On the pitch, for example, you'll find that FIFA 07 plays a quite different game of soccer to its predecessor, though initially it can be difficult to figure out exactly what has changed. One of the few obvious changes to this year's game is that players accelerate and decelerate more realistically, which means that they can't turn nearly as quickly when they're moving at speed. This results in your needing to pass the ball more, and depending on your play style, you might find that your trick (right analog) stick gets a lot more use than it did last year when you're attempting to beat opposing players in one-on-one situations. Both passing and using trick moves are a little more challenging in FIFA 07 than they were in 06, and because that's true for both teams (and because tackling when you're on defense is still relatively easy), the result is often that ball possession changes more frequently.
Trick moves have become more challenging not because they have a lower success rate, but simply because the controls for them are a little less forgiving. The section on trick moves in the FIFA 07 instruction manual bears more than a passing resemblance to a special-moves list for a fighting game, and the tricks available to you vary according to whether your player is running or standing still at the time. Passing the ball hasn't become more difficult per se; you just can't take it for granted as much because the accuracy of your passes is now dependant on the positioning of your player in relation to both the ball and his intended target. A pass to a player directly in front of you when you have the ball at your feet, for example, is more likely to succeed than a pass to a teammate who is barely in your players' field of vision, particularly if you're trying to make that pass on your first touch after receiving the ball at waist height. Lengthy strings of one-touch passes, then, are more difficult in FIFA 07 than in previous games, which adds a nice risk-versus-reward mechanic any time you attempt one rather than take a moment to get the ball under control.
Shots at goal are also greatly affected by the positioning and balance of your player, as well as by how well he has the ball under control. If you try to play the game just like FIFA 06, you'll watch a lot of your shots fly wide of the goal and into the crowd. This can be frustrating at times, but the flipside is that spectacular, almost unbelievable goals in the game are now the exception rather than the norm, which is certainly a good thing. That's not to say that scoring goals in FIFA 07 is difficult, though, because it isn't. Defenders generally back off attacking players a little too much, and the goalkeepers, although good at stopping shots for the most part, are a little too prone to spilling the ball when they do. Worthy of note is the new "finesse shot" feature that, using a modifier button that needs to be held down when taking a shot, lets you unleash shots that are more accurate but less powerful. It's not a feature that we've felt inclined to use a great deal, but if you've already beaten the defense and rounded the keeper it's a great way to avoid embarrassing open-goal misses.
Another way that you can avoid potentially embarrassing mistakes, though in a much more subtle way, is to keep your team's momentum up. Your momentum, as indicated by a performance meter in the top-left corner of the screen, is an indication of how well your players think the game is going, as determined not only by the current score but also by recent events on the pitch. It's entirely possible, then, for your team to be a couple of goals down but your players will still be playing their very best football or, by the same token, to be winning a game but struggling to contain their opponents. It's difficult to quantify just how much of an effect momentum has on your players' behavior, but it's definitely noticeable, and we've enjoyed numerous matches in which the run of play has shifted between the two teams several times.
It's still possible to level the playing field to some extent before FIFA Lounge matches, but doing so is now achieved by awarding goals to a team before any cheap shots are activated. It's neat that when awarding goals to a team in this way, you can actually see a visual representation of how much it's likely to improve your chances of winning based on previous performances, but the system feels like a step in the wrong direction after last year's game. Winning a match against a superior player because you were able to bench his star forward or give all of his players a level of fatigue before kickoff is still rewarding, but beating that same player with a two-goal head start is a hollow victory at best.
