World Cup 98

Developer - EA Sports
Publisher - Electronic Arts
Players - 1-8
Extras - Memory card, Analog

The bit on the box

"The authentic France 98 tournament - includes all the players, teams, groups and stadiums. World Class Commentary team: Gary Lineker, Chris Waddle, and Kenneth Wolstenholme join Des Lynam and John Motson. Team History - comprehensive World Cup and International stats. New in-game management allows you to switch strategies as you play. New in-game tactics - communicate with your players, and employ specific moves, including offside traps and wing-back runs. Compression touch technology provides quicker, more reactive gameplay. Classics mode only available after winning the World Cup mode! Play 8 classic World Cup finals and 16 of the greatest ever teams. Commentary by '66 legend, Kenneth Wolstenholme."

Graphics

When you load in a game from EA Sports these days you don't usually have to worry about if it will have good graphics or not, as everything they touch seem to have the same layer of professionalism in it's design. World Cup 98 is no exception, from the FMV intro to the extremely well-detailed and textured players and stadiums. Many of the players are also modelled from their real-life counterparts and perform moves and actions realistically (using motion capture), which adds to the whole "TV" feel the game brings across. There are a few camera angles to chose from, but as usual with these games the default setting proves to be the best option. My major gripe with the graphics would be the framerate, as it doesn't seem as smooth as previous titles, but it surprising doesn't detract too much from the overall feel.

Sounds

Sometimes sound can be the one thing neglected when designing a game. Not so with EA Sports, and especially not so with World Cup 98. The great sound effects in-game are endless, from crowd chanting (different for each team), national anthems, superb commentary (and not as repetitive as earlier titles, although Chris Waddle tends to rabbit on a bit), and the sound of leather on leather as you boot the ball down the field. The soundtrack suits the game perfectly, using a combination of techno, "footy" music and also including the hit song "Tubthumping" from Chumbawamba. EA Sports really do know how to polish a title to almost perfection as far as presentation is concerned, but what about gameplay?

Gameplay

It took a little bit of time to get used to the delay in reaction some players have, but otherwise this game is one of those "pick up and play" immediately games. You be passing and shooting like a pro in no time, and for those who need to have more then there are many flashy special moves to be learned and perfected. The action seems nice and fast, although the framerate can be a pain especially when you want to see a replay of a great move, and it zips by with a speedy and jerky look, rather than a slow smooth look. Another thing that was strange was the three difficulty levels, which are labelled Easy Medium and Hard, but feel more like "way too easy" "very hard" and "extremely hard". A small complaint in an otherwise great game, though.

I feel a verdict coming on

This is a superb soccer game, and I find it easy to recommend to anyone who likes the sport. One thing I have to mention however, is that this is a World Cup game, therefore it is limited to a select amount of teams, and there is no league feature. For more teams and a league to play in, it might be better purchasing FIFA 98 as it is very much the same as this title as far as graphics and playability are concerned. If you want a great soccer game based strictly on the World Cup though, then look no further than World Cup 98. There is even a neat Soccer Classics feature to be unlocked which allows you to play old World Cup finals (going right back to the 1930s) even with the commentator from back then! A good bonus to an already awesome game.

Review by D.R.T.Barrett