A.K.A FIFA 98. Another excellent FIFA game from Electronic Arts.
This game was pretty much all you could ask for in a football game. It featured team and tactics management, league games, and World Cup qualification rounds. The gameplay was generally smooth and engaging. The AI wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t terrible either.
However, the most significant change was the graphics. As far as I know, this was the first FIFA game to support 3DFX Glide and Direct3D, and it made a massive difference. The visuals, weather, and sound effects were so much better than FIFA 97; you wouldn’t believe there was only a one-year gap between the two games.
The gameplay was also improved compared to the previous game. Passing and ball control were better, and shooting felt more stable. The AI was noticeably smarter too, but don’t expect miracles. You could even run away from the referee while he was trying to book you for a card, or slide tackle the referee if you wanted an instant red card. Goalkeepers were the worst, though; they could make very silly mistakes, like catching a ball and then randomly walking into the goal, scoring an own goal that way. I think it was part of the fun.
Team management allowed for minor tactical adjustments or player substitutions, although the default settings were good enough most of the time. I don’t think any of us spent much time changing team formations, etc. Another interesting feature was being able to choose the stadiums and weather effects. The weather effects, in particular, added a lot to the immersion.
I would highly recommend this game. I’ve spent many hours playing it, and it was totally worth it.
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Hardware Specs used in the video:
Gigabyte GA-6BXC
Intel Pentium II MMX 450mhz
128MB SDRam
S3 Trio3D/2X
3DFX Voodoo II
Creative SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 (SB0100)
40GB Seagate HDD (IDE)
Microsoft Sidewinder Gamepad
