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UEFA Champions League 06-07 (Xbox 360) Hands
On
- Remember Panini football cards?
UEFA Champions League 2006-07 is like 'FIFA 07-and-a-half'. It
is definitely based upon the foundation laid in FIFA 07 but has several
gameplay, features and presentation tweaks to differentiate it from its
predecessor. Since these are my quick impressions after a few hours of
play I’ll keep them short and to the point.
Graphics
 | No major changes in the visuals, player models look largely the
same as FIFA 07. |
| TV-style presentation has been improved with more instant replays
and multiple replays (from different angles) following a goal. Intros
are slightly better. |
| List of stadiums is the same as FIFA 07 but adds one fictional
stadium to the game. |
Sound
| Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend do the commentary. They’re crap
- incorrect statements, lagging behind play, etc. There are, however,
some specific comments for some of the Champions League
scenarios/challenges. |
| There appear to be many more team specific crowd chants which is
very nice. |
Options
Game modes are;
| Friendly |
| UEFA Champions League (start at group stages and work your way
through) |
| UEFA Champions League Challenge (42 historical scenarios from
qualifying matches to finals – e.g. AC Milan vs. Liverpool, start the
second half down 3-0) |
| The Lounge (multiplayer) |
| Ultimate Team (this is the main mode of the game and involves
collecting player card/stickers, creating a team and playing matches
to ultimately qualify for the Champions League – this is actually A
LOT more interesting than it sounds and quite involving). |
Other options;
| No practice mode, no ‘Arena’. |
| No league/season mode. |
| Teams from EPL, Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1, Serie A and Rest of
Europe (Juve, Celtic, PSV, etc.) |
| Rosters up to date till and including the January transfer
deadline. |
Gameplay
| Noticeably slower pace to the game. |
| Shoving is GONE (hoorah!) |
| Player interactions slightly more complex, more niggling fouls
|
| Sprinting seems far more modulated – i.e. it seems as though you
can slowly jog with the ball or sprint with it, there’s no in-between.
|
| Better passing (can now hold down the button to make it bypass
players & go further) |
| Shooting is improved (more zip to the shots) |
| Set pieces are the exact same garbage as FIFA 07 |
| Jostling for position is marginally improved, slide tackles are
more useful. |
| Still the same AI problems with poor overlapping movement. |
| Still NO skill moves except for; |
| ‘Stop & Go’ & ‘Change Lane Release’ both are naff.
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| 8 player online multiplayer – haven’t tried yet as there aren’t a
lot of people online right now. |
That, in a nutshell, is my experience so far. It’s definitely not a
brand new game engine or even an overhaul – more like subtle refinement.
However, the gameplay still doesn’t have the same depth or sense of
satisfaction as Winning Eleven.
The biggest surprise so far is how interesting the Ultimate Team mode
is. I first thought that this would be a brainless
collect-as-many-superstars-as-you-can mode but it’s actually quite
complex and very addictive. I won’t go into too much detail here but
each pack of ‘cards’ can have player, manager, coaching, or gameplay
cards. The player cards represent players than you can put on your team.
Each player has a 'contract' of a set amount of matches he can play –
usually 8 or so. However, other cards allow you to extend the contract
of a player, improve his stats through training, help a player recover
sooner, etc. You can also get cards for your team’s home stadium, kits
(whatever crappy kit card you start off with is the kit you play with
until you come upon another card). Furthermore, most of the players you
get are crap/squad players. For example, my current best player is far
and away Darren Ambrose at 74/100.
Stay tuned for the full review next week.
Lavan Chandran -
21/03/2007
Screenshots from
www.ea.co.uk |
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