Product Description

FIFA Football is back with the 2002 edition and it's packed with features, sure to make gamers and football fans all over happy. With all-new "open passing," you have more control and precision than ever before. Find a breaking forward with a perfect 40-yard ball into open space, embarrass the tightest defence with cunning one-twos, or fool any keeper with deep swerving crosses. With a deeper customisation, FIFA Football 2002 is set to dominate the competition.

All-new tackling and referee model lets players angle and time tackles to determine success or a potential card from the referee. Cinematic cut-scenes seamlessly capture all the impact, pain, and emotion of a world-class game. Hardcore in-game animations capture the rough-and-tumble aspects of soccer with increased physical contact, giant collisions, and crunching falls. Authentic light sourcing delivers dynamic player shading and accentuated physical detail as players pass in and out of shadows.

FIFA Football 2002 gives players the choice of more than 75 licensed national teams and 16 licensed leagues including the English Premier League, German Bundesliga, Spanish Premier League, the French LNF, and Major League Soccer. Localised commentary is provided by legendary commentator John Motson and renowned soccer star Andy Gray.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14520 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Electronic Arts
• Released on: 2001-11-02
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Platform: PlayStation2

Amazon.co.uk Review
In the video games Premier League the winner in terms of sales has always been EA's FIFA series. Purists prefer Konami's ISS games, which offer a more refined "realistic" approach than FIFA's end-to-end goal-fests, but now, not content with being number one in the market, the latter game has decided it wants to be loved by serious footy fans everywhere and has radically overhauled its gameplay concept.

The idea is that no longer can you just ping the ball from end to end with a simple press of a button or sprint down the wing and score from the perfect cross each time. Judicious use of the Dual Shock controller ensures that crosses, passes and shots are defined by the amount of force applied and the left analogue stick determines the direction of the ball. Although this adds a welcome depth, FIFA veterans may find the new control system over-elaborate and fiddly.

Unfortunately, the addition of in-depth gameplay comes at the expense of graphical quality--FIFA Football 2002 is a big step down from last year's version. Even high-profile players like Beckham are virtually unrecognisable and although there are some neat new animations the overall effect is of an enhanced PSone game rather than a genuine next-generation product. But the players are real, all the leagues are present and correct (including the Austrian and Korean leagues for the soccer completists), and the multi-player mode is perfect for after-the-pub footy action. As usual the game will sell in bucketloads but is unlikely to replace ISS (now in the guise of Pro Evolution Soccer) as the cognoscenti's game of choice. --Michael Bartley

Manufacturer's Description
This year EA SPORTS has re-invented the best-selling FIFA series with the most complete football game ever--FIFA Football 2002. Already known for its graphic excellence, FIFA fires its most powerful shot at the competition. With all-new open passing, the FIFA gamer has more control and precision than ever before. Find a breaking forward with a perfect 40-yard ball into open space, embarrass the tightest defense with cunning one-twos, or fool any keeper with deep swerving crosses. FIFA Football 2002 will offer more licensed leagues, teams, and competitions than any other game in the industry; combined with great new single-player features, a unique reward system, and the chance to qualify your country for FIFA: World Cup 2002. With the totally re-invented game-play and stunning graphics, FIFA Football 2002 is poised to deliver the most complete sports game ever.

Customer Reviews

The FIFA series is finally getting better
There is no other way to describe this game other than to say it is the best on the market to date.
Graphics and presentation are excellent as we have come to expect.
For me what makes this game so good is the new control/passing system. The game at last has a good balanced almost realistic feel to it.
The passing system is excellent, you can be extremely creative in your build up play, this is something you can't say about previous FIFA incarnations.
Team mates make excellent runs and sometimes actually point to play the ball ahead of them, amazing.
Whats wrong with the game?
I struggle to find major faults, the shooting system has changed slightly and personally I don't like the feeling of it too much, but that really is the only thing I can find wrong with the game and even that is knit picking as it certainly doesn't ruin the gameplay.
This game wipes the floor with the current ISS on the market. ISS Pro Evolution may provide stiffer oposition but that remains to be seen.
I honestly struggle to find faults with this game (unlike previous FIFA'S) it's an excellent game.
If you want a quality footy game, you won't be dissapointed with this purchase.

Enjoyable - decent football game - best played with a mate
I'm going to avoid the old argument about how realistic etc. this game is compared to others. Ultimately the game should be judged on how enjoyable it is and in this respect FIFA will not let you down.

I remember the original offering way back when on the Megadrive and I thought the game was suberb then and it only gets better. The usual flaws (too easy to beat the computer, too boring to just sit there and press X until you are ready to score, too easy to find sweet spots to score from) are all gone and what is left is a game which offers a good balance between difficulty to master and playability.

I basically wanted a game in which mates who come around and who are not experts can still offer a decent game. This is still it - in spite of the improvements to the passing etc. Be warned that if you are still stuck using the buttons and will avoid the analogue stick - well you kind of have to use it here!

And - the computer AI is tough ... the beginner 'amateur' level is pretty easy and it will take about a game or so before you started banging 6/7 past the computer but move up to 'professional' and world class and it almost seems unfair how good the computer passes (and wins balls in teh air!!).

If you're a fan of football/sport or decent two player games - this is one to have. It offers a little bit in the way of management simulation (I have managed to complement my Arsenal team with Thuram, Shevchenko and Figo!!) - but is ultimately an arcade game which is best enjoyed with four-six of you setting up a mock world cup.

FIFA 2002 is absolutely rubbish
I was desperate to get hold of a footy game having been hugely disappointed by This Is Football 2002 and other titles. I chose FIFA 2002 thinking it's been developed by a British team so they should know their footy given that the original Canadian developers probably do FIFA purely for commercial reasons.

I paid 39.99 for this piece of rubbish. I just can't believe how bad this game is. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise. FIFA 2002 is a load of bu***cks. Let's get one thing straight the graphics are very good with detailed but smaller than usual players to the grass and the stadiums. The commentary is very good as well, little repetition during the course of the game but the music is top class not surprising given that it is provided by the Ministry of Sound. The music can be played during the match on top of the commentary and the realistic sound effects which is an ace feature.

You've got your usual league, cup and world cup qualification tournaments. All top club sides and international sides are included.

Where this game completely falls down is in the gameplay. The single most major problem is the camera view. You have about 9 camera views to play the game in but all of them are inadequate. Most people will use the Tele cam which is adjustable by the player but even then it is nigh on impossible to make a well judged pass or tackle when the game is being played on the far touch line as the camera just doesn't zoom in on the action enough. The player movement off the ball is awful as they tend to remain in formation rather than find space so most times you'll lose possession because you can't see any midfield players who remain just off screen so the defence just make long hopeful passes (even after making tactical/formation changes or having the scanner on).

The cross/lob system in this game is atrocious. No matter what you do the crosses tend to have no proper height or direction it's as if the CPU chooses a predefined route for the ball after you pressed left and Cross. You can try and press other buttons or move the analogue stick after making the shot but it makes no difference. What really sums this game up is during certain moments in the game if someone scores from just outside the box the camera isn't able to keep up so all you'll see is the ball bouncing of the net to the ground and totally miss the shot flying into the goal.

I could go on and on about all the problems in FIFA 2002 but my advice to you is don't be fooled by the excellent presentation and poor gimmicks of this EA game. If you do want to buy it then go and pick up the FIFA 2001 and FIFA 2002 boxes, read the descriptions on the back and ask yourself why is it that EA say the same things each year and always disappoint.