GENRE
	Soccer
	DEVELOPER
	EA Canada
	PUBLISHER
	EA
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1-4
	WI-FI ENHANCED
	Yes
	DS COMPATIBLE
	No
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It doesn't happen every day, but gamers can rest assured that a can't-miss title will always arrive once or twice each year. They are the games many of us live for, the reason we play, and sometimes the reason we own a system. They may show off a new system, create a new style or simply strengthen an already outstanding formula. If anything, for the price we pay for our hobby, it's the improvement we need to experience.

Then there's FIFA 08, which reminds us that mediocrity will never die.

visuals

It certainly will not blow anyone away, but FIFA 08 does its part to hold up graphically to Wii's other traditional third party sports titles, namely other offerings from EA. Aside from some strange arm motion, the animations are solid, particularly the keepers, with an occasional rag doll appeal. Transitions from one animation to another are can be jagged, but it's minor. Players are certainly more lifelike than GameCube's FIFA titles, with smoother edges and considerably larger characters. Menus also benefit from larger text and clearer diagrams, a simple but important aspect of a soccer game that offers plenty of team management opportunities.

audio

There are only so many ways to simulate the sound of foot on ball, and FIFA 08 handles it just fine. EA puts its usual global flair on the soundtrack, which makes it markedly better than the Madden counterpart with the odd and fun mix of local and foreign tracks. The auditory highlight of any FIFA game, however, is the announcers. A man with an English accent telling me "He's almost got it in!" will always give a chuckle.

gameplay

While none of the above beats the competition, it at least keeps it respectable. Where Wii games often have the advantage over its current-gen brethren is in the actual core of the game, but not this time. EA Sports continues to make strides towards more realistic gameplay through Wii's motion control capabilities, but the company's FreeMotion controls are awfully misplaced in FIFA 08

Players shoot by swinging the remote up like a bowling ball, presumably to simulate a kicking motion. Swinging the remote down creates a finesse shot, a header, or a volley, depending on the situation. But they really do not simulate anything. Swinging an arm may make sense in an American football video game, but not this kind of football. It's worse on defense, where the same downward, finesse shot motion initiates a sliding tackle. I know EA can't make us tie a remote to our leg, but at least that would have made sense. The game essentially replaces a button with a gesture, a poor Wii side effect of the lesser games available on the system. The only sensible motion controls are throw-ins and the foosball mini-game, which operate in the ways you might think.

The game's 11 skill moves, usually tied in some fashion to a standard controller's right analog stick, are mapped to a button/gesture combination, sometimes using a Remote motion, other times using a Nunchuck motion. It's another tough bout of memorization that is not practical on the fly in a game of soccer. FIFA is further hurt by a peripheral control scheme that is unnecessarily complex. Much like a game of Street Fighter 2, vital moves require as many as four buttons to execute, along with the appropriate direction of the analog stick. Just because I can play as Brazil doesn't mean I want to be Blanka. It's funny that a sport that requires one motion -- kicking -- needs so many buttons to operate. Crosses and aerial through passes are ridiculous, and when I remembered the button, player runs only worked about half the time. These moves become so difficult to execute that many players will give up on them, which takes away a ton of field strategy. Even the simplified Family Play scheme has three-button maneuvers.

All these control problems mask an otherwise solid single player game, with smarter AI, nice set piece control and better organization. But the experience is frustrating and inferior to its rivals.

multiplayer

EA takes FIFA 08 for Wii online though its standard setup, which uses one EA Nation account for all the company's games. Getting online is easy enough, and a few fun options like interactive leagues goes beyond the standard single play setups, but the system is plagued by the same lag of Madden 08. It's not as debilitating because of the specifics of the game, but it's just as unacceptable.

overall

FIFA 08 on Wii is a resounding miss. With the controls lacking, multi-platform gamers have little reason to purchase this version, and Wii-only owners will have to wait for something better.

5.5/10