FIFA 06 E3 2005 Preshow Impressions

When it comes to the Xbox 360, EA Sports is bringing it hard. By "it," we mean games, in the form of all the publisher's big sports hits, which were showcased during last night's Microsoft press conference in a demo movie. In the brief spot, little more than a minute long, some prominent footage of FIFA 06, the company's long-running footy franchise, was shown. As you might expect from such a quick glimpse, there isn't a whole lot we can tell you in the way of gameplay. Also as you might expect, however, the game is looking quite amazing.

The FIFA-related footage, which is interspersed throughout the demo, starts with a slow pan of a massive football stadium as a huge spotlight sweeps over the crowd. The next shot shows two players on the field who are roughly fighting for possession of the ball. The red shirt-clad player gets the upper hand on his opponent thanks to a handy forearm to the chin that sends his foe careening to the ground. Later in the clip, we get a quick look at a penalty kick and the resulting celebration that occurs as the ball goes past the goalie. Finally, a montage of violent leg-sweeping tackles is shown from a variety of angles to end the spot.

The game's player models look lifelike and move with more fluidity than we've ever seen in a FIFA game before. What we saw of the stadiums and lighting looked to be more varied and realistic than ever before as well, which actually translates to a more muted color palette than you might be used to. Not much in the way of gameplay could be gleaned from the footage, though, beyond perhaps a focus on player contact. However, we'll be sure to bring you more details on FIFA 06 as information becomes available.