Another year, another FIFA...
FIFA 06, is pretty much what you would expect. Crisp graphics,...interesting sound track over the top intro video and an unusable menu.
Career:
Well, 15 seasons is a lot to keep things fresh like in previous installment players retire after a certain age and/or move to different clubs. Personally I find that annoying as you are unable to use teams like Arsenal, Man U, Real until most great players have left and replaced by some generic player who looks just like the previously retired 'star' player.
The greatest new introduction has to be team chemistry, as players play together the team starts to perform a lot better, performing above their rating. Certainly a nice touch by EA and to an extent it works. Keeping team morale up seems to be near impossible. Some players have 99, most of mine are 0 despite playing most matches, winning Champion's League, League, etc, just don't know how to please the bunch of suckers.
The money balance is annoying, you get money from ticket sales and winning things. This effectively puts a stop to managing a big side until late in the game as you end up going into the red and getting the sack, arf!
In game:
Handles pretty well. I like the way the players now run forward to help out and get back. In previous FIFA's once you get the ball upfield, usually have to wait for everyone to catch up or try to do it alone. The realism is pretty good, it does resemble at times something called football. Although there a few glitches, such as keeper catching a ball and falling on the ground behind the goal line not counting as a goal. Offside being called when player has gone past the back four and passes to a player behind him. And finally impossible keeper on hardest setting. In fact this is something quite frustrating. Playing crap teams, having 20 shots on target and scoring maybe one, other team have 2 shots and both hit back of the net. Makes me cry...
World XI:
Have to mention my surprise at the line-ups for Classic XI and World Best XI. Clearly EA do not see Pele the greatest footballer ever, he is left warming the bench. Also, can someone explain to me how Christian Ronaldo and Rooney (sorry Man U fans out there) come close to making World XI? Neither have come close to winning any international awards, esp Ronaldo. Would have like to have seen Lampard/Eto or Shevchenko in starting lineup.
Game controls:
Having got an oldish WingMan Gamepad, I was shocked to find that I cannot assign a skill button in the control config. This is quite annoying!!! There are so many different moves you can do that sometimes you may wish you had extra finger or two.
Overall, nice game, worth playing, until that is FIFA World Cup 2006 comes out. I strongly suggest getting third party patches to add players, update rosters and edit the game to your hearts content (be careful what you install though!!! Make sure it comes from a reliable site).