(Jay Buchanan) FIFA 08 Opinions

Passing - Passing in FIFA 08 is brillaint as I have had everything set on Manual and Semi and Assisted for numerous games I can definetly say the passing is fantastic whether it be a short pass to my closest player or a one-two pass everything reacts brilliantly A.I making excellent runs moving into space made each setting fine to use and very enjoyable as FIFA is turning into a true simulation of the beautiful game it was great to actually have to work my way up the pitch with various passing techinques. Long Balls to find space when I am been closed down and theres no support nearby or when the A.I sets off on a storming run and I time the pass to perfection and Henry,Ribery has that extra yard on the defender to use the knock on to get into space to feed that killer ball is a great experience in itself.

Crossing - What can I say once again this is a huge improvement over previous fifa games and this area of the game is brillaint. I find heading responsive defensive or Attacking wise it is great the fact you have the aim your cross with precision (manuallly) gives way more responsiveness to your direction and overall quality of the cross depending who is doing the delivery (Ronaldinho and Ribery most times for me)




Shooting -

I think the shooting has greatly improved no more money shots from particular angles or areas (edge of the box fifa 07) the ball is no longer attracted to the goal and it works independently shots can soar miles wide or bang in the top corner based on all sorts of possibilities talked about at leipzig and other game events i was fortunate enough to read about. Theres a sense of achievement when I score a goal now and thats thanks to the new ball physics no question and the difficulty of hitting a precise shot nothing like FIFA 07 (which was awful in this deparment and Uefa CL 06/07 xbox 360)

My only gripe about the shooting is once again the finesse shot I have scored 3 goals with Henry using the finesse shot and everytime the goal keeper seems to forget about his positioning and reactions he runs forward as the shot is going over him... and then as the ball going to hit the back of the net eventually decides to jump for it... a delayed reaction which should not be there considering the goalie has clearly seen all 3 shots as they are executed from start to finish.

This is only a minor problem as I had attempted finesse shots from various angles and distances in the arena and in game and this only seemed to work in game for some reason 95% of the time the goal keeper would react brilliantly and the response times were spot on the best keepers in a football game no question that I have ever had to beat:)

Free Kicks - This takes a bit of getting used to as they have changed from the Free Kicks in FIFA 07 and UEFA CL 06/07 which were ridiculously easy from within a 30yrd range people would score 8/10 times Free Kicks are meant to be a skill only some can master so far I have taken various free kicks from crosses into the box and shooting attempts and all have been very difficult and yet responsive I managed to score one free kick with Ronaldinho that was from the edge of the box ( what I would consider the zone to score from as I have had 3 free kicks from a similar distance just outside the box that I have been able to direct with complete ease at goal and have hit the cross bar 2 times and scored the other.

What I did notice however was that the CPU could score free kicks with such ease from what seems like any distance within 30 yrds I have conceded about 20 free kicks to C.Ronaldo, Figo, Ronaldinho and they all produce the same results they have either hit the cross bar or scored this leads me to believe that scoring free kicks is somewhat easy when mastered or is it that the Demos Difficulty is set at Professional/World Class which would make them scoring a bit more understandable but also made me think when I learn how to take free kicks which will probably take quite a few more will they go in just as easily I think you need to take the random factor of the shooting that is in this years game and also astablish it into your free kicks system. Having the curl the free kick with analog stick was also a brilliant idea as a prefer the way you can add dip or swerve depending on the distance of the free kick amongst other variables.

Set piece options - Now I am also a fan of Pro Evo and was a bit disappointed when I found out I still did not have the ability to move my wall or call a second man to lay off the free kick.. or take the shot themself or even the ability to call a second player so the 1st player i called would lay it off (backwards) and my 2nd player i called over would take a shot...


Tactics - This is a major issue if FIFA is trying to become a simulation you seriously need to take some nots from EA in this section its still the same sort of tactics as FIFA 07 and UEFA CL 06/07 with some new ones implemented and others taken away. It would be great if I could create my own formations and use them online.. and Have more defensive options and attacking options for example

I can have a very defensive formation I created 5-4-1 and I press LB an Left on the DPAD it will execute this formation I have created whenever I want to and if I press LB and Right on the DPAD it will be a 4-3-3 and an offensive formation with players in positions on the pitch I have personally put them in with tactics and man marking already set etc so when I start a game I will have my personalised formations for me this is only a problem with online though (Editing Formations) as It already works well with previous fifas however I dont know if you have implemented this in FIFA 08 or not so its a suggestion for 09 etc.

I will post my other opinions on the game when I have time but here are some complaints from People I know which might be of help to you also.


- Defenders from poor teams shouldn't play like they're defenders from Manchester United. Even if the difficulty is high. They should only be able to play to the best of their ability.

- The CPU shouldn't score nearly every single free kick.

- It's very hard to head the ball away when you're defending a cross.

- From corners, when the ball is headed away by the CPU, your player selection is sometimes "locked" and you can't change to the person the ball is heading towards.

- The responsiveness needs to be better, it takes too much time to turn sometimes and it results too often in giving away possession.

- We need to be able to adjust button assignments.

- We need to be able to adjust camera zoom.

> Let me choose the button layout. Don't force me to play the way EA wants.

Make supercancel work like in PES, as in, getting a player out of the rail to intercept a pass earlier.

Game speed should be quicker or an option for it Slow, Normal, Fast, Very Fast,

Turning should be quicker for world clas players much quicker

the ability to use the d-pad needs to be added, for those who just don't want to change