“Here comes the action” – FIFA 06

**FIFA 06** (EA Sports, PlayStation 2, 2005)

The ‘Football’ is gone from the title, as well as the 20: not just the millennium being old hat but a statement of confidence in the brand.

What’s new in FIFA 06?

Even less than in the previous version. There’s a ‘lounge mode’ for group local multiplayer. Customisation options get an upgrade back to closer to the old days. Manager mode gets some tweaks and expansions including a range of portraits to pick for yourself, though its finickiness and the difficulty of finding such basics as the league table highlights that it’s still some way off the experience Sensible World of Soccer mastered a decade earlier. There is a ‘fan shop’ tying little options into earning points to pay for them, though not (yet) the option to do so with real money. You can change tactics mid-game with the directional pad. The indicator triangle above the head of the player you control has gone from red to yellow.

What’s gone?

This is the more interesting one, this time. Many of the remaining complexities of control in-game, including set piece routines, off-the-ball movement, and some of the fancy skills have been removed. All of which are for the better. Several years after failed attempts to match the specifics of Pro Evolution Soccer, in sticking to improving on the basics FIFA 06 finally captures a little more of its spirit.

Who is on the cover?

Wayne Rooney of Manchester United and Ronaldinho of Barcelona. There’s still an attempt to reach multiple markets there, but with less of the scattergun approach of previous versions. Here are two of the biggest stars of the time, one new and one less so. They are soaked, yelling and obscured by rain and further filters. It goes with the intro video with its emphasis on tribes and passion and emotion I guess. The dramatic rain manages to convey a move away from dry simulation, if not to produce a great image.

What’s on the soundtrack?

Another selection that shows off its eclecticism within some still visible bounds and a remaining bloke lean. No big theme song at all anymore. I like it better than the previous years, largely because I loved Doves’ “Black and White Town” and Embrace’s “Ashes” at the time (there’s some more rain-soaked masculinity for you) and hearing them now is a pleasant novelty.

Who is the best player in the game?

Let’s hear it for the goalkeepers! Iker Casillas of Real Madrid and Gianluigi Buffon of Juventus, rated 95, are the joint highest rated players, though they are even less of an obvious asset above other players than most outfield stars.

Who is the worst player in the game?

Once again it’s the lower leagues represented, with some tough competition from France’s Ligue 2 failing to beat Jamie Tolley (Shrewsbury, CM, rated 34). After a career which never reached above that level, he’s now working as a motorway operational manager.

What do the players look like?

There wasn’t a lot of scope for the PS2 to do too much more on this front, and the different approach to the cover photos is not reflected in any way in-game. It’s also far from the last FIFA game I’ll be playing on PS2, so…

How does it play

As far as the more realistic simulation end of things goes, this is the best things have got for FIFA. AI-controlled players still don’t always do what you want, but it feels more like an acceptable challenge than a constant annoyance. And the sense of holding a finely tuned instrument, shaping your hands in different ways to dummy the ball or chip a perfectly-placed through ball, is the closest yet to modern day FIFA. The result of all of that in my experience actually tended to be lower-scoring games and goals scored on the rebound or deflection, but that doesn’t matter as much as how it feels just doing the tiny movements that make up a game of football.

How does it score on the sepp-blatter-rain-of-banknotes.gif greed index?

More was dropped than changed, and it was the second FIFA game of the year. Yet it’s clearly a case where less is more and that keeps it from feeling much like just a routine release. 0.2 sepp-blatter-rain-of-banknotes.gifs.