Is there really a point?

User Rating: 5.6 | FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup X360
The way I see it, there really isn't any point in buying this game. This seems like yet another attempt by Electronic Arts to milk every penny from their customers... and it worked. I, like the average unsuspecting football fan, bought this gaming thinking that it was EA's 2006 World Cup game. The reality is, this game isn't the World Cup game, it is the Road TO World Cup game. I mean, c'mon, this is ridiculous.

What's worse, as far as soccer games go, this game is pretty crappy. The system they have implemented for shooting the ball is extremely hit and miss. In fact, I've had this game since release, and I still don't know if there is an actual technique involved when shooting the ball. I simply just run up to the 18 yard box, shoot, and hope it goes in.

The game isn't particularly difficult. Even on the harder difficulty levels I found little challenge bypassing the defenders. The only challenge was trying to get the ball in the net, no thanks to the awkward shooting system.

The one thing that EA always seems to nail is the sound department. They've got a variety of great songs from all over the world which add a nice little touch to the game. They've also got commentators who will regularly narrate your matches. Although these commentators eventually run out of things to say and start repeating themselves, I still rather enjoyed hearing what they had to say.

I guess my biggest beef with this game is the fact that I feel mighty shafted. If I had known EA was going to release the actual World Cup game a couple months later, I would have skipped this pile of crap and be richer for it. For those of you who are planning on buying this game, DON'T. Outside of the fact that I feel completely and utterly ripped-off, this game isn't really much of a soccer game anyways. I use to be a pretty avid fan of EA's FIFA series, but now I can easily see myself veering off into the direction of the Winning Eleven series.