FIFA Soccer 2004

After nearly 10 annual attempts, Electronic Arts has finally reproduced the same magical game of soccer it refined in the two-dimensional days of Genesis and Super Nintendo.

FIFA 2004 uses an entirely revamped animation system, which leads to very clean, realistic player movement. Teammates feel like living, thinking athletes. It is not only possible, but actually effective to play smart soccer—to make lateral runs, to play the ball to space, to use the entire field wisely. One is even able to make runs with players off the ball while still retaining control of the ball carrier, via the second analog stick. The game is filled with deep, layered game mechanics, complemented nicely by EA's trademark ace visual and aural presentation. It's got a full career mode, and more statistical depth than anyone could ask for: 16 leagues, 350 teams, and 10,000 players. Player control is the tightest it's been since the series went 3D, though it does still feel a bit stiff at times.

Ultimately, whether 2004 is, in fact, a better game than Konami's Winning Eleven 7 on PlayStation 2 is debatable; what is clear, however, is that this is easily the finest game of footy to be found on Xbox. While you may have heard the story before, it should still be noted that the Xbox version lacks any online play whatsoever. Perhaps it's time to write your local Microsoft representative and request that his multinational megacorp make friends with that other multinational megacorp, Electronic Arts?

Copyright © 2003 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in XBox Nation.