Scoring great goals galore

Reviews by PETER ELEY

Fifa 2000 *****

PC

EA Sports

$99.95.


All ages It's the world's most popular game on the field. And it is on the PC, too, judging by the number of soccer titles.

EA is top of the table and manages to score two or three times a year with new games or dressed-up replays.

Fifa 2000 would fit into that category, following on from the 1998 and 1999 versions.

It is basically the same game but with better graphics and a few more options.

And for the first time EA has included the 12 teams of the American MLS to reflect the growing popularity of soccer in the United States. That makes 15 world leagues and 40 national soccer teams in Fifa 2000.

That's a huge arena to cover, and inevitably some detail is blurred.

But on the whole, it is a fast, exciting game with an incredible amount of depth.

Remember EA's brilliant World Cup 98? The soundtrack featuring Chumbawumba's I Get Knocked Down really made the game.

And Fifa 2000 pulls a similar trick, using soccer nut Robbie Williams' It's Only Us as the game's theme.

Required: Pentium 133, 32Mb Ram. Recommended: Pentium 200, 3D accelerator.

FA Premier League Stars ****

PC

EA Sports

$99.95.

All ages Fifa 2000 presents a world overview of soccer, but EA's FA Premier League Stars zeroes in on the birthplace of soccer. The cynics may argue that it is the graveyard, too, judging from England's lack of success in recent years.

There is no doubt that it's a far grittier game there than in Brazil or France - Watford's scungy ground is no Stadt du Light.

FA Premier League Stars is an intense and complex game which captures the flat beer and winter gloom atmosphere of British soccer. It focuses on the domestic season in Britain and will appeal to those who follow the Premier League. You just imagine a soccer addict putting on his Manchester United shirt and scarf and playing this game into the small hours to try to avenge a real defeat by Derby County or some other no-hoper.

Required: Pentium 166, 32Mb Ram.

Recommended: Pentium 11 266, 4Mb 3D accelerator.

Microsoft International Soccer 2000 ***

PC Rage/Microsoft

$49.95.


All ages Third in the table, but not a bad entry-level game given that it costs about half as much as its competitors. While EA's game are simulations as much as games, Microsoft International Soccer 2000 is not an officially licensed product.

This means that it lacks some depth and is probably more suited to the casual player than the die-hard round-ball fan. Graphically, it stands up well to EA's games, although the set-up and control system are hardly intuitive.

Required: Pentium 133, 32Mb Ram.

Recommended: Pentium 200.

* Send your comments e-mail to peter_eley@herald.co.nz

* All games are given a star rating of one to five.