FIFA 07 review

No matter what team you choose, your Board of Directors will have a series of jobs for you to accomplish - fail, and you'll eventually be cashing an unemployment check. There are scads of ancillary tasks to keep track of - sponsorships, ticket prices, junior player development - but you can't lose focus on your team's weekly lineup, player attitudes, injuries and international commitments. It's no wonder most club managers are eternally cranky.

No matter what team you choose, your Board of Directors will have a series of jobs for you to accomplish - fail, and you'll eventually be cashing an unemployment check. There are scads of ancillary tasks to keep track of - sponsorships, ticket prices, junior player development - but you can't lose focus on your team's weekly lineup, player attitudes, injuries and international commitments. It's no wonder most club managers are eternally cranky.

The online modes are impressive in concept, although (so far) less than inspiring in practice. Standard ranked game lobbies are a confusing mess, and we had more disconnections than not when trying to set up some internet games. Once a match finally got started, though, there were few issues (other than, too-often, getting our asses kicked). The biggest online selling point is the Interactive League, which enables fans of their favorite big-time sides to participate in a collective season that follows the real schedules of the top English, Mexican, French or German leagues. However, actually participating is tough, since the not-so-well-loved teams have few representatives. This translates into scarce opportunities to play an official game - quite a bummer.

The online modes are impressive in concept, although (so far) less than inspiring in practice. Standard ranked game lobbies are a confusing mess, and we had more disconnections than not when trying to set up some internet games. Once a match finally got started, though, there were few issues (other than, too-often, getting our asses kicked). The biggest online selling point is the Interactive League, which enables fans of their favorite big-time sides to participate in a collective season that follows the real schedules of the top English, Mexican, French or German leagues. However, actually participating is tough, since the not-so-well-loved teams have few representatives. This translates into scarce opportunities to play an official game - quite a bummer.