FIFA 07

"Every year, FIFA promises revolutionary gameplay and ends up delivering the best soundtrack in sports games. This year, they've finally pushed further than ever before (on the gameplay side), and it's a decently rewarding experience, but it's one that doesn't hold up -- even if you're going to be playing most of your fixtures online. Ultimately, the improvements are inching FIFA toward becoming a more complete game, but here's the bottom line: It's still no Winning Eleven."

Now that Earth has recovered from its collective World Cup hangover (except for Italy, where the party still hasn't quite wound down), it's time for soccer superstars and regular joes alike to go back to collecting a paycheck. EA Sports focuses back on international leagues with FIFA 07, promising gobs of new features, innovations and enough frantic button press combos to make Winning Eleven fans sit up and take notice. We got to kick the ball around the pitch in PS2 and Xbox preview versions ...

"FIFA 07 plays a fast-paced and realistic game of soccer and boasts plenty of gameplay options for solo and social players alike."

"What a difference a year makes. FIFA 07 has closed the gap on PES5 more than we could possibly have imagined. Compared to previous FIFA instalments this plays a more rounded, authentic game of football without cranking up the realism so much that it’s no longer fun. The result is a game that’s as fun and as accessible as any of its predecessors, but with gameplay that’s more Premier League than the Championship."

"Pick this one up for sure if you are looking for your favorite stars battling it out in a realistic manner. The Interactive Leagues is worth the price of admission, too. You may be a little let down by the graphics, but if you can trudge through those, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at just how solid a game FIFA 07 Soccer is."