Customer Reviews:
 Not as sophisticated as FIFA 08, but not bad May 27, 2008
J. A. Harrison
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
This EA take on the Uefa Euro 2008 championships is obviously going to suffer commercially in England because of the execrable failure of the national team.
As a game, it is a lot closer in feel to the World Cup 2006 game, which first got me into the whole PS2 football thing, than the imperious FIFA 08. The camera angle is a bit weird, too low and off-centre and, despite frequent attempts to correct it, tends to revert to the same view. Shooting is easier than in the parent game; the AI tackling is downright feeble.
The main innovation is the 'kickstick' - which is using the right analogue stick as a draw back and shoot stick, a bit like putting in the Tiger Woods golf games. I can't say I was impressed. On penalties - and there are suppose to be penalty shoot-outs in a tournament like this - you get a sideways view. Again, I've tried to get a proper view, but the thing just reverts. Could be me, I guess, but sureley a head-on view for penalities should be default. Side on using a 'kick-stick' makes penalities a real piece of fun, like catching a lippery bar of soap with well-greased hands. As an ace penalty taker on FIFA 08, to be reduced into John Terry in this version was shaming.
Quibbles aside, the game play is fine. Sliding in is a lot harder to achieve and Andy Townsend, co-commentator with Clive Tyldesley, manages to sound as inane and banal on this as he does on ITV.
The main fun of FIFA 08 is manager mode and transfers etc, which is obviously not available in this game (much as we might like to buy Zlatan Ibrahimovic). It's much simpler and, in my view, should be cheaper, though that is not apparent. You do get a good indication of where certain players are going to be rated in FIFA 09, notably Luka Modric who wasn't in the main game (comes in at 82 overall).
Last point, the 'mascots' for the tournament are really annoying. I had not noticed them in the build up to the championships proper, but there are all over this like a bad case of scabies.
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