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FIFA 08 (Wii)
by loulou22
Fifa 08. Nintendo Wii
I bought Fifa 08 about 18 months ago as I came across it while browsing eBay and thought it might be worth a go as I hadn't played a Fifa game for a good few years.
Fifa 08 comes in a normal white Wii box, the size of a DVD case, contained inside the box is a game disc along with an instruction ... manual for the game and also a separate manual containing safety instructions. The game instruction manual is written in English and is clear and simple to follow.
Fifa Football
I have been a gamer for many years now and over the years I have played a number of the Fifa titles ranging from the days of the Mega Drive right through to the Playstations 1 and 2 and now on the wii. Saying this, I am not really a football fan and do not know a lot about the game, everything I know I have learnt from the Fifa games.
Fifa 08 on the wii appealed to me as I had not played a Fifa game for a good couple of years and I also thought with the wii being more interactive than other consoles the controls might be more fun than sitting pressing buttons until my fingers ached!
When you first play Fifa 08 you will need to set up your profile and choose your control settings, these can be changed again later if you change your mind. You are given a choice of using the wii remote alone in the classic controller position and having a few simple buttons to press to shoot and tackle, or you can choose the advanced controls where you will be using both the wii remote and nunchuk. I chose the advanced controls and was then taken to a screen where I could choose to either play a match or go into training. I chose training as I had no idea what I was doing with these new controls.
Training
Training mode is really good in the sense that it shows you a demo of how you need to move the remote and nunchuk to perform certain moves, tackles and shots and then it gives you plenty of practice at them. If you succeed then you will automatically move onto the next training session, however, if you don't quite master a skill you can continue to practice it for as long as you wish. While I enjoyed training mode as I was enjoying running around the pitch on the screen and swinging my remote around the living room I felt that the sessions seemed to drag on a bit, be slightly repetitive and also too many different controls for very similar actions. This gave me the impression that playing a match was going to be really hard as the training sessions made it feel like I had a lot of different controls I would need to master before I could play properly. However, I decided I'd had enough training and that I might as well just go for it in a match.
Kick Off
After selecting the kind of match I wanted to play, i.e.: single match or one of the cup tournaments available, I was taken to a screen where I could choose my team, my opponents, my kit and manage my team and their positions as well as make any substitutes if I wanted to. This to me has always been taking it too far as I simply prefer to have a 'kick about' and win the match! So, I chose my team and set about with my attempts to win!
Playing as Manchester United I was quite impressed to see a very good resemblance between the players in the game and the players in real life! Rooney and Giggs look really accurate. After all my training I was still a little shaky on the controls and not really 100% sure what I was doing, but, I actually had nothing to worry about as the main controls of the game seemed to be controlling the players with the joystick part of the nunchuk and waving and flicking the wii remote around while pressing either the 'A' or 'B' buttons to make various different shots. Admittedly at first my performance was terrible and I lost quite a few matches, but I would say that by my 4th match I was really getting a grip on the controls and although I wasn't scoring goals yet I was certainly making it harder for my opponents to score.
A few days after my initial purchase and few games my little brother, who was 8 at the time came round and instantly wanted to play. Being 8 and thinking he knew everything he said he didn't want to do the training and skipped himself straight into a match playing as Barcelona against Manchester United, a bit of sibling rivalry there! To my amazement he scored within the first few minutes and then sat there laughing at me, I just didn't understand how he had picked the controls up so fast! At the end of the match he confessed he had played the newer Fifa game on the wii at his friends house and the controls were nearly the same.
Regardless of control technicalities I still enjoyed playing Fifa 08 and although I never returned to the training mode due to it being so drawn out and making me feel like I was never going to get the hang of the controls I do think the training mode is a good extra for those who want to perfect their skills and maybe also a good introduction to the controls for those who have never played a Fifa game before, but I wouldn't spend too long on them as it isn't really necessary to enjoy a game of football.
I have made an attempt at playing in competitive matches but as yet I haven't got far and in all honesty I don't think I ever will. I must point out that this probably isn't due to the controls, but more to the fact that I really suck at football games!
Full Time
At the end of a match you will be shown a screen with all the match stats and given the option to either rematch, continue or return to the main menu. If the game ended in a draw then you will also be able to choose whether to take the match to extra time or a penalty shoot out. The penalty shoot out is one part of the game I haven't got used to at all and in my opinion it is more like a game of luck as you cannot judge which way the player will kick the ball for you to stand any chance of saving it, as a result of this I have often found myself facing a frustrating loss that I don't know how to do anything about it.
Extras
From looking through the various menu screens I can see there is plenty of extras for managing your team and substituting players for those of you who like a more technical game and there are also options for changing the sound options and length of the matches with regard to actual time and 'game time'. I usually have my matches set at 5 minutes for each half as I find that with moving my arms around a lot with the wii remote for passing and shooting that 5 minutes is often all I can take before I need a half time rest!
Multiplayer
There is a multiplayer mode in the game, I have played this a few times with my brother, and of course I have lost most of the matches and been lucky on the odd occasion in getting a draw. I find multiplayer mode to be fun as I think it is more competitive to be playing against someone in the same room as me, however I also find it frustrating as the players are often off the screen because the camera angle automatically follows the player with the ball. Regardless of this minor detail I still enjoy it and James seems to enjoy beating me repeatedly as well!
Graphics and Sound
The graphics in the game are great! The game runs smoothly and the players are realistic and very well animated. Occasionally the game uses your 'Mii' character in animations such as goal celebrations and in the stats screen at the end of the matches.
The sound is also good, the music in the menus is good, but I do find the match commentary to be really annoying and repetitive, I think this is just a pet hate of mine in general though as I get annoyed with match commentary on the rare occasions that I watch football on the TV. The sound effects during the game are realistic, when the ball is kicked you will hear the thud and the crowd are also really realistic with cheers, boo's and whistles.
Price and Availability
Fifa 08 is available really cheap now and can be found on eBay for around a couple of pounds and I have seen it pre-owned in shops such as Game and Game Station for around £5.
My Experience and Opinion
While I really suck at this game, I still really enjoy playing it and I would recommend it. I think more serious Fifa players may see this version of it as too gimmicky with regards to the controls as they do take a bit of the seriousness out of the game and also require quite a bit of patience. The Wii remote is usually really responsive though so this is one less frustration! In my opinion this game is great for kids to have some fun with, my brother is now 9 and really enjoys playing this and the newer Fifa 11. Personally, I think I do prefer Fifa on other consoles like the Playstation, but I will continue to play this one as it is a fun and different way to enjoy the game.
Thanks for reading :)
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