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By Keith B (22nd Jan 2008)

EA Sports has long been the frontrunner in sports video gaming, producing the heralded Madden series, FIFA soccer series, and games for virtually every known professional sport. FIFA has become the ultimate vicarious experience for every young soccer fan, and continues to dominate other soccer video games with unmatched graphics, playability, and for that matter, credibility. UEFA Champions League 06-07 does not stray far from the beaten path that was laid by EA Sports and FIFA, and creates a superb gaming experience that, although narrow and albeit sometimes frustrating, exceeds expectations by creating an atmosphere incomparable to any previous PS2 soccer game, ever.

Let’s get the negative aspects out of the way first. The gameplay of UEFA Champions League is sub-par, at least when compared to FIFA ’07. The AI is simply not very intuitive, which takes a lot of getting used to and can make gaming very frustrating. For instance, my user-controlled player, a central midfielder, is running up the pitch, crossing the half-line and is looking to the forwards to make a diagonal run, so he can play in a through-ball. Soon, however, it becomes evident that the seemingly absentminded forwards are not going to move anywhere or be of any use, so the central midfielder has nowhere to play the ball. This is just one example of the countless points in the game that will cause the most passionate gamers to jump up and shout at the TV.

Aside from the slightly lax AI, UEFA Champions League 06-07 does not have many flaws. One slightly irritating aspect appears during the Treble Mode, in which the user competes to win their League, League Cup, and Champions League Cup trophies. On frequent occasions, the User must battle from one or two goals down late in the game, because the CPU creates a scenario that the User should complete to pass. For instance, in my campaign with Manchester City, a match versus Portsmouth began around the 20th minute, with my team down 1-0 and defending a penalty kick. I first had to parry the penalty and come from behind for the win. Other times, the deficit could be steeper, and a lot of times just ridiculous. I aquired Ronaldhino, Fernando Torres, John Risse, Kalou, and others through the transfer market and yet I had to endure a scenario in which I was losing to Sheffield United 3-0? Such instances had a way of getting on my nerves.

Aside from that, UEFA is a superb game. Graphically the game is phenomenal for the PlayStation 2, a substantial step-up from the most recent FIFA games. The players’ likenesses greatly resemble the real-life professionals, although that may be because the game’s producers only had European players to focus on (only European leagues and teams were included; thus, the Treble). The atmosphere created by a synesthesia of sound and aesthetics is grand, making the gamer feel the importance of each and every match as if they were playing it in real-life. The UEFA Champions League 06-07 soundtrack carries unnerving opera tunes from the live intros to the real games on ESPN, and much of the menu screen is dark and mysterious, obviously appealing to the history and mystique of the Champions League.

The best part about UEFA Champions League 06-07 is the Treble Mode. In this mode, the User can choose a team from any notable European league (even some that are less notable; who cares about the Swiss Expo League?). The User will then embark on a quest to win his League Title (most points during the regular season), Domestic Cup, and European Champions Cup. The overall effect is thrilling, and difficult. “World Class” difficulty in UEFA Champions League 06-07 is much more difficult than World Class on FIFA ’07.

Before each game the User reads a “blog” that gives him insight into the depths of his franchise �" which teammate is angry over his pay cut, which teammate is causing problems in the locker room, and how happy and/or furious the team chairman is about his team’s performance (just to give a few examples). It’s truly amazing to see how detailed and intuitive this “blog” gets, and one quickly adapts to its detailed level of aid. For example, my Manchester City team played a preseason game in South Korea against Turkish giant Galatasaray. The game ended up being a dirty clash of cheap fouls, disputed penalties, and general hard feelings. Months later my same team drew Galatasaray in the Champions League. Before the game, the blog reminded me of how disastrous that first match was and to watch out for my players because the referee was bound to know about the preseason match as well, and would take all necessary measures to keep the match clean, even if that meant dishing out an early red card. The blog is so intuitive it is mind boggling. For instance, if I drew the home leg 2-2 in a Champions League quarterfinal, on the away leg it would comment that since the opposition already had two away goals, I needed to win the game no questions asked. If I retraced my steps and won the first game 2-0, then the blog might say just get an away goal and don’t get slaughtered. It was almost like there was a live person writing the scripts; the developers had retorts thought out for every imaginable scenario.

After I got past the irritating AI deficiencies and the frustrating starting positions the game sometimes put me in, I found that I thoroughly enjoyed UEFA Champions League just as much as I had FIFA ’07. One of the reasons for this is the multiplayer mode. Playing against friends on UEFA Champions League wipes out most of the AI problems, because the gamer is not so reliant on the CPU. The atmosphere in multiplayer mode captures the audience and makes the games very intense.

In short, UEFA Champions League ’06-07 makes for a great game. Hopefully EA Sports will build upon this one in time for the next Champions League, and improve the game play and AI. In a few short years, we could have the ultimate soccer video game.