Sure, the graphics are nice, the sound is nice, the commentary is decent, but.....
The problems with this game severely hinder its playability.
1. Responsiveness of the controls is abysmal--the worst of any Gamecube game I've ever played. Whether its navigating through the menus or during actual gameplay, one press of the button doesn't always cause an action. During gameplay, sometimes pressing the B-button doesn't cause a shot, even when the ball is actually touching the player's foot. Same deal with passing, lobs, through passes, headers, etc. etc.
2. Players aren't easily controlled. It has happened to me a number of times where a highlighted player will take a couple of steps in a different direction than the one I tried to make him go. NOT GOOD! I've had many, MANY goals scored on me because of this.
3. Players cannot make sharp turns and change direction while running! When a player is running one direction and you want to make him change direction, you simply have to make him run in a semicircle until he's running in the opposite direction! This is ridiculous! The only other way is to have him stop, change direction, and then get him running again. That's even more ridiculous.
4. Off the ball controls suck. They are absolutely worthless. Why? By the time you even press the Z-button and begin choosing a player to pass to, the ball is taken away from you. If you're playing on "world class" difficulty, attempting an off the ball pass will cause you real problems.
5. Players are idiots! Pass a ball to a player, and he'll stand there like a retard and wait for it to reach him. You cannot make him run to the ball, even though the triangle is above his head when the ball is just about to reach him! Therefore, any pass made through opposing defenders will be stolen 90% of the time. Even through-passes.
6. Players are idiots! You cannot control every single player on your team! Sometimes other players need to make attempts to steal the ball, but they don't. They simply jog along side an attacker, making no attempt to stop him. When you try to press the A-button to gain control of a nearby player in order to stop the attacker from scoring, the computer will not let you do it! It'll highlight someone else for you, i.e. someone who is completely unable to catch the attacker. Every single game I've lost, I've lost because of this. You are simply unable to control the players you need to control.
7. Delayed reaction! When I want to make a pass, I want to make it NOW. When I press the A-button, I expect for the pass to be made NOW. But this doesn't always happen. Sometimes the opposing player will try to tackle you, or you won't be close enough to the ball to make the pass, preventing you from making the pass at that very moment. But the computer will "remember" that you pressed the A-button to make the pass, and then makes the pass for you as soon as it is feasible to make the pass....sometimes one or two seconds after you pressed the A-button! Same thing with shots on goal. Same thing with through passes, etc. After two seconds, you don't want to make the pass or the shot on goal anymore, but it does it anyway! EA should have fixed it so that when you press the A-button to pass or the B-button to shoot, the action either happens right away or you have to press the button again. But this business of "remembering" the desired action is a real problem during play. It invariably results in bad shots and bad passes.
8. Goalie rarely catches shots above his head! Corner kicks, direct kicks.....most of the are tipped, and not caught, resulting in another corner kick attempt.
These problems, among other, make it impossible to win at the World Class level!
Oh, one other thing..... on the GameCube, sometimes the framerate gets slow, almost as if it can't handle the graphics.
VERY unbecoming of a Gamecube game.
The problems with this game severely hinder its playability.
1. Responsiveness of the controls is abysmal--the worst of any Gamecube game I've ever played. Whether its navigating through the menus or during actual gameplay, one press of the button doesn't always cause an action. During gameplay, sometimes pressing the B-button doesn't cause a shot, even when the ball is actually touching the player's foot. Same deal with passing, lobs, through passes, headers, etc. etc.
2. Players aren't easily controlled. It has happened to me a number of times where a highlighted player will take a couple of steps in a different direction than the one I tried to make him go. NOT GOOD! I've had many, MANY goals scored on me because of this.
3. Players cannot make sharp turns and change direction while running! When a player is running one direction and you want to make him change direction, you simply have to make him run in a semicircle until he's running in the opposite direction! This is ridiculous! The only other way is to have him stop, change direction, and then get him running again. That's even more ridiculous.
4. Off the ball controls suck. They are absolutely worthless. Why? By the time you even press the Z-button and begin choosing a player to pass to, the ball is taken away from you. If you're playing on "world class" difficulty, attempting an off the ball pass will cause you real problems.
5. Players are idiots! Pass a ball to a player, and he'll stand there like a retard and wait for it to reach him. You cannot make him run to the ball, even though the triangle is above his head when the ball is just about to reach him! Therefore, any pass made through opposing defenders will be stolen 90% of the time. Even through-passes.
6. Players are idiots! You cannot control every single player on your team! Sometimes other players need to make attempts to steal the ball, but they don't. They simply jog along side an attacker, making no attempt to stop him. When you try to press the A-button to gain control of a nearby player in order to stop the attacker from scoring, the computer will not let you do it! It'll highlight someone else for you, i.e. someone who is completely unable to catch the attacker. Every single game I've lost, I've lost because of this. You are simply unable to control the players you need to control.
7. Delayed reaction! When I want to make a pass, I want to make it NOW. When I press the A-button, I expect for the pass to be made NOW. But this doesn't always happen. Sometimes the opposing player will try to tackle you, or you won't be close enough to the ball to make the pass, preventing you from making the pass at that very moment. But the computer will "remember" that you pressed the A-button to make the pass, and then makes the pass for you as soon as it is feasible to make the pass....sometimes one or two seconds after you pressed the A-button! Same thing with shots on goal. Same thing with through passes, etc. After two seconds, you don't want to make the pass or the shot on goal anymore, but it does it anyway! EA should have fixed it so that when you press the A-button to pass or the B-button to shoot, the action either happens right away or you have to press the button again. But this business of "remembering" the desired action is a real problem during play. It invariably results in bad shots and bad passes.
8. Goalie rarely catches shots above his head! Corner kicks, direct kicks.....most of the are tipped, and not caught, resulting in another corner kick attempt.
These problems, among other, make it impossible to win at the World Class level!
Oh, one other thing..... on the GameCube, sometimes the framerate gets slow, almost as if it can't handle the graphics.
VERY unbecoming of a Gamecube game.
