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The FIFA series is one of the most successful in the EA Sports lineup. That should come as no surprise worldwide, as soccer is the most popular sport on the planet outside of the United States. But the FIFA series also has been well received in the U.S. because it always has packed superb graphics, sound and depth of features into a nice package.

But the FIFA series has had its series of gameplay quirks. The gameplay was too sluggish and easy in FIFA 98: Road to the World Cup, so EA Sports put the speed into overdrive for FIFA 99, going too far in its effort to liven up the game. The game also had other quirks, such as inconsistent officiating.

But the arrival of FIFA 2000: Major League Soccer had soccer fans drooling, especially for most in the U.S. with the addition of the Major League Soccer license. With a few gameplay tweaks here and there, EA Sports could have reached the Golden Goal of the perfect soccer game. But instead FIFA 2000 deserves a yellow card and stands as one of the most disappointing releases of the year. Read on to find out why.

Soccer remains one of the most popular subjects for PlayStation games around the world, as there are a plethora of titles available, especially if you dive into the import market. Konami’s superb and underappreciated International Superstar Soccer Pro 98 set the standard for realistic gameplay. For those like me who sit and watch two hours of English soccer highlights every week on Fox Sports Net, ISS Pro 98 just feels and plays like the real thing. FIFA 2000 doesn’t -- simple as that.

The long list of flaws starts with the game speed. It’s still way too fast despite EA Sports’ claim that its programmers slowed the game. Well, FIFA 2000 is slower than FIFA 99. But that’s like saying a Big Mac is less fattening and healthier than a double Quarter Pounder with cheese. The game still resembles pinball, especially at the higher skill and speed levels. The ball moves around the field way too fast. Pele calls soccer “the beautiful game” because of the passing precision and thoughtful intricacy required for success. FIFA 2000 sometimes devolves into a button-mashing game of tic-tac-toe on the soccer pitch. Sorry, folks: That’s not soccer. Once again, EA Sports thinks this year that arcade action is necessary to attract buyers of some games. NHL 2000 was ruined because of hyper-speed gameplay, and so is FIFA 2000. EA also thinks that increasing game speed is the major difference between the various difficulty levels. That’s a bad philosophy. Instead, EA should keep the game speed constant, or allow a user-adjustable sliding speed scale for each level of difficulty like ISS Pro 98, and concentrate on tightening the AI of the computer at each difficulty level. Faster is not better.

Speaking of difficulty levels, another flaw from FIFA 99 returns this year: There’s way too big of a jump in skill level from Amateur to Professional. The amateur level is way too easy. The combination of lazy AI and sniper-like accuracy for shooters makes victory almost assured. But at least the game speed is just about right. But the professional level features tough AI on defense and laser-like accuracy on passing and shooting by the computer offense. In fact, shooters at all levels are just too accurate from medium to close range, even when marked. And the game is way too fast – have I mentioned that before? The world-class level is suicidal. We’ll leave it at that.

The computer can be beaten at the professional level, but that exposes yet another gameplay flaw. You need to use cheap tricks and stunts – primarily the spin move and speed-burst button – on offense to win consistently at the pro level. The combination of the spin move and speed-button is deadly at every level. I gurgled with laughter in an amateur-level game when a fullback gained control of the ball just outside of his box and sprinted down the field untouched, splitting the defense to bury the ball in the back of the net. Yep, that’s realistic soccer all right. Soccer is a game of passing and intricate formations, not a one-on-one showdown like the NBA.

There are defensive flaws, too. Marking is tight in the midfield, especially at the higher skill levels. That’s accurate. But the marking in the box is shoddy, allowing for some easy scoring chances by both the human and computer player. Players are too spread out in the box while defending during regular play. The box gets busier than Manhattan gridlock when an offensive attack approaches in real soccer. That doesn’t happen enough in FIFA 2000, allowing for too many breakaways and easy goals. You’re supposed to have to work for goals in soccer – that’s what makes them so gratifying. And the slide tackle remains the most effective defensive weapon, unfortunately. Hammering away at the slide-tackle button ensures a decent defense, which is unrealistic. In ISS Pro 98, the slide tackle is the last option if regular tackles don’t work. It’s the reverse in FIFA 2000, which is all wrong.

Referees also make some suspect calls. Let’s start with what I’ll call the “offsides bug.” Many times during playtesting, offsides would be called when at least three or four CPU players were between my most forward offensive player and the goal. That’s wrong. Offsides is called more often than in FIFA 99, but I wish the refs got it right. Plus the refs are a little too willing to show the yellow and red card on simple slide tackles from the side. Tackles from behind deserve cards, but the ref might be wound a bit too tight. But to EA’s credit, the CPU defense is called for fouls and even carded, which never happened in FIFA 99. I even was awarded a penalty shot in one game, which I never saw in FIFA 98 or 99.

The gameplay does have some improvements, primarily when the ball is in the air. It’s much easier to head the ball to a teammate or into the goal, a nice touch of realism. But it’s a small step forward in an area that needs a lot of help.

Like most EA Sports titles, this is a deep game. There is more than enough variety to keep soccer fans happy for a long time.

EA Sports has trumpeted the addition of the Major League Soccer license as a breakthrough for the series. Pardon my yawn. The strength of the FIFA series was, is and hopefully always will be the sheer number of league teams available from throughout the world. Adding the MLS really adds very little, as the return of such supreme world leagues such as the English Premiership, the Italian Serie A and the German Bundesliga is more than enough to satisfy hardcore footie fans. The MLS has trouble attracting fans and TV ratings in the U.S., so does EA Sports think sales will be doubled just by adding the MLS and putting it on center stage? Doubtful. Plus the way the MLS was implemented in the game makes it look like an afterthought. No MLS season can be played, and all 12 of the MLS teams have identical team strength ratings. That’s ridiculous, on both accounts. The EA Sports programmers also botched some of the player ratings for MLS. For example, the aging Alexi Lalas was made one of the top players in the league. OK, sure thing.

But EA Sports more than compensates for the Great MLS Folly by including hundreds of teams from 15 of the world’s top national leagues. Forty-five national teams also are included, and 40 of the all-time greatest teams also are in the game, a really cool feature. These great teams include national teams, club teams and even the great New York Cosmos’ team from the early 1970s that featured such superstars as Pele, Franz Beckenbauer and Giorgio Chinaglia and packed 70,000 fans into Giants Stadium for games. Ah, the glory days of American soccer. Plus it was fun to play Brazil’s 1970 national team against the New York Cosmos and see the wondrous Pele play against himself! The only real omission is the lack of Argentine and Mexican leagues. EA Sports should either pile them on the league heap in FIFA 2001 or trim some of the more obscure leagues, such as Turkey and Israel, to create space for the more prominent Argentine and Mexican leagues.

One of the great things about having all these teams is that it’s easy to set up various tournaments, such as the World Cup and Champions League. All league teams can play full league seasons that include national cups and continental competitions. For example, Manchester United can attempt to recreate its treble glory from 1998 by winning the Premiership, FA Cup and Champions League. The FA Cup and Champions League have different names in this game, but the idea is the same. Top-shelf stuff.

There are plenty of other options to keep players occupied for a while, including a player editor and team editor. A transfer function allows trades, but it’s somewhat limited because it allows ridiculous trades such as dealing Manchester United superstar David Beckham to some second-rate Belgian club for a scrub.

FIFA 2000 features solid controls, both in gameplay and while navigating menus. There are really only two weaknesses.

Let’s start with the new wrinkles. Three new features in FIFA 2000 controls are the shielding button, a limited form of icon passing and passing directional cues. With the shielding feature, if a player presses the R1 shoulder button when receiving a pass, the recipient of the pass will turn his back to the defender, shielding him momentarily from tackles and takeaways. This is very realistic, and the shielding function also is valuable because it serves as one of the few speed bumps in a game that moves way too fast. Icon passing also is introduced to FIFA, sort of. On goal kicks, free kicks and corner kicks, players can still use the old FIFA-style method of aiming the extended arrow toward a player and hitting X. Or they can use the new icon-based system in which three offensive players are assigned the triangle, circle and square buttons, respectively. Simply hit one of the symbols, and the corner, goal or free kick will go to that player. This is a very simple, elegant system. Passing directional cues also are new. When a player controls the ball, the cursor under his feet features a number of colored arrows corresponding to each of the directions where a teammate is located. The arrow is colored green, yellow or red depending on how safe the computer determines the pass. Green is safest; red probably will be picked off. This system is very similar to that introduced in FOX NHL Championship 2000, but the safety system (green, yellow, red) elevates it to another level.

Player control has been simplified. The basic controls of past FIFA games always have been easy to pick up and play, and FIFA 2000 is no exception. But the advanced moves, such as stepovers and nutmegs, in past FIFA games have been harder than molecular biology to perform, often resulting in a frustrating exercise of finger gymnastics. That’s not the case this year. EA Sports has cleaned up the player control interface, as it takes fewer buttons to perform many special moves. Some of the moves, such as my beloved nutmeg, have been eliminated. But the simplification is a good thing. It allows you to concentrate on the task of scoring goals while eliminating a lot of the steep learning curve while perfecting advanced moves. The Dual Shock analog controller is well supported, as the left analog stick gives smooth, tight, responsive control of players’ movements. Tightening the control of games seems to be an area in which EA Sports really has concentrated on in its 2000 offerings. It has paid off. The Dual Shock vibrates with a proper level of feedback on hard slide tackles. It doesn’t vibrate madly, but slide tackles aren’t supposed to feel as harsh as a 3,600-pound stock car nailing the wall at 200 mph at Talladega like in NASCAR 2000.

Menus are pretty simple to navigate, but it could be easier to reach the options and other customization buttons at the bottom of the screen. It would be nice to be able to use the D-pad to reach the options and customization buttons instead of having to hit circle and then navigate them. But on a positive note, all changes to the default settings can be saved to the memory card and kept as default settings. This is a big plus that should be standard in every video game.

Four default speeds are offered, and they’re all too fast. The fastest speed level is comical. All other options can be tweaked, such as referee strictness, time of day (day/night), weather (snow, rain, sun, heat, random). Other options can be turned on or off, including cards, offsides, injury and controller vibration. Half lengths can be adjusted to two, four, six, eight, 10, 20 or 45 minutes of real time. The clock always will count to a 90-minute game, regardless of what actual length you choose. This is a nice touch of realism. Players can choose on of five languages for the commentary: English, German, Spanish, Swedish and Dutch. An American language option also is provided, but there seems to be no difference between American and English. Team lineups and formations also can be shuffled with ease.

And now to the weaknesses. Four camera angles are available, but the only one that’s useful is the default Tele cam. The Tower cam provides little perspective, and the End to End and Action games don’t give the player a broad enough view of the field to properly plan offensive and defensive strategies. But EA Sports does offer some solace by providing total customization of the zoom and height of all views. This feature is very similar to that offered in Madden 2000. It helps to salvage the three lousy camera angles, but they still fall short. The other weakness in FIFA 2000 is the passing system on the field. It’s too idiot-proof. You don’t really ever have to aim passes as the ball will move in the direction of one of the passing directional cues attached to the player cursor. This only encourages the pinball-like style of play that hurts this title so much. It also limits creativity and flexibility, especially when the through passes don’t lead the player far enough.

Simply stunning. This is the best-looking PlayStation team sports game I’ve ever seen. Only Gran Turismo and Ridge Racer Type 4 – both racing games – look better. The level of detail, variation in colors and motion capture all combine to create a visual masterpiece. This game is probably as close to a Dreamcast title graphically as a PlayStation team sports game will get. It’s amazing what the EA Sports artists and programmers have squeezed out of our trusty gray box for this game, especially considering that there are 22 players and a referee running around the field all the time.

EA Sports wastes no time in stunning gamers with the graphics, right from the original full-motion video that starts the game. The FMV features old-time players being exposed to the power and skill of modern players. It’s a wild video that I don’t tire of watching, which is rare. It’s one of the best FMV’s I’ve seen in a game.

And once play begins, the stunning graphical quality remains constant. Players’ uniforms are accurate and feature creases and wrinkles. Players actually are modeled to resemble their real-life counterparts, both in appearance and shape. For example, Paul Scholes of Manchester United has red hair, Zinedine Zidane of Juventus has a bald spot on the top of his head, and Emmanuel Petit of Arsenal has flowing blonde locks. First-rate. Players cast realistic, moving shadows on the field. The framerate also is silky smooth with no slowdown, even when a gaggle of players congests the midfield.

In one of the coolest features of the game, matches among the 40 all-time great teams are played in sepia-toned color. It makes the game look like old newsreel footage, and the effect is tremendous and rewarding.

Player emotions also are captured in vivid detail after yellow or red cards and goals. When a player is given a card, the referee motions toward him and pulls out the appropriate card. Players protest, waving their arms wildly while the fouled player often sits on the ground in pain. After goals, players celebrate in a variety of realistic fashions, running around with their arms in the air and making various emphatic gestures, sliding on the ground in joy or running into the net and kicking the ball back in for emphasis. All very realistic. Substitutes also tap the replaced player on the back of the head in admiration as they exchange places on the sidelines. It all adds up to a superb level of detail.

The motion-capture moves are stunning. Players perform realistic-looking bicycle kicks, headers, volleys and spins on offense, and defensive slide tackles and conventional tackles look true to life. Goalkeepers punch balls out of the air on corners and also leap sideways to snare shots headed for the corners of the goal. Awesome stuff. Replays after goals also are amazing. The first replay shows the goal in slow motion. A second replay that shows the ball moving in frame-by-frame super slo-mo toward the back of the net seamlessly starts after the first replay.

Fields and stadiums and stadiums also are vividly rendered, with realistic billboards on the side of the field and checkerboard grass patterns. Fans in the lower levels of the grandstands appear to move in wild joy after a goal. A light, white coating covers the field in snow games, while steady, light rain falls from the sky in rainy games. During night games, the lights cast realistic shadows and bursts of light on various sections of the grandstands. Superb.

Sound has been one of the strong points of the FIFA series in the last few years. The combination of accurate, vivid chants and cheers by the crowd, superb techno music and the insightful and precise commentary of announcer John Motson and, depending on the year, analysis by either Andy Gray or Mark Lawrenson was excellent. The FIFA series arguably had the best sound of any of the EA Sports games and was among the very best-sounding sports games on the PlayStation.

That’s all changed in FIFA 2000 – for the worse. Let’s start with what remained solid. The crowd sounds still are excellent. Crowds start realistic chants and songs during extended midfield play, often banging drums and ringing cowbells depending on the location of the game. The masses also unleash warm rounds of applause after a good save by the goalie. Not rowdy, raucous cheering but warm applause. That’s very realistic – just watch highlights of English Premier League soccer on Fox Sports Net or Champions League coverage on ESPN, and that’s exactly what you’ll hear from the crowd. Hard fouls and cards also draw boos from the crowd. Realistic. And goals draw wild cheers from the crowd.

But EA Sports made a huge mistake by dropping English announcers John Motson and Chris Lawrenson from commentary for this game. They were replaced by ESPN commentator Phil Schoen and U.S. Women’s World Cup star Julie Foudy. Motson and Lawrenson remain in the European version of FIFA 2000, and I’ve never been so close to either buying a mod chip or Game Enhancer for my PlayStation so I could play an import. Schoen and Foudy are that bad.

Both Schoen and Foudy are incredibly wooden. They sound like they’re reading from a script in a studio, which they were! There’s no realistic interaction between them. They sound like bobbing-head dolls reading scripted lines. Schoen also doesn’t call out players’ names nearly as much as Motson, instead concentrating on his inane commentary. Hearing the passionate commentary of Motson and Gray or Lawrenson in previous FIFA editions really made you feel like you were watching a European soccer match. They were vivid, colorful and excited. It’s obvious that EA Sports added Schoen and Foudy due to the addition of the MLS license in a blatant marketing scheme for American audiences. Well, this is another case of EA Sports’ marketing muscle crushing a quality aspect of the game. It’s simply unbearable to hear Schoen and Foudy call a European game. EA Sports should have used Schoen and Foudy for MLS games and kept Motson and Lawrenson for all others. It couldn’t have been that hard to do since Motson and Lawrenson were already scripted and recorded for the European version of the game. What’s next? EA Sports is going to use Motson and Lawrenson in Madden 2001 instead of Summerall and Madden? Motson 2001?

Normally I care very little about the music in a game, but the FIFA series is an exception. Ever since I heard Crystal Method for the first time in the outstanding soundtrack for FIFA 98: Road to the World Cup, the music in this series has captivated me like no other. I actually started to like techno music and bought Crystal Method’s “Vegas” album because of FIFA 98. I also loved Blur in FIFA 98 and Fatboy Slim and the other techno artists in FIFA 99. EA Sports has moved away from techno in FIFA 2000, featuring British pop star Robbie Williams’ “It’s Only Us” throughout the game, as well as pop songs from Reel Big Fish, Lunatic Calm, Elite Force, Sniper and Apollo Four Forty. Not bad tunes, but they don’t capture the cosmopolitan, cerebral flavor of soccer like the music in FIFA 98 and 99.

EA Sports’ FIFA series is getting pretty stagnant if FIFA 2000 is any indication. Here’s a pretty simple recipe to revive it: Buy the development team a bunch of copies of International Superstar Soccer Pro 98 to use as a model for the gameplay overhaul and return John Motson and Mark Lawrenson to the commentary booth. It’s that simple. Because otherwise this is a very fine game.

But since realistic gameplay should be the staple of any non-arcade game, it matters more than anything else. And FIFA 2000 misses the goal here. Soccer is a game of passion. It doesn’t attract the mainstream sports fan in the U.S., so those who buy this game probably will favor realism over anything. EA Sports still hasn’t figured that out.

FIFA 2000 continues a frustrating trend of late in EA Sports releases. The company does so many things right in so many titles but seems to botch the most important area, realistic gameplay. FIFA 2000, Triple Play 2000 and NHL 2000 are examples. And what makes it even more frustrating is that the company can get it right on all levels. Take the brilliant Madden 2000 and NCAA Football 2000, for example. FIFA 2000 is yet another case of so close, yet so far.