FIFA Soccer 08

After four iterations, FIFA Soccer 08 feels like the first title to live up to the "next-gen" name.

FIFA is now the complete package; it combines all the licensing you could want along with graphics slicker than a Gerrard through ball and adds a match engine with more play-styles than Rafa Benitez has rotation options.

The franchise has finally reached its next-gen potential with a gang of new modes and gameplay tweaks that make the experience much more realistic and skill-based. There’s a steeper learning curve to overcome, but it’s worth it to finally cast aside the 16-bit pass-pass-shoot trappings the FIFA series has endured for far too long.

While the on-field action feels sluggish and unresponsive at first, you soon learn to work with the pace of the game and play it like you would the sport, rather than just the videogame. [Nov 2007, p.107]

A truly terrific soccer game that is both entertaining and challenging. Performing skills with the analog-hot key combination is difficult, but the results, when you pull off that move that separates defender from shoes, is a great feeling.

The game is leaps ahead of past iterations, and is without question the finest footy sim out on the market.

The first FIFA for the PS3 is an impressive debut, and while it can be difficult at times, it's a polished and highly playable game.

Slow pace, tight defense and new manual passing controls make FIFA 08 the most realistic game in the FIFA series. However, there are still some issues as players are not moving as smoothly as they should. Be a Pro´s online mode is simply great. [Feb 2008]

I hate to look like I am fawning over a game – much less a sports game – but FIFA 08 is by far the best release in this long-running series, and one of the best sports titles on the PS3 thus far.

Overall, FIFA 08 is a wonderful soccer game that improves on its predecessor in almost every way. It looks great, plays great, and is back on the right track for taking the crown back from the Winning Eleven series.

Foregoing arcade action for a more measured simulation, with FIFA 08 EA has given the gamer - you by all accounts - the most realistic football game yet. Not perfect, but very, very good. The tinkering has finally paid off. [Issue#159, p.76]

If you want a soccer game that can actually last you more than a year, then FIFA Soccer 08 is a good choice. You'll get your soccer fix with good controls, great graphics, and tremendous license support.

FIFA 08 is not only the best EA soccer game in years, but one of the best soccer titles in recent memory.

FIFA Soccer 08 is a little overwhelming at first to non-soccer fans but with a deep control system, good graphics, and a bunch of modes, those wanting a full soccer game will be happy.

It's a gorgeous, decent football game that's trying a bit too hard to be "PES" when it should be celebrating what it already was.

On the next-gens, FIFA 08 really is a step forward. Much improved graphics and gameplay, as well as the application of many new features. On the previous-gen formats, it's a continuation of a recent trend which has brought more depth and realism to the FIFA series.

Yes, the leagues are here; the players are here; the stadiums (well, some at least) are here. But FIFA 08 represents EA’s first real attempt in years to do something with the franchise other than just repackaging what has gone before. Here’s a game that makes a real (if occasionally flawed) effort to move the sports sim forward.

Its depth may scare off some gamers while appealing to the hardcore soccer fan.

It again edges closer to Pro Evo, without quite managing to crack that magic formula. Whilst there will be proponents for each game, it still feels like EA is trying to catch up. That said, their decision to make FIFA more of a footballers game than a gamers game is an excellent decision.

With plenty of single player modes to entertain you for months and the online depth that fans have craved, any self-respecting FIFA fan who picks up FIFA 08 should be ready to clear off their gaming plates.

FIFA 08 has a lot of diversity of its game play and offers an addictive, easy to learn experience for soccer fanatics.

FIFA 08 seems to represent the classic videogame mistake. It’s not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination and will likely satisfy football diehards a bit more than past entries in the series, but one can’t help but wonder just how good the whole package could have been if EA Sports had just held the game back until the online Be a Pro Mode was finished.

FIFA 08 is the most playable version of the series yet in the next-gen era--including a cool Superstar-like mode--but ghosts of old gameplay still haunt this release. [Oct 2007, p.110]

FIFA 08 is without a doubt the most realistic FIFA title yet, but only just. There have been a few gameplay refinements and the new modes are decent. It's disappointing Australians will miss out on the 5 vs 5 be a pro online feature as that is one of the drawcards for FIFA 08.

FIFA 08 delivers a pretty complete soccer package that we still hope will improve as the specter of pressure from Konami's "Pro Evolution Soccer" looms on the horizon. [Holiday 2007, p.84]

Overall Slow, predictable and does little to satisfy your footie needs. Disappointing.