Fansided

A history of FIFA Soccer: Ranking the best games from FIFA 94 to FIFA 17

By Peter Johnstone

TOKYO, JAPAN - JULY 06: Shinji Kagawa of Borussia Dortmund during a press conference for the new FIFA 16 game from EA Sports Japan on July 6, 2015 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Alexandre Simoes/Borussia Dortmund/Getty Images)
TOKYO, JAPAN - JULY 06: Shinji Kagawa of Borussia Dortmund during a press conference for the new FIFA 16 game from EA Sports Japan on July 6, 2015 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Alexandre Simoes/Borussia Dortmund/Getty Images) /
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17. FIFA 2001

FIFA 2001 was the first in the EA Sports series to be released on Playstation 2, which meant it had a lot to live up to. With the release of a new generation of consoles comes great expectations, so it was important for EA to get this one right.

Gameplay

There was not a big variation in gameplay between 2001 and 2000, but the graphics were certainly improved significantly due to the new console. There were no new game modes to explore in FIFA 2001 and in some cases it felt like the game had been rushed in order to make it available for the PS2 release. When a new console is released consumers are more focused on getting the console itself and less worried about the games that come with it. I think EA Sports had this in mind when creating FIFA 2001, as it doesn’t feel too much different from its predecessor.

New Features

The most obvious new feature were two new leagues — the Austrian and South Korean leagues were incorporated. However, the game also lost the Portuguese and Turkish leagues which seems strange. EA Sports also acquired licenses to put the real sponsors on some clubs’ kits which made the game feel more authentic.

Verdict – Facing the drop

EA Sports disappointed with this release considering the expectation surrounding it. It definitely feels like the production team skimped on some of the features as they knew the game would be popular enough with the release of the Playstation 2.