fifa was the first sports game i played. before madden, before lakers vs celtics... wait, actually i had "lakers vs celtics and the nba playoffs" (the precursor to the nba live series) first, but i got fifa in 94 and again in 98 and again in 2000 and again in 2002. so i think it can safely be called one of the few sports games i loved before college and madden and tiger and stuff. yeah ok so it's hard for me to clarify how much i like fifa, but i have followed the series and i do like it a lot.

ANYWAYS

this latest fifa is pretty sweet. i mean, it's got all the prerequisite "MORE TEAMS, MORE TOURNAMENTS WOO", which is nice and all, but having 3 leagues for each country? like english b-league and spanish 2nd league and stuff? excessive, obsessive compulsive? yes. good footie? yes.

game play is pretty sick. they got the first touch stuff down pretty well, which is their new innovation - as the ball is coming to a player, you can flick the right thumbstick and define where he's going to go with the ball, like get it ahead of you or move up or down so you can create space. it's just well thought-out and well done.

i've only played on semi-pro (second hardest level) and at first i was shooting like shit but now i'm starting to consistently win 4-2 or 2-0 - i'm getting better at pushing the ball forward and getting shots on target (and thus more goals) - so yeah, i'm going to move up to pro pretty soon. like when i get home i think. but from what i can tell, their addition of making the ball an independant object is working out really well - the ball moves the way it should, not as if it is glued to someone's foot.

the sweetest thing about fifa 2005 is the new career mode. for all accounts this is a new feature, because they never fleshed it out or thought it out well before. 15 years, you start out with a low, low team and move up as your team does well. a solid transfer market, good tactics and formation stuff, a color-coded position system (making subs easier to manage)... and a morale system! morale? morale!

if you are winning and you are playing guys in the spots they feel comfortable (as opposed, for example, to playing a striker in the back or putting a back up as an attacking middie for long periods of time), player morale increases, as does your job security. winning of course is the largest factor here, but other stuff does play into it. the point is, as player morale increases so does player skill. you can get guys playing way over their heads and this, of course, leads to more winning. it's a great system and reflects how sports in general tend to work - players get confident and happy with wins and thus play better (see: new england patriots)

anyways, fifa 2005 was my first fifa purchase since their 2002 game, meaning i passed up on uefa, 2003, and 2004. i'm glad i waited, as this sweet career mode and the first touch system puts 2005 way over the top. 7.5 to 8 tamales, just because i have pigeon-holed myself into tamale land.