i love ajax amsterdam!
btw here is a review of FIFA 2004:
it's rather long tough.
FIFA 2004 Hands-on Preview
By Matt Holme, Date: Thursday, 10 July, 2003
Earlier this week I was able to play a solid few hours of FIFA 2004. I got to try out the game on the PS2, PC and Xbox. All of these versions were exactly the same, barring the obvious difference in graphics, depending on the particular console I was using. I will now take you through the major new features of the game.
Firstly, lets look at the controls. You will be happy to hear EA have added literally twice the number of controls to the game as there were last year. Here are some examples of the new controls (the actual buttons may change before release).
There is a new tackle button, making the number of tackles you can choose from increase from 2 to 3. Along with the standard slide tackle, and the front on tackle from last year there is now a tackle which is called a "leg in tackle". You press the L1 button to stick a leg into a tackle. Only do this when you\'re confident of winning the ball though, because as you know from real life, over commit to a tackle and it is very easy for the attacker to run straight by you. This new tackle works well when you hold down the square button to hold up an attacker and then at the correct moment press the L1 button to commit to the tackle. If you make this tackle from behind though, you'll more than likely be called for a foul.
Undoubtedly the most exciting new gameplay related feature is the brand new Off The Ball control. This new feature is probably one of the biggest innovations in football games ever. The way it works is similar to the way people play Madden games. Before I go on though, enthusiasts of standard FIFA play, please do not panic. Off The Ball control is an optional feature and only works when you hold down the R2 button. So if you don't want to use it, you don't have to. Reality is though, once you get the hang of it you'll never go back.
When in possession of the ball, hold down the R2 button and 3 players who are "off the ball" will have button symbols appear above their heads. For example, on a PS2 you can see a triangle above Beckham's head, a Square above Raul, and a Circle above Ronaldo. If you want to take Ronaldo on a run press and hold Circle, you will then take control of Ronaldo while pocession of the ball remains with the original player. Controlling Ronaldo you can now make them run into any gap you want, once he is into position take your finger off the Circle button to execute the long ball. Hold down L2 as well to make the long ball a through ball so that Ronaldo runs onto it.
This is just one of the many features of the Off The Ball control system. It takes a while to get used to but is a terrific new feature once you get the hang of it.
Those of you familar with the FIFA 2003 control system will be happy to hear you can still send players on standard runs like last year. This year though it has been added to as well. You can now send a player on a run, just the same as FIFA 2003, however, if you wish, you can hold down L1 and you'll then be able to control the player making the run with your right analogue stick. This means you can send your player on a run to absolutely any part of the ground, then choose whether you send a pass to him, a through pass, a long ball etc. In effect you can actually control two players. You'll be controlling the player with the ball with your left stick, and the player making the run with your right. As I mentioned, a standard automatic player run is still available by simply pressing the L1 button.
Good news for those of you who didn't like the dedicated header button last year. The original system is back where you have two types of headers. The pass header is controled by pressing the pass button when the ball is in the air. The shoot header is controled by pressing the shoot button while the ball is in the air. You can vary the type of pass headers you do by holding L2 to execute a downward pass header to another players feet.
Now onto another dramatically improved aspect of FIFA 2004, the set-pieces. Although the new free kick system was not in the version we played yesterday, I can give you some details on it.
It is similar to last year's system, yet it has been fine tuned and added to. You now have the ability to choose set pieces before you kick the ball. When you are awarded a free kick you can toggle through a variety of set pieces. Execute the kick with good timing, and then its up to you to complete the set piece by getting the ball into the back of the net. EA assured me that none of this will be automatic, meaning once you kick the ball, you'll still have your fair share of work to do in order to score the goal. In other words, just getting the little white bar in the green area (like in FIFA 2003) won't assure you a goal from a set piece.
Corners have been completely re-worked. Here is how a corner will work in FIFA 2004. Similar to the Off The Ball control, three players have button symbols appearing over their head. Choose the player you want the corner to be aimed at and press the appropriate button. You will then take control of that player as the camera zooms in. You get about 4-5 seconds before the corner actually comes in. In this time it is up to you to jostle (by using your right analogue kick) your marker to get into the correct position to either head or kick the ball into the back of the net. This takes a lot of practise, and until you master it you will find a lot of balls either being cleared away by defenders or flying directly through the box across to the sideline. Be sure not to push and shove your marker too much, or you'll probably incur a foul.
Jostling for pocession in a tackle is a major part of football in real-life. Thankfully it is now a major part of FIFA 2004 as well. Those of you familiar with FIFA 2003 will be aware that when a computer player came in to tackle you and a jostle began there were only ever two outcomes - you won the tackle, or lost the ball. This year though, when you find yourself in a jostle with an opponent and it looks as though you are going to lose the tackle, you can easily turn your body to a team mate and lay the ball off to him. On the defensive side of things, if you are delaying an attacker with "jockeying" defending, you can press L2 to call in a team mate to attack the man in possession.
Every player has their own individual feel. For example, you can really tell when you're controlling Ronaldo. The difference between sending Ronaldo on a run to beat attackers, compared to sending a lesser skilled defender on a similar run is definitely noticable. You no longer have to look at the bottom of the screen to see who you are controlling, you can simply tell by the feel and style of the player's footwork and running.
The version of FIFA 2004 I played was still 4-6 weeks away from being complete. With another month of tweaking and fine-tuning I am very confident EA can make FIFA 2004 a true winner and definitely one of the best football simulations of all time.
At the exact same time last year I played a copy of FIFA 2003. It was barely controllable and obviously a long way off being a truely satisfactory football game. This year though, I can honestly say that FIFA 2004, even in its early pre-alpha stage, is feeling like a much more complete game than FIFA 2003 was even as a finished product.
As another testament to the share depth of FIFA 2004, I have only touched on the gameplay side of FIFA 2004. I am yet to even begin to talk about arguably the biggest addition to the game, Career Mode. I will put together a report on this truly exciting feature next week. For now though, check out our recently published pre-alpha screenshots as well as reading the EA SPORTS Chat Session from yesterday.
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screenshotsPost edited by ZUSeaLily at 8/1/2003 2:44:28 PM