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FIFA Soccer 2005 xbx Game Reviews
FIFA Soccer 2005
Critic Score
Metascore: 81 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.7 out of 10
based on 34 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 21 votes
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Rate this game

A quality first touch is the key to success for the world’s greatest soccer players. The same is now true for gamers with FIFA Soccer 2005. A player’s first touch becomes the ultimate gift for those who can think quickly and act fast to outsmart the competition. An all-new animation system now makes every button-press react with authentic, responsive and realistic speed. FIFA Soccer 2005 is the only complete, authentic, and intelligent soccer experience. All-new fluid player kinetic system that recognizes and then directly translates the speed, vision and awareness of the world’s greatest players to button presses on your controller. The Absolute Broadcast: With new in-game camera angles, smooth and continuous cut sequences for replays, and improved contrast and lighting for players and stadiums. The World's Ultimate Roster: More than 350 official licenses, including 20 leagues, 40 national teams, and 12,000 players are available. [Electronic Arts]

PUBLISHER: Electronic Arts
DEVELOPER: EA Canada
GENRE(S): Sports, Soccer
PLAYERS: 4
ESRB RATING: E (Everyone)
RELEASE DATE: October 12, 2004

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

93
Kombo
The best soccer game on the market as of now. It has everything a soccer gamer could want, and more.
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91
Team Xbox
I recommend that former FIFA fans that have been turned off by the recent versions to check 2005 out - you may be surprised at how many gameplay and graphical elements that EA Canada nailed into the upper corner of the goal.
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90
Xbox Nation Magazine
Where 2005 really breathes is in its pasing game...The entire system is remarkably intuitive, making the Xbox controller feel as if it's a natural extension of the onscreen action. [Nov 2004, p.98]
90
GameZone
Sure "Winning Eleven 7" for the PS2 dominates this particular sport’s genre in terms of gameplay, but FIFA Soccer 2005 is a solid game with an even greater online multiplayer mode.
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90
Gaming Target
While the game may still have some areas to iron out in terms of a few gameplay quirks and missing features, it still is one of the only choices on the market, but thankfully, it’s a strikingly good one.
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90
PGNx Media
A very solid product overall. The game’s presentation is superb, the gameplay is good and fast-paced, and the game offers much replayability.
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90
AceGamez
FIFA Football 2005 has more than proved its worth with some lovely new control features that add a lot more subtlety and variety to the gameplay, an extensive and highly involved career mode and those gorgeous graphics.
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90
DarkStation
What's nice about FIFA is that it does a very nice mix of simulation and arcade gameplay that works wonderfully with the game.
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90
Next Level Gaming
And it's not so much the backgrounds or stadiums, which don't get me wrong look great, but the animation of the players. EA Sports has always managed to get the players running, tackling, goalkeeping, and kicking right on the money. Even better than last year's game.
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90
GamePro
By no means a perfect game - however, it's quite addictive and has the best controls for any soccer game so far. [Nov 2004, p.145]
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89
GameSpot
There's no doubt that this is EA Sports' best soccer game to date on the pitch, but it's really unfortunate that the career mode isn't more user-friendly.
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88
3DAvenue
The brand new career mode has both its pros and cons but overall enhances the replay value of the game significantly and FIFA fans will relish the chance to take each other on online. You'd be hard pressed to find a more fully featured soccer simulation.
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86
IGN
The Franchise mode is extremely satisfying because the long term and short term consequences of your decisions are always going to be on your mind and that only ads to the pressure of winning. FIFA05 is the best version of the series so far.
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86
Worth Playing
This is a great game for the soccer fanatics of the world, but has limited appeal for the average Joe Gamer.
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85
MS Xbox World
This years FIFA has been improved so much over last years version that you will be instantly impressed.
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84
Official Xbox Magazine
Infinitely playable, online and off. [Dec 2004, p.99]
83
Electronic Gaming Monthly
The gaping chasm between FIFA and "Winning Eleven" may now be a photo finish. [Dec 2004, p.156]
82
My Gamer
Laid back and all encompassing arcade action it may not be (yet), but it is obviously striving to reach those player accessible goals—while not abandoning its nurtured and honed simulation attributes in the hopes of becoming the perfect soccer experience.
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82
TotalGames.net
The same easy scoring from 'sweet spots' plague the game and for some reason it's nigh on impossible to score from five yards out, one-on-one with the keeper. And because of the reliance on motion captured animation and pre-set special moves, you still never feel in complete control of the player. This aside, the improvements outweigh the old problems.
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80
GamerFeed
The pure bottom line is this is the best soccer game currently on the market.
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80
Total Video Games
A game of football that is fast and fluid; now that the game uses its own engine and not a modification of the NHL one, it’s fair to say that issues such as stifled player controls and jerky animation transitions are well and truly a thing of the past.
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80
EuroGamer
What we have here essentially is an exceptionally polished product with a smattering of new additions that, Xbox Live aside, don't make an especially significant leap forward after last year's return to form.
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80
Gamestyle
With fast paced, realistic players, FIFA delivers a more enjoyable experience than previous entries in the long running series.
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80
GameSpy
The addition of the First Touch system makes the gameplay much more fluid, and it encourages you to improvise more often. Armchair managers will love the new career mode, one of the best you'll see this year.
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78
Game Informer
As good, if not slightly better than all the other FIFAs before it. And as long as this is all anyone asks for, it looks like FIFA will crawl along from year to year knowing that it never has to fully pull it all together. [Nov 2004, p.149]
75
Game Revolution
If you care more about responsive control and a better overall gameplay experience, look next to FIFA on the retail shelf and find your allegiance with "Winning Eleven." It's still the king of the pitch.
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75
eToychest
The new first-touch control, the games biggest innovation for 2005 and the catalyst for this change in attacking emphasis, is brilliant. It’s logical, easy to use, works as it should, looks realistic and can blow a game wide open.
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75
Gaming Age
There are very few gripes here and there; camera issues and confusing career for newbies, but this is undoubtedly the best FIFA game in many years and seems ready for taking on "Winning 11" this season.
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70
1UP
In summary it's safe to say it's an above-average game and is certainly playable, but remains some way short of the best the genre has to offer.
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60
Gamer.tv
With its improved control system and animation the FIFA series is heading the right way across the pitch in terms of fluid gameplay, but even with these improvements, it still hasn't caught its greatest rival.
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60
RewiredMind
Despite the superb presentation which, as usual, is currently unmatched by any other game, the players still feel like they are sliding about the pitch, rather than running. When kicking the ball, the contact between ball and boot is more realistic than in previous iterations of the game, but the trajectory of the ball is still very strange.
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60
G4 TV
With "Winning Eleven" on the market you just expect more, and you get it. FIFA may have high-priced Premiereship licenses and a killer career mode, but at the end of the day, it’s just not as much fun as the competition.
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50
games(TM)
Players now react quicker and more like their real-life counterparts when handling the first touch of the ball. And first touches are generally smoother now, with players being able to flick on, trap or kick straight away on receipt. In practice, however, it’s not such a massive advancement and the player movement and control is still fairly sluggish. [Nov 2004, p.121]
40
Operation Sports
If you are looking for a "pick up and play game", this might be your thing, but the hardcore soccer gamer will be under whelmed and jumping back to "Winning Eleven" in no time.
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What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this game is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 21 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Robin J. gave it a6:
I prefered 2004. AI is too hard, which ccompletely steers you away from the game.

Jorj A. gave it a10:
We love all who rate this game a 10... Awesome Game.

D. R. gave it a9:
Well, soccer fans it is time to assess the differences between WE8 and FIFA 2005. Of course, this is probably your primary interest. The game play goes to WE8, without question. The audio goes to FIFA 2005 due to the soundtrack. The graphics remain split between WE8 and FIFA 2005. WE8 could have used better lighting and shadowing within the game. In addition, the licensing is split between WE8 and FIFA 2005 due to the exclusive World Cup mode in WE8. FIFA usually releases a completely separate game for the World Cup, a definite mistake. Overall, I have to give a slight edge to WE8 due to the realistic game play and true soccer physics engine. In the end, the game play is the most important part of the equation.

Omar R. gave it a10:
Fantastic.

Michael P. gave it a9:
An excellent game. A huge disparity between semi-pro and pro difficulty levels prevents me from giving it a 10.

Slummy Dogg gave it a 6:
The touch and passing are high quality and an improvement of all prior versions, but I find the defensive AI improbable (slow defenders will catch you on the wing), the franchise mode incredibly frustrating to navigate through (a huge step back from 2004), and the game to play very, very slow.

G. S. gave it a 10:
Perfect gameplay ....one touch is fantastic and scoring is more spectacular than ever . Career mode is very good !!

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