FIFA Soccer 2002

Discount Price: $1.25

Accessories:
PC Gamer (1-year)	Games for Windows: The Official Magazine

Customer Reviews:

Back to the Golden Days [Posted on 2002-10-01]
After two years of poor games EA Sports came up with the best soccer simulation ever. Both FIFA 2000 and 2001 were overwhelmed by Konami's ISS but this year they made sure to beat all opposition.

I think that in order to rate such a game, one needs to assess three main things, being graphics, gameplay and AI. Regarding graphics it is renowned that EA were unbeatable and in fact graphical detail is quite impressive. With a good video card, you will enjoy swift movements, shadow effects, crowd details and much more.

If excellent graphics are not surprising, great improvement was made to both gameplay and AI. You can play in 16 different official leagues, use loads of national teams and participate in several competitions. In addition to that you can edit every aspect of your players, including the type of boots they will wear. In-game moves are excellent. There are 8 types of special moves and moreover you get to control the speed and accuracy of passing and shooting, with the help of spins.

Finally there is the AI. In previous editions of the game you could easily play at world class level after a few days. There were "special ways" to score a goal and so on. In FIFA 2002 world class is very difficult. In order to score you must make everything to perfection, and the computer plays to maximum ability. This makes the game very difficult and challenging.

Another thing to note is that many pathes to the game can be found online. These patches give you new personalised teams, new kits and also new referees. On the whole this is a game to buy, which will give you hours and hours of fun and challinging gameplay.

fun game [Posted on 2002-12-27]
Good Points:
A diagonal long ball over the opposing defence, breaking the offside trap for Di Canio to run through on goal - that's REAL football!!!

Bad Points:
I'm sure the computer players still cheat sometimes by locking up the controller at key moments... but then that's probably just me!

General Comments:
FIFA 2002 has stunning visuals, although I've only given them a nine because no doubt EA will further improve on them next year! The ball control is so much more lifelike and the gameplay is much more logical and you need to construct a game plan to win against the better teams. Previous to this, football games have been very pinball like. This game has a button to send a player on a run which is the major feature... they've removed the amusing but rare in reality 'Rocastle 360' and flipover (how many times do you see players doing that, certainly not every time they get the ball?!) You still get a little sidestep and, of course, the back heels and all that are still there. EA have gone for realism - and it works...!

Not bad for 10 bux.... [Posted on 2003-02-21]
I bought this game at Media Play last week for 10 bux...it isn't too bad, but I'm glad I didn't spend the full price on it. It has some faults like the easiest setting it far to easy, but the harder settings seem to hard. I guess I still gotta give it some time. I have played 2003 over my friends house and I do like that one better, but there is no way I'm spending 40 bux on a video game, i think 10 is even too much. Overall though, I like the selection of teams and the leagues and all that junk. Definitly one of the best football games I ever played, but not THE best. It pisses me off that you can qualify for the World Cup but you can't actually play in it!!! Whats that all about??? Whats the point of qualifying??? Oh well, overall I gave it a 4. Thats my rant, peace out ya'll!!

FIFA 2002 [Posted on 2003-06-19]
I have been playing FIFA soccer titles since the 1997 edition. This is by far the best. It is also the toughest to play. I don't mean the controls are difficult or that the game is unresponsive. I mean the AI is superior and the ball goes where you aim. Getting the ball in the general vicinity is not going to cut it. A player from your team in the general area of a pass is not going to get the benefit of the doubt, giving him an edge getting to the ball. The upside is the rush when you make a beautiful through pass and know it was your skill not a generous program that made the pass. I have been playing FIFA soccer through so many incarnations that I usually start the game at professional level and soon advance to world class. Not with this one. It is a very challenging game and one I am not going to get bored with anytime soon.
I also have World Cup 2002. No need to buy that game. You get the World Cup mode in this FIFA 2002 plus the options of playing leagues and tournaments including creating your own tournaments. The only thing you can do in World Cup 2002 is play the World Cup and friendlies. I think FIFA 2002 is a bit more challenging anyway.

Beware of the MAX requirements for the game as well [Posted on 2003-07-13]
I bought the game bundled in best of EA Sports 2002. The good news is I got 4 games for a better price than individual. The bad news I got stuck with a bad FIFA game.
The minimum requirements are 200 MHz system. But be warned this game WILL NOT WORK for systems about 2 GHz. This has also been confirmed by customer service at EA Sports. That means if you have a fast system this game will not work. The good news is that the other 2002 games do not have this issue.

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