Screenshots :.
UEFA Champions League 2006 - 2007
360
Matt
18-05-2007
"You'd never believe he used to be in Ballet"
"Had his eye on the balls...err...I mean...ball"
"There certainly was a lack of interesting ways to out-think your opponent"
"The striker rubbed it in by giving the defender a noogy on the way passed"
Ah, footy – the sport of the people, with friendships and rivalries created and destroyed on the balance of what takes place over a 90-minute match. As regular as Spurs having a disappointing run to a UEFA Cup spot, EA Sports have continually tapped into this passionate source that so many hold close to their hearts, with mixed results. Despite closing the gap at the top of the console football league to rivals Konami with their Pro Evo series, past seasons have seen FIFA titles still lagging behind in a number of areas. Their last encounter, which saw Pro Evo 6 tacking FIFA 07, ended in a tense score draw, with both sides having inspired moments and a few things that they would rather forget.
Let’s get this out of the way right now: Champions League ’06 – ’07 is pretty much identical to FIFA ’07 in most ways. In fact, apart from the lavish Champions League television presentation that’s been added in (including that theme tune), you escapades on the pitch will have a hauntingly familiar feeling to them if you happened to pick up EA’s previous football title. Somewhat fortunately a couple of additional game modes have been added in to somewhat justify this, and although you’re in effect paying for a game with a heck of a lot less teams you are getting a bit of new rope for your cash.
For those of you not yet familiar with recent FIFA games in the way that they play, the pleasing thing to report is that it’s beginning to really feel like a proper, tactical affair when you’re out on the turf. Passing into space is more advantageous, and stringing together good moves will open up chances for your team all over the pitch. The ball physics also seem much more free and open to random little deflections and the like, which makes for a much more realistic experience than FIFA games past. The overall play has a much more weighted feel to it, and this provides a much more rewarding footy feel.
Problems do still crop up though, and to various amounts they do slightly spoil the party. Player animations are still a little sluggish and occasionally lead to the opposition stealing the ball and running off with it whilst your player is having a stumble or such. Passes and crosses occasionally go awry too, with even what seems to be a well-judged and properly aimed pass ending up going tamely to the nearest defender. They don’t crop up all the time and it’s fair to say for the majority of the game you’ll feel in control, but it remains frustrating to see your brilliant passing move go up the spout through no fault of your own. Other than that, the other main issue is that the game sees fit to call you offside even if the ball last deflected off an opposition defender, leading to all sorts of frustrating moments when a perfectly legal move is whistled.
Still, the action on the pitch is satisfying enough, and is supported by a whole host of Champions League modes and general frills and dressing. The standard option sees you being able to take any club from Europe’s top divisions (yes, that includes you too, fans of Spurs, West Ham, Wigan and Charlton) through a properly simulated tournament, with the group stages randomly assigned and properly tense affairs, with the commentators and on-screen scores updating you as to what’s going on elsewhere whilst you are playing your games.
The main deviation from the norm, though, is to be found in the Ultimate Team mode. Doing away with the selecting of any of Europe’s top sides, your aim here is to collect players via the slightly bizarre method of buying packs of cards with their profile on. Once you have bought a pack you will be handed a selection of players with which to build your custom team, with other cards also giving your players stat boosts, contract extensions and the like which can be used as and when you see fit. Having assembled your first team you are then thrown into a series of matches against a number of lesser opponents, with victory gaining you levels that will eventually see you taking your squad to the Champions League proper and being able to buy higher-priced but more lucrative packs of cards with star players stashed within.
You’d probably be thinking that this sounds rather involving and exciting, but to be completely honest (and let’s face it, I am that kind of bloke) you can’t quite ever shake the feeling when playing through the mode that you would rather be simply taking your own favourite squad through a campaign instead. It is all well and great finding Ronaldinho in a stack of cards to give your team a bit of superstar quality and yes, finding the Bernabeu stadium will give you a fantastic home ground to play your games in, but the frequent swapping in and out of players and coaches means that you are never really ever attached to your team as you would be in, say, a Football Manager game.
It’s this lack of attachment that really hampers the Ultimate Team mode, and eventually leads to you just plumping for the simple Champions League offering with whomever you support. It’s certainly a shame and you can definitely see that some thought and care were splashed out on the system of buying packs of cards to assemble a world-beating squad, but having gone through the whole thing once you will more than likely get the feeling that you’ve been there, seen it all and done it. Perhaps with a slightly less in-out feel to proceedings and the option to sign players or buy their card from other computer teams it would have taken on a more personal level and given the user the chance to mould the resulting team more to his liking, rather than relying on getting lucky with the cards.
The other mode chucked in for Champions League 2006 – 2007 is the Champions League Challenge, offering 42 scenarios from classic tournament matches. Those Everton fans amongst you who were slightly miffed at your somewhat tame exit at the hands of Villareal a couple of years ago now have the chance to play things out just how you think they should have been (although as a Liverpool fan I would be tempted to suggest the actual result was much more pleasing), or anyone who sat gawping at their T.V screen during the mighty Reds’ fantastic 3-goal comeback at Istanbul in 2005 can now give the thing their own personal flavour by initiating the comeback themselves, minus the benefits of a rousing half-time speech by Rafa Benitez. The mode is actually rather enjoyable and gives plenty of different challenges to overcome, although the curse of the complicated license kills some of the enjoyment by having the 2006-2007 squads playing even during the historical games. Jermaine Pennant playing in the 2005 final? Erm, not quite sure I remember that one to be honest.
On an audiovisual note, the game carries the sense of the big occasion rather well indeed, with atmospheric crowd chants and cheers backing Clive Tyldesley and (sigh) Andy Townsend as they provide some entertaining commentary, with the former in particular throwing in some great ad-libbed comments that’ll have you smiling away to yourself. The game looks very similar to FIFA 07 as you’d expect, and in keeping with the latest batch of EA Sports titles maintains the rather unfortunate symptom of slowing and juddering during the cut-scenes and more busy moments of play. On the whole though the whole experience is really aided by the authentic presentation, giving you a proper Champions League experience.
At the end of the day, if you haven’t got a football game for your 360 and were tempted by Champions League 2006-2007, you could do worse, but you could also do a little better for yourself. The layers of presentation and such are pleasing for anyone who watches the television coverage of the tournament, and giving people the option to take any Premiership club through the Champions League opens up the appeal a heck of a lot more than it otherwise would have if it had focused on the usual four suspects. On the other side of the fence, the much-vaunted Ultimate Team mode falls a little on the disappointing side and never absorbs you much as had been hoped, and the football itself still has a number of niggling issues that stop it being as fluid as the Pro Evolution Soccer series still manages.
Unless you’re really into your Champions League football and presentation, it’s pretty difficult to recommend the game over FIFA 07 given the obvious similarities. The smattering of news modes are a bit hit-and-miss, and the lack of teams over EA Sports’ traditional annual title means you are missing it on a number of club teams and all international squads. If you’re not too bothered about all that but want a solid, fluent game of football then it’s more than likely that you’ll get frustrated at the control niggles that crop up and will end up preferring Pro Evolution Soccer 6’s rather silky gameplay. Given this, it’d be fair to say that Champions League 2006 – 2007 fills a rather awkward space in the market, offering neither the choice of its older brother or the gameplay of its main rival. As a stand-alone title it certainly does a lot right, but with the other options available at a similar price you have to conclude that UEFA Champions League 2006 – 2007 would be best left on the substitutes’ bench.
Let’s get this out of the way right now: Champions League ’06 – ’07 is pretty much identical to FIFA ’07 in most ways. In fact, apart from the lavish Champions League television presentation that’s been added in (including that theme tune), you escapades on the pitch will have a hauntingly familiar feeling to them if you happened to pick up EA’s previous football title. Somewhat fortunately a couple of additional game modes have been added in to somewhat justify this, and although you’re in effect paying for a game with a heck of a lot less teams you are getting a bit of new rope for your cash.
For those of you not yet familiar with recent FIFA games in the way that they play, the pleasing thing to report is that it’s beginning to really feel like a proper, tactical affair when you’re out on the turf. Passing into space is more advantageous, and stringing together good moves will open up chances for your team all over the pitch. The ball physics also seem much more free and open to random little deflections and the like, which makes for a much more realistic experience than FIFA games past. The overall play has a much more weighted feel to it, and this provides a much more rewarding footy feel.
Problems do still crop up though, and to various amounts they do slightly spoil the party. Player animations are still a little sluggish and occasionally lead to the opposition stealing the ball and running off with it whilst your player is having a stumble or such. Passes and crosses occasionally go awry too, with even what seems to be a well-judged and properly aimed pass ending up going tamely to the nearest defender. They don’t crop up all the time and it’s fair to say for the majority of the game you’ll feel in control, but it remains frustrating to see your brilliant passing move go up the spout through no fault of your own. Other than that, the other main issue is that the game sees fit to call you offside even if the ball last deflected off an opposition defender, leading to all sorts of frustrating moments when a perfectly legal move is whistled.
Still, the action on the pitch is satisfying enough, and is supported by a whole host of Champions League modes and general frills and dressing. The standard option sees you being able to take any club from Europe’s top divisions (yes, that includes you too, fans of Spurs, West Ham, Wigan and Charlton) through a properly simulated tournament, with the group stages randomly assigned and properly tense affairs, with the commentators and on-screen scores updating you as to what’s going on elsewhere whilst you are playing your games.
The main deviation from the norm, though, is to be found in the Ultimate Team mode. Doing away with the selecting of any of Europe’s top sides, your aim here is to collect players via the slightly bizarre method of buying packs of cards with their profile on. Once you have bought a pack you will be handed a selection of players with which to build your custom team, with other cards also giving your players stat boosts, contract extensions and the like which can be used as and when you see fit. Having assembled your first team you are then thrown into a series of matches against a number of lesser opponents, with victory gaining you levels that will eventually see you taking your squad to the Champions League proper and being able to buy higher-priced but more lucrative packs of cards with star players stashed within.
You’d probably be thinking that this sounds rather involving and exciting, but to be completely honest (and let’s face it, I am that kind of bloke) you can’t quite ever shake the feeling when playing through the mode that you would rather be simply taking your own favourite squad through a campaign instead. It is all well and great finding Ronaldinho in a stack of cards to give your team a bit of superstar quality and yes, finding the Bernabeu stadium will give you a fantastic home ground to play your games in, but the frequent swapping in and out of players and coaches means that you are never really ever attached to your team as you would be in, say, a Football Manager game.
It’s this lack of attachment that really hampers the Ultimate Team mode, and eventually leads to you just plumping for the simple Champions League offering with whomever you support. It’s certainly a shame and you can definitely see that some thought and care were splashed out on the system of buying packs of cards to assemble a world-beating squad, but having gone through the whole thing once you will more than likely get the feeling that you’ve been there, seen it all and done it. Perhaps with a slightly less in-out feel to proceedings and the option to sign players or buy their card from other computer teams it would have taken on a more personal level and given the user the chance to mould the resulting team more to his liking, rather than relying on getting lucky with the cards.
The other mode chucked in for Champions League 2006 – 2007 is the Champions League Challenge, offering 42 scenarios from classic tournament matches. Those Everton fans amongst you who were slightly miffed at your somewhat tame exit at the hands of Villareal a couple of years ago now have the chance to play things out just how you think they should have been (although as a Liverpool fan I would be tempted to suggest the actual result was much more pleasing), or anyone who sat gawping at their T.V screen during the mighty Reds’ fantastic 3-goal comeback at Istanbul in 2005 can now give the thing their own personal flavour by initiating the comeback themselves, minus the benefits of a rousing half-time speech by Rafa Benitez. The mode is actually rather enjoyable and gives plenty of different challenges to overcome, although the curse of the complicated license kills some of the enjoyment by having the 2006-2007 squads playing even during the historical games. Jermaine Pennant playing in the 2005 final? Erm, not quite sure I remember that one to be honest.
On an audiovisual note, the game carries the sense of the big occasion rather well indeed, with atmospheric crowd chants and cheers backing Clive Tyldesley and (sigh) Andy Townsend as they provide some entertaining commentary, with the former in particular throwing in some great ad-libbed comments that’ll have you smiling away to yourself. The game looks very similar to FIFA 07 as you’d expect, and in keeping with the latest batch of EA Sports titles maintains the rather unfortunate symptom of slowing and juddering during the cut-scenes and more busy moments of play. On the whole though the whole experience is really aided by the authentic presentation, giving you a proper Champions League experience.
At the end of the day, if you haven’t got a football game for your 360 and were tempted by Champions League 2006-2007, you could do worse, but you could also do a little better for yourself. The layers of presentation and such are pleasing for anyone who watches the television coverage of the tournament, and giving people the option to take any Premiership club through the Champions League opens up the appeal a heck of a lot more than it otherwise would have if it had focused on the usual four suspects. On the other side of the fence, the much-vaunted Ultimate Team mode falls a little on the disappointing side and never absorbs you much as had been hoped, and the football itself still has a number of niggling issues that stop it being as fluid as the Pro Evolution Soccer series still manages.
Unless you’re really into your Champions League football and presentation, it’s pretty difficult to recommend the game over FIFA 07 given the obvious similarities. The smattering of news modes are a bit hit-and-miss, and the lack of teams over EA Sports’ traditional annual title means you are missing it on a number of club teams and all international squads. If you’re not too bothered about all that but want a solid, fluent game of football then it’s more than likely that you’ll get frustrated at the control niggles that crop up and will end up preferring Pro Evolution Soccer 6’s rather silky gameplay. Given this, it’d be fair to say that Champions League 2006 – 2007 fills a rather awkward space in the market, offering neither the choice of its older brother or the gameplay of its main rival. As a stand-alone title it certainly does a lot right, but with the other options available at a similar price you have to conclude that UEFA Champions League 2006 – 2007 would be best left on the substitutes’ bench.
6/10