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FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 - Old Games Download.
EA Sports. The most successful of PC sports gaming companies had a terrible last year. I am not referring to their sales figures, but rather to the quality of their games. Their 97 line had a common problem- too much looks, too little play. But one has to admit- FIFA 97 looked good. Very, very good, in fact. With most of the other EA Sports games suffering from this same problem in , I was a little cautious when the 98 ones appeared.
Especially as they were saying the same things all over again- improved graphics, improved looks, improved feeling of being there Then, slowly but surely, my worries were set aside. Then came one of the loveliest surprises of the season, NBA Live 98 , that, while still needing a patch to reach its full potential, is one heck of a fun game to play. Need I say that it looks amazing too? But as the days went by, and FIFA 98 was growing near, those worries crept slowly back in.
We all know that football, not the American version, is one of the hardest sports games to put on a PC screen. We know that, not only by any objective criterion, like the slow nature of the sport, but also by the fact that good PC soccer games are so impossible to find.
While it is true that it is indeed a good game, it certainly isn't on par with games like Links LS or Nascar Racing 2 when compared to the sport they are representing. Note that I used the word "was" back there. When referring to WWS being the best. And if you wish to know why, well, you will simply have to read on, won't you? Patience, because I wish to talk about the little details first.
You know, things like installation and options and interface. Things that I am obliged to mention as a reviewer and that you need to know as a prospective buyer, but that you might not really wish to spend a lot of time reading about. I'll try to keep it short, then. First of all, installation. It is simple, effective, trouble free, and comes in six languages English, French, Dutch, German, Swedish and Spanish.
Being the brave and stupid reviewer that I am, I decided to check the installation options when I started writing the review. This constituted of an uninstall and reinstall I am happy happy? Good job there. The game, by the way, takes less than MB for the full installation which you can only do through choosing everything in "custom" , not MB as it says, and I highly recommend it as it is only 12MB bigger than "typical".
When you are done, you will have the option to install DirectX5. When installation is complete, and you run the game, you are immediately treated to a great opening video, and also a double-great, super-wonderful, wowee!
FIFA 98 's "theme song" is Blur's "song 2", which is also the theme song of the movie "Starship Troopers" advertisement. This song fits so well into the opening video, and my only wish is that I could listen to it without actually running the game. Ever heard of a computer game promoting a music CD?
Interesting opportunity for the two businesses. I digress. It uses the Mondial 98 mascot that silly blue bird , which enters the screen in all sorts of amusing ways if you don't do anything for a while. You can reach any menu from within any other menu with one mouse click, which is fine and dandy.
What isn't so fine is the fact that I could not change button assignments. I can understand that there is good reason for that- FIFA 98 simply requires an 8 button gamepad to really enjoy. Reconfiguring would have been a confusing and laborious process, but I would still like the option. I may have missed it though, as my Hebrew translated manual is so poorly translated, that I simply could not use it for advice. I sincerely hope that the manual is translated better into other languages and wonder if EA Sports would care to send me an original English one You can play a friendly match, and a penalty shootout.
You may also train yourself in various aspects of the game- and this is a must if you really want to master free and corner kicks. Time spent there is well spent, and I have a replay of a 90th minute free kick match winner to prove it.
The first of the two really interesting modes of play, though, is the Road To The World Cup mode, which allows you to play as any of international teams in six regions, through the exact same qualifying process as in real life.
When you do qualify, you get to play on the world cup itself- and you need to qualify at least once to get there directly from the main menu. The same rule applies to the second stage- you need to pass the first stage at least once to be able to get to the "last 16" stage directly. The other mode is league mode, which allows you to play as any of the sides in any of 11 leagues, like the Premiership and the Bundesliga.
The wealth of options in FIFA 98 is no less than staggering. You have all the usual tactical options for every team, like positioning and general strategy conservative vs. You can edit your team, right up to the design on their socks and shorts, tertiary shirt colors, and stadium name.
You can edit individual players, which not only includes changing any of their 13 skills using a point based system , but also changing their skin tones, shirt number and preferred position, and up to adding facial hair. International teams are manageable too, and they all have reserve squads available.
You can arrange for trades and cash transfers between teams. You can obviously decide on things such as weather and ref strictness, but also, and not so obviously, on things like AI assisted headers a godsend , shot targeting controlled either by you or by the CPU , automatic crosses and passback on or off also nice until you become familiar with the control system. Inside the game, in EA Sports time honored tradition, you have an almost infinite number of camera angles, and, as it was in the very playable FIFA 96 , there is really no reason to change the default one.
As for multiplayer, the game offers all the regular options, including serial, modem and IPX network connections. All in all, FIFA 98 will not disappoint in the options department.
Does it do well in the gameplay department too? No, I won't answer this question just yet. Let me say a few things about "immersion in a gameworld" first. Let me repeat that. NHL 98 , another of EA Sports ' titles, the one which was, only three months ago, considered the new standard to which others must conform to graphically, seems terribly outdated when you run it near FIFA That's because the latter has SO many intricate little details inside, that even after an accumulated over hours of play, new things keep popping up all the time unexpectedly.
Look at the players moving their heads to follow the ball in flight. See the striker shake himself as he comes up after a rough tackle, then makes a little, annoyed hand gesture. Watch how the referee raises his head to look straight in the eyes of the red-carded fullback, as the latter is shouting and waiving his hands at the former in agony.
Evidence the attacking midfielder doing his little dance as he blitzes past yet another defender, switching legs and giving the ball a little push with the outside of his shoe. See the player about to throw a ball from out of bounds receive it as it is thrown from the sidelines, and watch he net moving satisfactorily when a goal is scored.
FIFA 98 simply looks tremendous, and I shudder in anticipation to think about next year' installment. The movements of the players are so fluid, so realistic, that in my first few games I had to stop once in a while simply to admire them. It is the first game ever in which I sometimes run a CPU only match, because it is so much better than any screensaver. No, don't ask me if the non-3dfx FIFA 98 also supports PowerVR straight from the box version is good enough to play- it simply doesn't matter.
I know I said this about a few games this year notably Moto Racer and Screamer Rally , but I had no idea what I was talking about, really. So I will say it again, and this time with conviction: if you love soccer, even a little, and you do not have a 3dfx card, buy FIFA 98 and a 3dfx card. It is a really cheap ticket to gaming heaven. Trying hard to find some fault in the graphics, I can think of two things: in crowd animation, EA Sports are still using that 2D overlay, although this time there is some low resolution movement at the front row or two.
And you may also get a very rare bug, in which the ball seems to go into the goal after it had hit the outside part of the net, and vice versa. As for sound, well, it doesn't disappoint. The graphics are so superbly done, that the audio is belittled in comparison, but let me assure you that EA Sports did a great job here too.
Yes, you still get the occasional funny mistake by John Motson in the play-by-play, like forgetting to mention that a penalty was given until after it was actually shot, or claiming that the referee was "a little lenient" when an opposing player just received their second yellow and was thrown off the field. But these errors are rare, limited to maybe once or twice per 12 minute game, which is way better than anything else on offer in your local computer shop.
They have also included some nice, colorful remarks, like when Motson claims that this is great treatment they are getting back in the media booth. Lastly, ambient sounds, like crowd cheers, are good and add to the overall experience. Is FIFA 98 a blast to play? Surprisingly enough, the answer is a most emphatic yes. This year, EA Sports went back to the tried and true arcade methods of shot control, then made them much more complex while still keeping their basic simplicity. Sounds confused?
I will try to explain. First of all, an 8-button gamepad is fully used- there are buttons for lob, shot, and pass, and also avoid tackle and speed burst. The latter replaces turbo in a much more realistic way, allowing the player a short burst of speed to pass an opponent, but also tiring the attacker.
You cannot use too many of those during a break, as the player will simply run too tired too quickly, and the defender will easily catch up and strip him of the ball. You also have the R ight and L eft buttons, which, combined with other buttons, perform specific actions, such as a spin or leg change or any other of a large number of different combinations.
Every move you ever saw in real life is possible in this game, if you try hard enough, and are quick enough with your fingers to perform it. OK, so this is pretty basic, except for the R and L buttons. Where the control system gets complicated is in the fact that a different type of execution of each button press will have a different result.
For example, you may shoot normally by pressing and holding the shoot button the shot gets stronger the longer you hold down the button, up to about one second , but you may also make a direct, strong, low shot if you simply tap it once, or a chipshot if you tap it quickly twice in succession.
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