FIFA steps up. But it's still not the best on the market.

While Fifa 2004 always has the best graphics and official licenses(for players and teams), it annually fails to succeed in the actual head to head battle with Konami's Winning Eleven(WE) soccer series. Where "WE" constantly wins, is in the most important area of a sports video game..."GAMEPLAY REALISM". Although Fifa made strides in that area this year, it still has yet to catch up with Konami's best-selling formula for a smooth and entertaining soccer match.

SOME POSITIVES that one may find for Fifa 2004:
-Plenty of attention to detail this year. From stats all the way down to player personalities, Fifa made sure all the players would at least look REAL...an example would be, Ronaldo or David Beckham actually look exactly like they do in real life. (That comes from Fifa's official license contracts.)

-Weather effects and crowd specific chants for most teams make the environment for a game very convincing. Stadiums are definitely looking the part as usual. Overall Fifa 2004 has a great futbol atmosphere.

-Franchise mode is very deep, and your decisions are very important to your team's success...well not really. As long as you pay attention to what's going on, you shouldn't have many problems keeping your team in the hunt for championships.

-EA Sports "Freestyle" has definitely improved most of EA's sports games, but in Fifa you don't have any idea what freestyle-move the player is going to make. One time you may make a sweet step-over move but the next time you might go into a spinning Zindane-like 360 that you have no idea how to control. It makes for some frustration, but on the whole it's a cool feature that usually leaves for some breath-taking moves to make defenders look helpless and embarrassed.

-SOUNDTRACK...Fifa has enlisted an array of talented international artists to make this a very cool soundtrack. Music from all over the world is used to pump this game and gives you a good vibe when you are getting ready to play. I haven't heard of most of these artists but they are very good. You can edit your tracks too, if you only want to hear certain music. Very cool

Note to Fifa:
-One thing they should think about doing for next year...Make sure players kick with their correct foot!!! I hate taking shots with Roberto Carlos because I know he NEVER kicks with his right foot. In Fifa, he always kicks with that foot. The left, the left!!! It drives me and most people I know CRAZY. It's like that for all the players...They are TOO ambidextrous(yeah I spelled that right). Fifa needs to fix this problem. And you know that other game has this down. Do I have to mention their name again??? Hahaha...I will...WINNING ELEVEN 7 blows you(Fifa) out of the water in this area and a few other very important ones. Take a note of that!

BASICALLY if you're a real soccer(or futbol) fan, you'll go with Winning Eleven 7 for it's realism. If you are simply a video game player who enjoys a good time with the friends, then Fifa definitely is a worthy game to play.