2006 FIFA World Cup (Xbox 360, 2006)

A little over five weeks from now, the 2006 FIFA World Cup will kick off in Munich when the tournament's German hosts take on Costa Rica. Recent player injuries are already providing plenty of pre-tournament drama, but if you really want to get your experience under way a month ahead of time, you can claim the FIFA World Cup Trophy for your country in EA Sports' 2006 FIFA World Cup. EA Canada's latest football offering does a good job of re-creating the carnival atmosphere that surrounds every World Cup competition, and although the Xbox 360 game still lacks some of the best features from its PlayStation 2 and Xbox counterparts, it's a much easier game to recommend than last year's FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup. Gameplay options in 2006 FIFA World Cup include quick matches, online play, practice sessions, and penalty shoot-outs. In addition to those football game staples, you also get global challenge scenarios and, of course, a chance to guide your favorite international team through the World Cup competition. The World Cup mode will almost certainly be your first port of call, and although its default settings see you assuming control of one of the 32 teams that qualified for the finals, it's possible to play as any of around 125 different teams from all over the world. Furthermore, you have the option to take your chosen team through the relevant territory's qualification process or to jump straight to the last 32 teams using real or randomly generated group information.

The presentation throughout the World Cup mode, and throughout the entire game, is great. Before each match you'll see a camera, which is positioned somewhere in orbit around the Earth, zoom in on the appropriate German stadium, and then you'll be treated to flybys of the grounds where it looks like almost every supporter in the crowd came through the turnstiles armed with streamers, confetti, and balloons. You'll also get to listen to one of the game's many licensed songs, which come from an eclectic soundtrack spanning some 14 countries. Good pre-match commentary replete with World Cup trivia and anecdotes is the icing on the cake, and as your players line up on the pitch before kickoff, you feel both excited and nervous at the same time--exactly as you'd expect to before a real match.

Perhaps the easiest way to give you some idea of how much FIFA football on the Xbox 360 has improved since last year's game would be to state that 2006 FIFA World Cup plays more like FIFA 06 than the disappointment that was FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup. 2006 FIFA World Cup for the Xbox 360 still doesn't feel quite as tight as the PS2 and Xbox games of the same name, but it's not far off, and it doesn't suffer from any of the awful slowdown issues that those two do. The Xbox 360 game plays the same fast-paced style of football that you'll find in other versions, but its ball physics are slightly less convincing, its players are less proactive off-the-ball (though you always have the option to send them on forward runs manually), and the match commentary, while very good for the most part, is more repetitive and less accurate.

It's not difficult to score often spectacular goals in FIFA, largely because the game's keepers aren't too clever, but they can still be very satisfying. And if you're playing on the correct difficulty level or against a suitable opponent, you'll inevitably still have goalless draws from time to time.

Soccer games have always been fun. The first soccer game for the XBOX 360, FIFA 2006: Road to the World Cup, ended the streak of great soccer games because it lacked many features and it felt like it needed another couple of months to be created. EA expanded on that game, this time focusing on the actual World Cup itself, and made a very entertaining and interesting game. When I first bought this game, the first thing I noticed was the store. You can buy new uniforms, soccer balls, legendary players, or cheats. To earn these points, you have to complete different types of objectives and challenges. The challenges are scenario's; and some are easy while others are difficult. They should keep you busy for a while, and at the end when you complete all of them you earn an achievement of 500 points. Besides challenges, this game is one of the best if you have a big group of friends over to play against. If you don't, this game has enabled online play so you can challenge others in ranked or unranked matches. Probably the best mode of all is the World Cup Mode, where you have to choose a team, select 23 players from that squad onto your roster, and then guide them all the way to the World Cup. As you get closer and closer to the World Cup, the matches become more difficult. The presentation on these matches are awesome, and make you fell as though you are in the atmosphere of an actual match. EA worked hard on this game, unlike their half-ass effort on NBA Live 06 and the previous soccer game. If you are a soccer fanatic or just enjoy playing the video games, you should buy 2006 FIFA World Cup.

i bought it because my wife is Brazilian (huge futbal fan) and i thought i might get her interested in the x-360.

what i didn't know, is you could play soccer for real, while drunk, and balancing your check book, and performing brain surgery on someone, all at the same time; and you would expend less effort and achieve more than when you are playing this game.

unless you have been playing these types of games since, BIRTH !!! don't buy one in your thirty's and think you can play.

graphics are awesome, gameplay is very realistic (i'm sure), but control of the characters SUCKS!!!!! and the controller has ten buttons, two joysticks, and a d-pad. but they make you use the same buttons, to do different things! depending on who has possession of the ball. very confusing, because possession can change back and forth several times in just a few seconds.

anyway, i expected a video game, and what i got was a theological belief, that has to be studied and practiced 24/7 - 365, in order to even understand a small part.

so, go play real soccer, it takes less effort, and is less frustrating.

This game is amazing! Whether you love soccer or hate it, you can not deny this as one of the top Xbox 360 multiplayer games. The controls are simple yet intutive, and the graphics will make your eyes yell out in joy! Grab three of your best friends for four player craziness and BUY THIS GAME!

It is a sports game that you can play 4 v 4 on 2 xbox 360's. It is the only one I know of.

I am sure there are better sports games out there but if you do game nights with local friends this is the only sports game that you can do 4 per console for 8 players total in high def.