Scoorey’s FIFA 08 experience

G’day everyone,

Today I went to EA headquarters in Sydney to have a play at the final version of Fifa 08 on xbox 360. When I got there they took me into a room with a bunch of huge TVs and a massive projector, and turned FIFA on and threw me a controller. It turns out that the main reason they invited me in was just because they heard I was good and they wanted to test everyone in the office against me – they have big competitions amongst all the employees every year throughout the season, and were looking to pick up some tips for their comp. So one by one I played them, and only really got to see ‘play now’ matches. Teams used were chelsea, man u, arsenal, liverpool, inter,  ac milan, barcelona, real madrid. The gameplay was a little different to the demo – definately a bit faster and it seemed like i had more control of the players, but there were a few bugs that showed themselves, especially with the goalkeepers. I struggled to score goals – we played 6 minute halves and the scores were 2-0, 1-0, 0-1, 1-1, 3-0 and 4-1. The game I lost was conceded because when I did a backpass, the goalkeeper did a fake over the ball and let it through his legs into the goal with nobody anywhere near him. A couple of the goals I scored were mistakes by the goalkeeper and defenders who kicked the ball into their own players backs or directly into my players. I think some people will abuse the fact that sometimes, especially if the ball is high, it takes time to control the ball and you can be tackled by a striker quite easily if u dont get rid of it asap. I found crosses and headers extremely difficult – moreso than the demo even, and there are definately no ‘money spots’ where you can score all the time as far as i could see (so far). This is going to be a really good challenge, to learn how to do these things properly, and if you can stick with it, the rewards are amazing. One of the EA dudes did the most amazing trick sequence with Gerrard against me where he weaved through and beat my whole defense. I scored a cool goal with a fake cross then a fake shot which send the opposition players diving all over the place.

Sorry I didnt get to answer many of your questions but I will list what I can here:

• Kaka is an 88 by default. If you move him out wide or into CAM he goes to a 90 and is lightning quick and very skillful. One of the EA dudes destroyed me whenever he gave the ball to Kaka. Pirlo is an 86 by default. Vieira is an 87 in defence haha. Both Inter and AC are 5 stars.
• Lampard is an 83 by default. He goes up to 86 if you play him in his favourite position. Drogba is 87 by default and a beast in the air. Sheva is down to 81. Obi Mikel 80. Essien 86. Ballack 85. SWP 83, Malouda 84, Joe Cole 83.
• Van Persie is 82 by default and can go to 84 if you play him on the wing. Eduardo is 82, Rosicky is 85, as is Fabregas who has an awesome passing game. Torres is 86 and lightning quick and skillful and Gerrard is 88 and cracks huge long shots. Babel is 79, Riise can do tricks, as can Alonso who is 84. Both Pool and Arsenal are 4.5 stars.
• You cant use the D-pad to control players and they will only do that next year if they get enough feedback asking for it.
• You can change the game’s speed. I played on Professional which is harder than the demo in terms of goalkeepers.
• Man U have their real kits, and for each team, the 3rd kit is locked which you have to achieve through the single player game.
• Didnt get to play single player but I doubt that the cpu takes off defenders for attackers if theyre losing. The commentary is unique to different matchups, for chelsea vs manu they had a couple of minutes of introduction and chat by Martin Tyler and Andy Gray.
• The only cameras available are the cameras in the demo.
• I briefly looked through available stadiums and it looks like the same as usual – all the big ones with a couple of new ones. Sorry I didnt get to write them down. At old trafford they actually have the electronic advertising board – dont remember that in the old games – it looks so damn cool!!!
• No custom formations that I could see. Can’t assign your own buttons either.
• Cant turn off the marker for where the ball is going to land – why would you want to? Its helpful.
• There is no training/practice mode this time
• Stats after the game are the same as what we get in the demo

 Thats all I can think of now, I had a great time and cant wait to get my hands on this game!