UEFA Champions League 2006–2007 (Xbox 360)

The majority of U.S. citizens use the term soccer instead of football when describing the most popular sport on the planet. Perhaps it’s because they don’t want to get the two sports confused, as the pigskin is quite a sensation in the U.S. of A. However, maybe it’s more deeply rooted than that. Do U.S. citizens loathe football, er, soccer enough to completely disassociate with it?

Not each and every American that bleeds red, white and blue despises soccer (well call it so to keep word confusion to a minimum). In fact, with the MLS nabbing some of the world’s better players, you may see increased soccer acceptance year-round, instead of every four years when Team U.S.A. wins a game or two in the Olympics or World Cup.

The real weapon in turning the U.S. into a more soccer-conscious country is the video game. Leading this charge for sometime is developer Electronic Arts, whose FIFA series has been teaching kids and adults alike that there is life outside the gridiron, even if John Madden preaches otherwise.

Not one to rest on their laurels, EA has gone past the World Cup and into the backyard of the Union of European Football Associations. UEFA fits on the box a bit better, especially when UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 is the official title of Electronic Arts’ latest, next generation soccer kick-about.

UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 is based off of the visionary game engine first dropped onto the pitch in FIFA 07 for the Xbox 360. The entire engine was designed around this notion of ball physics being independent of player physics. The combo of ball and player physics created unrealistic games in the past, where the pill was seemingly tied to the players’ boots with string. The ball was in fact tied to the boot, but with animation sets rather than twine. This produced early FIFAand other franchised soccer games that were fairly predictable, especially if a player was good enough to learn the patterns of the animations. For example, if your opponent could never play a ball into space (no animation for it), then why would you want to protect that space defensively?

The independent ball/player physics engine that debuted in FIFA 07 was a bit ambitious at the time. The dev team didn’t fully flesh it out, so it didn’t quite live up to its potential. But we all know that most things get better with age, and definitely improve when game designers and programmers go back to the drawing board for engine tune-ups and tweaks.

The result of these tweaks of the FIFA 07 engine can be experienced in UEFA Champions League 2006-2007, as the gameplay has actually come a long way in a little under a half of a year. Where things were a bit jumpy and pace between animations was inconsistent in FiFA 07, you’ll be treated to a more methodical and predictable player control in UEFA Champions League 2006-2007. In fact, the overall tempo of the gameplay action is slower in UEFA Champions League 2006-2007, resulting in an experience that is just plain more believable and enjoyable to those that are actually ambassadors of this amazing sport.

Since the ball has a mind of its own in this engine, the team working on UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 decided to give it the once-over and tweak it a bit as well. The biggest improvement can be seen when a ball is passed or shot in the air. The moon ball of UEFA Champions League 2006-2007’s predecessor has been replaced with a ball that now carries force, and now naturally rises as the laws of physics take over on the light, inflated object. Balls played along the ground are now a bit slower to match the slower-tempo players too, and you’re even treated to a touch-sensitive through pass system in UEFA Champions League 2006-2007, which cuts down on erroneous dishes when multiple players are in the intended pathway.

With the ball and player physics honed, EA Canada moved onto doing something about player positioning and collision detection. It was nearly impossible to jostle for correct position in FIFA 07 for the Xbox 360, but it seems as though a system more like FIFA 07 for the original Xbox is now in place. Leaning on an opponent now pays dividends on goal kicks and any high balls played to an area. Same goes for ground passes that occur around a marked recipient. You can also rest more assured that contact with another player won’t result in abrupt stops as in FIFA 07. The engine discerns much better between nudges, bumps, and full-on, high speed contact. It is a bit of a shame that the penalties seem to be up now with this change, but it’s still worth having this tweak in UEFA Champions League 2006-2007.

EACA thought UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 would be the perfect platform to try out a new mode that could make its way into other EA Sports titles. Dubbed Ultimate Team Mode, this card game style mode invites players to experience each part of UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 in one way or another. Gamers start out with a pack of trading cards that depict players and staff, gameplay items, stadiums, club development items and more.

In the spirit of Magic or other popular fantasy card games, gamers must take their starter pack of cards and attempt to assemble a team of players that will eventually compete in the Champions League Tournament. You’ll begin with a weak roster and poor modifier cards (for player/team boosts), but credits can be earned to turn the luck of the draw in your favor. Credits are earned for playing UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 in ANY mode with any team, but big points can be acquired under certain circumstances. For example, if you decide to use your scrub team in a tournament, there’s a good chance it won’t be pretty, but the credit payout is larger than taking a set team. EA also wants to keep their servers busy, so there are also big rewards for playing in the online multiplayer, which is good for up to eight players in this go-around. Upping the difficulty in any match also kicks up the credits. The goal here is to acquire enough credits to buy higher pack levels (gold packs if you can) that are stuffed with much better players, modifiers and bonus content (like custom balls).

The virtual card system in UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 is much deeper than those days of trading baseball cards with your neighbors. Non roster players can be retired to an “album” for perusal later, but setting an actual lineup is skill, luck and fun all at the same time. You’ll need to be mindful of player and staff contracts that run out and force retirement (savvy players will trump with a Contract Extension car, however), and realize that good team chemistry will make mediocre players shine. Knowing when to throw down Gameplay cards is also a big part of the strategy in Ultimate Team mode, as these can really turn the tide of any match. Pre-match preparation and team progression must also be managed via Development cards which, to make things even strategically deeper, are modified by staff card attributes. The result is a franchise-style mode with additional zest, and an excellent addition to the standard quick play/tournament/online modes of most sports titles.

There are a few areas of UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 that should have been paid a bit more attention of course, although we’re a bit surprised that the graphics is one of them. FIFA 07 was looking pretty decent, but it looks as though UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 offers little improvement, and is seemingly a step back in areas. The greasy character model has resurfaced, and there’s such a basic textile animation system in place that it looks quite unrealistic on close-ups. The facial maps are so-so, but they are no match for those seen in Konami’s soccer romp on the Xbox 360. The character animation sets are another story. These keep getting better and better, and EA is finally getting to the point where their sports players can appear to transfer weight naturally. The normal EA next-gen animation skips have been cut down on a great deal in UEFA Champions League 2006-2007, and the frame rate stays solid throughout as well. The audio doesn’t quite fare as well in UEFA Champions League 2006-2007, as the soundtrack doesn’t have that international FIFA pop, and suffers from commentator cueing issues. And when are we going to get announcers that are less condescending? There’s nothing like the fear of being scolded to enter a gamer’s mind before teeing one up just beyond the box.

As mentioned earlier, the EA Sports engine powering UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 is works quite well. Hit detection still needs a bit more refinement, but it’s close. The shot system is pretty familiar, but that entire dynamic could use some inspection for 08 titles. But the real sticking point in UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 is the A.I., which seems to defy all tenets of professional soccer. The A.I.’s dribbling skill is so high (on any difficulty) that many matches turn into a one man show. A bit more realistic soccer gameplay on the part of the CPU would go a long way in making UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 a better overall single-player experience.

The refinements made in the EA Sports soccer engine (this independent player/ball physics engine is the wave of the future weather you like it or not) allow UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 to play like FIFA 07 should have for the Xbox 360, and it’s good to know that EA cares about such things. They could have merely slapped UEFA licensing on the same exact engine and many gamers would have been none the wiser. Add the gameplay tweaks to a new mode that makes a strong case for the combination of card and sports games, and the result is a surprising effort from EA’s Canadian development house.

There are still some improvements to be made (the graphics and audio could be better, and the A.I. is still frustrating), and we still want those online leagues like FIFA 07 for the Xbox, but it’s hard to complain about having a strong soccer offering like UEFA Champions League 2006-2007. A soccer effort that just may give us all a glimpse of just how good FIFA 08 could be.