N-Philes

2002 FIFA World Cup

Posted by Archived.

2002 FIFA World Cup is EA's second GameCube soccer title, and is a sequel of sorts to FIFA Soccer 2002, which was released last fall. FIFA 2002 featured a World Cup qualifying mode, but not the actual tournament. FIFA World Cup starts where the original left off, and lets gamers experience competing in the World Cup. Unfortunately, it doesn't offer other modes found in FIFA 2002.

Boot up 2002 FIFA World Cup and take a look at the menu screen. Gone are all the modes that past FIFA games have been known for. There is no team or player edit, there is no season mode, there is no tournament mode. You can either choose to take a team through the World Cup or participate in a friendly match, which is a single exhibition game.

On the team select screen you'll notice that the only teams featured in the game are the ones in the World Cup. The international and club teams found in previous FIFA games are absent even in Friendly mode. It's clear that EA's focus was only on the World Cup and the countries participating in it. Vibrant menus capture the feel of the World Cup, as do the actual World Cup stadiums and the crowds in them.

While the teams and modes found in the game are lacking, the gameplay isn't. It features everything that was found in FIFA 2002 and includes several improvements. The basic control setup works well on the GameCube controller.

Passing on the ground is done with the A button. It takes some practice, as you'll need to get used to finding players and passing to them at the correct speed. If the pass is too hard, the player might miss the ball, while a pass that is too soft will be intercepted. Once mastered, the basic passing system seems to be more accurate than the one in FIFA 2002. The passing game includes more depth thanks to give-and-go passing with the c-stick and player runs that are called with the Z button. The B button is used for a lob pass, which can be useful for clearing the ball on defense and setting up headers in front of the goal. Shooting is done with the X button. The speed of the shot is determined by how long the X button is pressed and direction is determined by aiming with the joystick. Unfortunately since stealing and shooting are both done with the X button, it isn't uncommon to see players accidentally shoot the ball from the center of the field. When shooting from a distance, putting spin on the ball with the shoulder buttons will give the shot a better chance of beating the keeper, as long as it is also aimed and struck with the correct amount of power. On offense, the shoulder buttons are used to perform moves, which may work against human opponents, but often seem to be ineffective against the computer on harder difficulties.

Defensively, X performs a standard tackle and B performs a slide tackle. Fouls are never called for a tackle with the X button. Tackling with B works very much like soccer in real life. You need to play the ball, not the opposing player for the challenge to be legal.

Headers are performed by holding in the X button while the ball is in the air. A new level of strategy has been added to headers in FIFA World Cup as a power meter now comes up to determine which player wins the header. A more powerful header will take longer to jump to and be less accurate, while using less power gives the player a quicker jump and more accuracy. Corner kicks and free kicks require precise timing to win the ball.

I found that the game speed on the standard setting is way too slow to resemble real soccer and bumped it up to fastest as soon as I started my first game. I disliked the default Tele camera, although I used it as my camera of choice in past FIFA games. I found that Action cam works similar to Tele but provides a better view of some areas.

Getting into some smaller details, I noticed some minor problems with the referees. Some of the tackles with the X button look like fouls, but are never penalized. On other fouls, there is always a delay before the whistle is blown. If you do not touch the ball, the ref won't blow the whistle. Also, the assistant referees sometimes point with their hands instead of their flags, which never happens in real life.

EA hasn't slacked when it comes to graphics in 2002 FIFA World Cup. Players look detailed in both cutscenes and on the field in gameplay situations. While players are not individually face mapped, they include real hair color and facial hair, so it is possible to recognize star players.

Animations for running, shooting, and passing have been motion captured and look very fluid. New animations have been added since FIFA 2002, most notably a new ball save animation. When the ball is about to cross the touchline or goal line, players will make an effort to save the ball by sliding. It looks really impressive in motion and can be a big help on both offense and defense. New animations have also been added for tackles, and players will react more realistically to the game. For example, if a player is down they will jump over them.

Crowds are also improved over past FIFA games. Although they aren't 3D, they do contain some detail and motion and can be seen wearing the colors of the team they support. The crowd will also hold up the flag of their respective country in addition to signs. The stadiums are equally impressive and are detailed models of the real stadiums in Japan and South Korea.

One unfortunate drawback to the graphics are the framerates, which have taken a serious hit in several circumstances. On occasion, the game will stutter and skip a few frames before returning to a solid framerate. The framerate suffers even more when four human players are participating the in the game. Fortunately, it doesn't happen all that often and usually doesn't have a negative effect on gameplay.

FIFA's two man commentary courtesy of John Motson and Andy Grey makes the game seem like an actual soccer broadcast. EA has included tons of lines so the commentary isn't as repetitive other sports games, although some of the individual player and team facts are repeated more often.

The crowd reacts to the game by singing and chanting and with cheers and boos depending on how their team is playing. They also protest referee calls by yelling, just like a crowd would at an actual match.

There are only two gameplay modes, World Cup and Friendly, which is little disappointing, especially after FIFA 2002 had tournament and player customization modes. After beating the World Cup with several teams, the replay value begins to drop. Fortunately, the AI on the highest difficulty is challenging, and it takes some time to master the World Cup on that level. After beating the World Cup with teams in specific world regions, the following teams can be unlocked: All-Europe, All-Americas, All-Africa, All-Asia, and All-World. There are also bonus videos included in the game that are about soccer and the World Cup.

This game gets an N-Philes score of B-.

The gameplay in 2002 FIFA World Cup does include improvements over FIFA 2002. The passing system, headers, and volleys have all been improved and new player animations have been added. The problem is that a few gameplay touchups do not make up for a game that lacks tournaments, player edit modes, and club teams. It's clear that EA's focus for this title was on the World Cup only, and they did a good job of that. Everything from the menus, to the crowds, to the stadiums capture the feel of the World Cup. For this and the gameplay, 2002 FIFA World Cup is worth a rental. However, those who want to purchase a new EA Sports new soccer game are better off waiting for FIFA 2003.

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