Back to the Pitch with FIFA 08

After a two-game run focusing on last year's World Cup, the FIFA series returns to more familiar territory with FIFA 08. The series' unbelievably comprehensive rosters includes over 620 licensed teams playing in leagues across the world, and now comes with revolutionary game mechanics that breathe fresh interactive life into an already stellar soccer offering.

Slick animation makes all the difference.

Skill Moves
For longtime fans of the series, the new analog Skill Move system is the feature that creates a fundamental change in the way you play. Complicated jukes, feints, and ball tricks are now controlled directly by holding the left trigger and performing a motion with the right control stick. For instance, swing the right stick a quarter-circle to the right and you'll do a step over in that direction.

The motions required for each maneuver intuitively make sense as they directly translate to your player's on-screen movement. From step overs to ball drags, heel-to-heel tricks and even the complicated but ever so satisfying Rainbow Flick (flipping the ball from behind you to in front while running full steam), the required movements follow an easy-to-grasp logic. The shift from digital to analog control makes combining tricks and feints simple and effective.

Split the double team.

Be A Pro
Similar to Madden NFL 08's NFL Superstar mode, FIFA 08's Be A Pro mode offers you a chance to take hold of your favorite player and focus all your talent and skill on just that player's illustrious career.

The approach to this feature proves more natural than its Madden or NCAA Football equivalent. Where absolute precision is required for something like running a wide receiver route or learning your responsibilities in zone coverage in Madden, FIFA's generous camera angles and the less choreographed flow of a soccer match helps Be A Pro mode feel far more accessible.

You control only a single player in Be A Pro mode, but you still influence the team at large. Call for the ball at any time, signal your teammates to pressure an opposing player, or engage in scripted plays. Controlling a single player like this gives you a great feel for the game and how the team works together.

In addition to perfecting your skill set with a solitary player offline, EA has announced a free, downloadable content update post-launch (within two months) that will allow you to play matches cooperatively online with up to four friends.

Nice mowing pattern.

Worth Noting
In addition to the game-changing features of Skill Moves and Be A Pro, FIFA 08 goes a long way towards improving, polishing, and adding to its already critically acclaimed foundation.

• Shared highlights: Call the world's attention to that sweet banana-ball corner-kick you squeezed by the goalkeeper, by saving your replay, then uploading it to Xbox LIVE® for all to see and appreciate.
• Star moves: Does your favorite player boast a signature move? Try experimenting with the analog Skill Moves mechanic to reproduce that move and dominate the field.
• Streaming news: For die-hard soccer fans living in the U.S. and bemoaning sports networks ignoring your favorite sport, you can now keep track of the latest real-world soccer news, including podcasts courtesy of FIFA 08.
• Ball physics: While the series has always been well known for its spot-on physics, special attention has been paid this year to ball movement when striking it home. From air pressure to wind, ball-striking skill to ball-spin, the flight of the ball is realistically influenced by every imaginable variable.
• Tournament challenge: Participate in all the official, sponsored soccer tournaments known around the world, and have fun creating your own tournaments, setting up dream fixtures never before seen on the soccer slate.

The Classics
Of course, all the classic features of the FIFA series are still here. Play through entire seasons with your favorite team, enjoy the momentum-based animation system, call out designed plays on the fly, use the right analog stick for sudden change of direction moves, and all the rest. It's all here but with the new additions that take the FIFA series to the next level.

FIFA 08 holds true to what has made the series so beloved and so successful throughout its many years, while still understanding that it can revolutionize parts of its game. The pitch has never looked or played so well.

Article by Ryan Treit