2002 FIFA World Cup (2001 Video Game) User Reviews

Delivers half expectations. Excellent atmosphere.

[insomniac_rod · 8/10 · 27 February 2007]

*Review based on the GameCube version* This is the ultimate Korea/Japan 2002 Fifa World Cup video game. The spectacular intro. makes you dream about the unique World Cup experience.

But sadly, this video game only delivers half the expectations. True, the graphics are SPECTACULAR; I mean, impressive. The Action camera angles are great, dynamic, spectacular, and truly captures the essence of a world cup. The sound effects are also great! You can great chants from the crows, players and crow shouting, and best of all, the narrator and commentator say most of the players' names whenever they touch the ball. The players look really like the real life players so you have an ultimate experience in graphics, sound, and atmosphere. A detail that I love and always sends me shivers is the Fifa anthem that plays before any match starts. It's a great detail. The stadiums are exact replica and are a delight to watch. Also, the day, night, and noon atmospheres are candy for the eye. You won't be disappointed on this aspect.

Sadly, the problem with this game are the awful controls. The playing experience isn't as half as good as the visuals or atmosphere. You don't have full control of your players and that affects the experience; mostly if you like aggressive strategies or quick touches. There's an option that enables a turbo mode. I totally recommend it because otherwise the game's speed is slow and boring.

Also, the game is way too easy to beat even on World Class! So you won't have emotions, thrills, or difficult matches. If you play with Argentina, France, or Brazil you will get really bored.

Overall this is a great soccer game that has a unique atmosphere. It totally captures the whole World Cup experience, believe me. But if you are an avid and expert soccer video gamer, you will be hughly disappointed.

Recommend only when you want to remember about Korea/Japan 2002.

There's only one Ronaldo !

[southdavid · 6/10 · 3 September 2019]

Ahhh, the 2002 World Cup ! Getting up early in the morning, at our Uni house and watching matches before Breakfast. Good Times. I'm not reviewing that though, I'm reviewing the accompanying video game, specifically the Gamecube version that I had a session on this previous weekend, some 17 years after those halcyon days.

It is, at heart, still Fifa. Though it's almost (...almost) unrecognisable from the slick simulation that you see in the modern games. I'm immediately struck by the FMV that opens the game, before drifting into a game simulation, such as you'd see today. It is, understandably, much more basic - given the processing power but the players are generally recognisable - Michael Owen and Emile Heskey featuring prominently. Then the menus appear and here I felt an immediate pang of nostalgia - as these menus remained in Fifa for quite a while.

I started a new World Cup and picked France and replayed their opening game against Senegal. The first thing I noticed about the gameplay was that it's a lot more arcade-y than what Fifa has become. Bent passes turn at right angles, shots roar at the goal with a fiery streak and an associated roar, sliding tackles can cover meters. I found it difficult to ping the ball about, as often the game had a different idea for who I was passing to than I had. The computer seemed a lot better a tackling than I was and at half time the score was 7 - 3 to Senegal (with El Hadj-Diouf having helped himself to all seven). Each break in play is accompanied by a rousing, if somewhat bizarre blast of music from the orchestra that EA obviously were very proud to have put together. Another noticeable flaw, the games camera was often unresponsive and unable to keep up with the speed of the action within the game.

I did find myself missing some of the finer points of modern Fifa, varied crossing and the through ball, for example - but it was a fun - if somewhat bizarre session as Diouf tortured my Fabian Bartez. I enjoyed a stroll down memory lane, but I'll be back to modern Fifa next time.