player receives the ball, have him pass it to
someone else. For practice, try using a really good team like the
International all-stars against a weak team like Malaysia (International)
or Manchester City (England) (no disrespect intended!) Aim your shots; use
the D-pad to curve them after you've taken them. Aiming way-left/right and
then using the D-pad to bend it back is both doable, useful and realistic.

For those familiar with soccer, this game is a treat! So many teams, so
many players! Every national side you can imagine, and the players seem to
mimic the Real Things. I have both Klinsman and Romario as strikers on one
team; Romario can take most players one-on-one, but Klinsman can't - OTOH,
Klinsman is much stronger in the air than Romario. Just like real life!
Maldini can stop 'most anything, but misses badly on about one play per
game - just like real life!

The new FIFA rules for settling ties are also implemented; no more PK
shootouts, now its sudden death OT. Each team has what look to be complete
and accurate rosters (w/3800 players I'm not about to check everything!)
About the only quibble (and it is a minor one) is that there aren't enough
substitutes for each team. It would be nice to have not only what's
allowed on the bench (5 subs,) but also what's allowed to travel(11(?).) 

I love this game.

-- 
damir smitlener                  |  
damir@mindspring.com             |
smitty@optica.mirc.gatech.edu    |