The greatest soccer game for the Playstation 2.
~Gameplay
One of the reasons why its so cool revolves around the gameplay .The skill stick has a ton of different moves that allow controlling the ball a breeze. EA still had the press and hold mechanic for passing and shooting in this game which I don't much care for but gets the job done.Every aspect feels great: passing, shooting tackling all work well with each individual players. The meat of the game lies within the franchise mode. Here, you select from a huge arsenal of leagues. These leagues come from all around the world. The biggest surprise being the addition of MLS teams from America; which is hilarious to me seeing how Americans could careless about soccer. I think all the big names are in this game; I wouldn't know seeing how I only know of Pele, Beckham and Rooney; sorry I'm American. Just about every stat for every player is kept and EA didn't short change people with this games franchise mode. It's meaty and present tons of hours of fun.
~Graphics
Graphically, Fifa 06 was the same as FIFA 05, 04 and so on. This is thanks to EA and their well know saying; If it ain't broke don't ever fix or enhance it. Seriously, don't touch the game just get a different cover boy, tweak a couple of things and send this bad boy to packaging. I understand that EA wants to play it safe and not alienate their fan base, but barely tweaking your graphics engine in 6 years is kind of too safe. The art style is fine; I did like it when it originally debuted six years ago. Bottom line is simple; every aspect except for the graphics make this game great.
~Sound & Other Stuff
The sound effects are great and stay true to the real thing. The only blemish in the audio department is the commentary. Words cannot describe how annoying these two bastards are. I mean did they just record a couple of lines and call it quits. After playing a half of soccer you hear every line that will be spoken in this game. Yet never fear, turning off commentary is always available in these games and thank god for that. The coolest part of this game is the value it provides. There are so many different leagues and even online play if you wish to get your ass handed to you by some 10 year old European kid. Either way this game has got some legs. ~Conclusion
In the end, I have never really been that big of a soccer fan; but for some weird reason I never get bored of this game. Going in, selecting a crappy team and trying to build them up is so fun and addicting that I find taking hourly shots of cocaine to be boring. I have never in my life felt so interested in a soccer game. Who would have though that some boring ass sport like soccer could be so fun!!