There are 40 songs in the game in total, 40 licensed songs. The range of tunes is based on what EA believes is the most popular or likeable song from the various regions around the world. So, for instance, there's the Stone Roses' old classic "Fools Gold", which I've listened to hundred of times, while The Jam's "Town Called Malice" finds a spot, too. Radiohead, Kings of Leon and the Dandy Warhols are in there too. And there are dozens of Spanish hits, German favorites and other incredible songs. So, like so many other EA sports games coming out, FIFA Soccer 2004 has this amazing hit list too. Players have the ability to open a menu that lists all the songs, and they can simply run though the fast-and-easy checklist clicking on the songs they'd like to hear, or unchecking the ones they don't. The music mostly occurs in the menu system itself.
Here's the list (though not in its entirety) of 9/10ths of the songs:
- 1 - Dandy Warhols - We Used to Be Friends
- 2 - Junior Senior - Rhythm Bandits
- 3 - Cassius - Under Influence
- 4 - Outlandish - Aicha (Mintman Remix)
- 5 - Kasabian - LS7 (JFL Remix)
- 6 - Cooper Temple Clause - Promises Promises
- 7 - Kane - Rain Down on Me (Tiesto Remix)
- 8 - Suburbia - Always
- 9 - Kings of Leon - Red Morning Light
- 10 - Tribalistas - Ja Sei Namorar
- 11 - Radiohead - Myxomatosis
- 12 - Stone Roses - Fools Gold
- 13 - Caesars - Jerk It Out
- 14 - Wir Sind Helden - Guten Tag
- 15 - Timo Maas - Unite
- 16 - Tosca - Gute Loune
- 17 - Soffet - Gamushara Deko Boko Dai Race!?
- 19 - Lost Prophets - Burn Burn
- 20 - Babamania - Wanna Rock
- 21 - DJ Sensei- Musica Grande
- 22 - The Ravonettes - That Great Love Sound
- 23 - Goldfrapp - Train
- 24 - Cafe Tacuba - EO (El Sonidero)
- 25 - Cabas - Juancho
- 26 - Zeca Pagodinho - Deixa a Vida Me Levar
- 27 - Asian Dub Foundation - Rise To the Challenge
- 28 - Paul Van Dyk - Nothing But You
- 29 - Seamonator - Japanese Title
- 30 - The Individuals - Take a Ride
- 31 - The Jam - Town Called Malice
- 32 - Underworld - Two Months Off
- 33 - Clones - Crazy Boys
- 34 - Dawholeenchilada - Espiral
OK, so I got that out of my system. Onto the game…
FIFA Soccer 2004 offers a handful of impressive improvements over last year's good but ultimately faltering effort. The biggest ones, depending on how you look at them, are the Career Manager mode, which enables players to manage a team from the ground up, earn respect and create prestige, power and a great team that could go all the way to the league finals. Just like in Madden NFL 2004, players can make front office decisions that can weaken or strengthen the team's prospects for the season, and they can then trade and build that team up again for the next season -- or they could earn enough respect and prestige around the league to warrant offers from bigger teams for more money and with better chances. All of it is good, providing players with a new level of involvement and depth.
The online features are also impressive. The game will ship to retail worldwide on October 28, 2003, on PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, Game Boy Advance and PC, but only the PS2 features online play. Soccer fanatics can vie online in tournaments or start leagues and they can use the USB headset to talk smack or chat with friends. A neat new feature EA told us about today includes the ability for players to organize leagues or tournaments on their PCs. Using their computers, players can enter online lobbies and set times and specs for their next meet, and then get back to their PS2s at home and get the match on later. EA is confident in its ability to bring the game to market with full online play this October. We'll have a full rundown on the online play in the future when we get a close to final build.
Or you could simply look at all the features the game offers. The biggest new change in the game is the Madden-like off the ball control. Enabling players to select secondary or tertiary players while controlling the ball with a center halfback, for instance, gamers can use the shoulder buttons to select a winger, have him run down the field, and by pressing lob or pass the ball will be sent to him on his run. Players can set up short or long runs, but either way, hardcore and longtime fans who are familiar with FIFA are going to love it. Love it.
The off the ball control takes a little time to get the hang of, but it definitely works. We got to try it and once you get the timing down, it makes world of difference in the way you strategize a run, set up a potential play, or in outsmarting the opponent when he's off guard. It works in all aspects of the game, too. For instance, during corner kicks, players can engage it. While in control of the kicker, players select what location they want to place the ball -- center, far post, close post, etc. -- and then they have a few seconds, basically the time it takes for the off-the-ball player to get to that spot (indicated by a visual marker), to get to that mark and press kick. And if they are paying attention, defenders can push and shove to break the play.
In the same line of thinking, players can create set plays. Once they have selected their team members, they can create a set formation for attacks during free kicks, penalty and foul kicks. Players can set these before the game, practice and customize them, and then enact them during games. It's just another example of EA giving players more control, more in-depth play.
Believe it or not, I'd actually like to talk about how the game feels. FIFA Soccer 2004 probably delivers the best feel and sense of control of any of the games in the series' storied 10-year existence. The ball physics, for starters, are entirely different than in any other game. The team's developers have created a dynamic moving ball with its own physics that enable it to react correctly to every object in the world differently. In the movies you can see it. The ball slows down gradually after being kicked down the field, it gathers velocity when passed along in killer through-passes, and it bounces with real world gravity off people's heads, goal posts, etc. It's not like the ball physics in the other games were horrible, but these are truly improved.
The players show a massive range of moves, and the animations they offer will put a smile on your face. Inexperienced players will find that they may be able to pull off the cool moves, but in a scene that surprised us, one player was dancing around the ball while the defender watched, and then when he made his move, he actually stumbled. The animation was priceless. Hey, not everybody can pull off the best moves in soccer, that's reserved for the cr¿me of the crop.
FIFA Soccer 2004 runs at a crisp 60 FPS. Even the pre-beta we played was running at just below 60 FPS, at around 59 to 60. That means the game is fast moving as it should be, quick when players are quick, and smooth without chugging down when too much action happens at once. The goalie AI is impressive. Coupled with the smooth and daring animations, the goalie we saw playing saved a handful of potential goals. And the defensive AI was impressive. The AI teams formed triangles, passed the ball quickly up the field and constantly showed aggressive moves toward the goal in every game we played.
In all, FIFA Soccer 2004 was eye-opening in every way. The demo made us hungry to play the next build and we're itching to get our FIFA on this year more than ever before. And then there are those folks who will inevitably ask, "But will it smoke Winning Eleven 7?" Good question. The answer is obviously difficult to tell at this point (since the game isn't done), but a few major points must be made here to clarify.
First, FIFA Soccer 2004 is going to be very good, whatever the competition comes up with; Second, FIFA Soccer 2004 is filled with so many features, soccer fans will be impressed in every territory; Third, the game has been deepened, fiddled with, and enhanced to such an extent that all hardcore soccer fans will be itching, just like we are, to play as soon it hits streets. And Fourth, the music is superb. The gameplay looks deep, the control is nearly spot on, the online play could prove to be ridiculously addicting, and the feature set is more than one could ask for.