Live Ball
At A Glance
Tired of crushing the computer at FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup® and bringing home yet another trophy? Good—it's time to take this show online. With fully integrated support for Xbox Live®, jump right in and enjoy 90 minutes of red card-baiting glory over the Internet against fellow gamers around the globe. First, the good news: Initiating a peer-to-peer connection with potential challengers takes seconds flat. Now the bad: Prepare to get your butt kicked. The competition is fierce out there, and only the sharpest strikers will rise to the top. The best players wield the element of surprise to their advantage, Assuming you plan on making a name for yourself in cyberspace, here are a few bits of advice, which will help even the most uncoordinated oaf start bending it like Beckham in no time flat. Use Your Head Road to FIFA World Cup is a surprisingly strategic game—bring combos, fancy dribbles, and fakes to bear against adversaries. Beginners won't be expecting it. Counter their wild, unplanned attacks with carefully plotted, tactical assaults. Slow the pace of the game by turning on your heels and dribbling in circles. Give teammates time to catch up and set themselves up in scoring position. Play with formations and differing plans of attack. By controlling the flow of the action, you not only have an advantage in terms of following through on defensive techniques or shot attempts, you also frustrate and confound players whose whole game is based purely on adrenaline. The more agitated they get, the less effectively they think on the fly and counter calculated maneuvers.
Take advantage of aggressive opponents. Guard Your Territory Force them to constantly fight to gain ground on the field. When in possession of the ball, start moving it towards their goal with a series of quick combo passes or, if you're feeling confident, dribble it ahead using skill moves to counter potential interceptions. A shot attempt from downfield (which puts so much power behind kicks that the ball goes sailing) is also a great way of immediately easing the pressure on you and your teammates. In general, play defensively. Wait for rivals to make mistakes then pounce on the opportunity. If you know an opponent's more skilled, focus the bulk of your efforts on countering their assaults. Soccer isn't a high-scoring game, after all, and all it takes to win is one goal. Squeeze off occasional surprise shots rather than constantly rushing ahead and leaving yourself open to attack.
Keep foes away from your goal. Don't Choreograph Your Plays Given that you can execute sprints, trick shots, and cross passes on command, or ping-pong the ball between teammates, there's no excuse for using the same techniques over and over. If you allow adversaries to second-guess you, they'll dominate the pitch. Keep track of everything happening on-screen and react quickly as matches evolve. Don't be stubborn, either; overconfidence will ruin your chances of success. The action is completely fluid, so go with the flow—if a particular scheme isn't progressing according to plan, try taking a different tack. It's a difficult concept to wrap your head around, but by the time you're finished on the field, you'll be halfway to becoming a grandmaster-level chess player. In other words, only those who can think several steps ahead (and compensate for failings instantly) will emerge victorious.
Zig when you should be zagging. Play as often as possible too. The more comfortable you are behind the controls and on the pitch, the better you perform in a pinch. And remember—every person you meet online is different. Shape your approach to take into account their specific strengths and weaknesses, and you're always guaranteed to be on the ball. Article by Steve Richter |
