Cheap FIFA 2002 (Video Games) (PlayStation2) Price

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Customer Reviews of FIFA 2002

Hits the post.
I should begin with what FIFA 2002 is not. It is not FIFA 2001 -- which was a mediocre game that played more like arcade soccer than the real thing. FIFA 2002 features vast improvements over its predecessor. The game has more real feel with a new passing control that allows for touch and finesse play just like the real thing. The graphics are also improved with beautiful player reactions and theatrics. The game also has the full range of licenses giving you the opportunity to play with all of the world's major teams and players.

But somehow FIFA 2002 fails by way of its own success. Its a cruel reality for sports simulation games, but the closer it gets to the real thing the more the little things jump out at you and say "nice try EA, but come on!"

The biggest downer that you will note in this game is how quickly you will master the game at the "Beginner" level. Fine you say. Give the next level of three a try. Sadly the "Professional" level may bring you to fits and tirades before you finally decide to get completely frustrated with the game. The "Professional" level plays like the "World Class" level, or the highest level of the game. In fact, after numerous games at both levels I can't tell a difference. And the problem is that they both are very, very hard. Suddenly, you will never (and I mean never) win a ball in the air on the offensive side of the field. I've score one volley goal (corners are the exception and produce goals too easily -- don't ever give your opponent one!) in months of play. Suddenly every pass is somehow intercepted by your opponents no matter how close they are to the ball. You will be forced to take the highest view possible in the game in order to see more of the field. Otherwise you wont have the ball for more than 30% of the game. At this camera level you will be hard pressed to see important details so you wont know when to time your tackles and you will miss a lot of the very few shots you get as you really aren't sure where you are aiming. Don't get me wrong. You can work through this and get better; but when you take a high-powered side like Roma or Manchester United and lose to a MLS team due to this crazy computer AI you will get more than a little upset. I finally came to the conclusion that I had to make a few shortcuts like turning off fatigue and offsides to give myself even a chance in this game. And this is after hours and hours and hours of gameplay. At this point I surely would have mastered the intermediate level of any other game.

Why can't EA ever set gameplay levels with a variable 1/2/3 or easy/medium/hard setting so that you can graduate levels in tiny increments and customize gameplay to your progress? With FIFA 2002 you would then have 9 levels of gameplay. It might be the easiest change in the world to make a game infinitely better for the consumer, accomplished in very few lines of extra code and therefore memory on the disk.

Another problem is the unexplainable way a selected player somehow just stops from time to time. You will definitely note this when you are chasing down a breakaway opponent. There is nothing like a complete defensive stop to let your opponent get an easy shot and goal. This problem gets worse at the higher levels of the game as you simply must play like a madman not to let in a goal to have a chance to win.

Finally there is the conspicuous absence of the World Cup in this game. You can qualify for the World Cup but if you want to play it, you must set it up for yourself. Just don't try to make it too real as you will be forced to play a group opponent in the second round of your created tournament -- a thing that never happens in any tournament in the world I know of. Somehow the randomize button which lets you shuffle your opponents is not available at this point. "Come on EA!" I assume all of this means we will get a World Cup title this summer. Let's hope someone at EA reads this review, gets some non hyper-caffeinated testers to help them level set the game and gets some of the obvious bugs out. Otherwise you will have a lot more fun yawning your way through easy wins at the Beginner level of FIFA 2002 then buying another version of the same game ...

All in all FIFA 2002 is a great game. Likely the best soccer simulation out there. But buyer beware; its not all you may think its cracked up to be.

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Fantastic update to this great series...
FIFA 2002 doesn't disappoint, fantastic game. I've played every version of the FIFA series since FIFA 97, and 2002 is prob the most significant overhaul of the game that I've seen. If you enjoy FIFA, you must get the newest version. Visually, all the pitches are beautifully detailed and the player models are more realistic. Also, FIFA 2002 is the most complete soccer game ever, in terms of the number of teams, leagues, and competitions you can play. The new intro sequence & game cover (see pic) feature Thierry Henry (Arsenal, France).

The biggest change has been to gameplay. Now all touches on the ball can be controlled for both direction & power (i.e. when you pass, it doesn't automatically go towards your player, you must direct it onto his path). It's tricky to get used to, but provides a great deal more control, you can even instruct players to begin an off-the-ball run, see their path, and pass the ball onto them. As a result of the changes, gameplay feels a little slower than past versions of FIFA but I believe 2002 is more realistic (2001 felt a little too fast, imo).

All around, an awesome game. Soccer die-hards will love the realism and control, for new players it may be a little challenging at first but tons of fun.

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Who Loves Soccer?
This game has tons of action. Anyone who likes playing soccer should buy this game. All my soccer friends and I play this terrific game.