- Platform: IBM PC Compatible
- Release Date: October 26, 1999
- Genre: Sports
- Style: Soccer
- Similar Games: International Superstar Soccer 64 (Nintendo 64), FIFA 99 (IBM PC Compatible), World Cup 98 (IBM PC Compatible), Soccer Mania (IBM PC Compatible)
Game Description
The 2000 version of the FIFA series contains many bells and whistles. You can be any one of your favorite teams, including international franchises, city-specific teams or classic teams from past decades. Once you have selected your squad, try out one of the many game modes inside. There is a standard Friendly match that pits you against the computer and there is a Training Mode where you can master the controls and techniques of the game. Tournaments and Season Modes can also be competed in.
There are many animations and motion-captured routines in the game. One original feature is that international recording artist Robbie Williams has been cyber-scanned into the intro and he sings on the soundtrack.
Your players can also perform many moves. Bicycle kicks, headers, lobs, 180° and 360° turns and banana kicks. The players are also individually unique, as they will point at each other, yell at the ref and give many different facial reactions. The stadiums in the game are all rendered in full 3D as well, so you can expect to see raging crowds and detailed backgrounds.
3dfx graphics accelerators are supported, but not necessary, and the same goes for gamepads, such as the Gravis Gamepad.
Prepare for the soccer experience of the millennium, as you enter the arena of FIFA 2000: Major League Soccer.
~ Glenn Wigmore, All Game Guide
Roots & Influences
The earlier games in the FIFA series are the main influences and roots for this game. Maybe a few other ideas were adapted from International Superstar Soccer 64 as well.~ Glenn Wigmore, All Game Guide
Review: Overall
FIFA 2000: Major League Soccer is part of the soccer franchise from the good people atThere are lots of things to do once you first load up this game. Friendly games, Season Modes, Tournaments and Training are all paths of play that you can choose to follow. There are many teams represented on this CD-ROM, including international teams from more than 15 countries and their leagues. So, if you want to be Manchester United from the English Premier League, you can.
All of the players and rosters are fairly current as well, but trading and management will let you stay totally up to date. Options are also highly configurable in this game. Weather, fouls, formations, graphical details and many other general and team-specific items can be altered, giving the game quite a bit of depth. You will have lots to do before actually playing a match. International recording star Robbie Williams has also been cyber-scanned into the game so that you can see him when he sings in the introduction to the game.
The graphics in the game are very well done. Players are beautifully animated and the stadiums also possess enough atmosphere and movement to get you going. The one drawback of the visuals is that they do seem a bit cartoon-like but, even so, they still look very smooth and the frame rates are high. Facial expressions and gestures in the game also look great, making the experience of playing the game much more realistic and believable. The crowd also animates quickly so that the illusion of a raging sea of fans is noticeable.
In the sound department things go slightly downhill, though they don't hit rock bottom. True, the crowd noise and standard effects sound like you're at a real game, but I can't say the same for the commentators.
Overall, however, this title plays extremely well. I had a great time playing shoot-outs and season modes. The amount of customization for your team is excellent and the game itself just moves smoothly, even without help from 3dfx. The players all move well and the amount of moves they possess really makes playing a challenge, but that's a good thing. You must work to become a skilled player, especially if you want to hold your own on the harder difficulty settings.
The AI in the game is also fairly competent and will often steal the ball from you, attack vigorously and defend hard when it needs too. The goalies for both sides are also much more into the game in this year's rendition. They react quickly and rarely show ignorance or let the ball "pass" right through them.
I was impressed with FIFA 2000: Major League Soccer as it held it's own visually and in the gameplay department. Sound-wise, it was somewhat shoddy on the commentary but did manage to stay afloat. I feel this game will provide buyers with lots of value due to the sheer number of modes, customization, gameplay and multi-player support. Definitely a strong showing from the people at
~ Glenn Wigmore, All Game Guide
Review: Enjoyment
I had quite a bit of fun playing this game. The AI is much better than in previous versions and the moveset is great.~ Glenn Wigmore, All Game Guide
Review: Graphics
Smooth frame rates and raging crowds, a bit cartoon-like though. Still looks great.~ Glenn Wigmore, All Game Guide
Review: Sound
Weak commentary helped by great crowd noise and ambient effects.~ Glenn Wigmore, All Game Guide
Review: Replay Value
Lots of game modes, players and things to do. You can customize so many things for a team.~ Glenn Wigmore, All Game Guide
Review: Documentation
A solid manual with plenty of in-game information, plus there is online help for users.~ Glenn Wigmore, All Game Guide
Production Credits
Senior Producer: Marc Aubanel; Senior Development Director: Gaivan Chang; Line Producer: Andy Abramovici; Technical Director: Matt Brown; Art Director: Caroline Ancessi; Audio Director: Chris Taylor (CT); Producers: Brent Disbrow (AI/Gameplay), Mike Dolphin (Front End), Mike Larsen, Mark Lawson (Database/TM), Heidi Newell (Localization), Kerry Whalen (Presentation), Nick Wlodyka (SKU); Development Directors: Mark Lutz, Dylan Miklashek, Giancarlo Mori; Lead Programmers: Yossarian King (Lead), Tom Niwinski (Lead), Brian Plank (Player Anims/Core Lead), Jason Rupert (AI Lead); Programmers: Thomas Djafari (Rendering), Ben Cho (Front End, Modem/Network), Chor Guan Teo (Presentation), Jorge Consuegra, Desmond Fernando, Jorge Freitas (Rendering), Michael Gordon (Audio AI), Scott Graham, Darren Gyles, Dave Hards, Vince Jewlal, Chris Khoo (AI), John Lawrie (Ai), Greg Mcbride (Front End/Db), Paul Mccomas (SKU Programmer), Trent Mick (Front End), Yuji Nakashima, Amonn Philip (Front End), Andrea Schiel (AI); Lead Artists: Carolyn Cudmore (Front End), Tracey Dear (Front End), Brian Keane (In-Game Art Lead); Artists: Min Choi (Player), Tivadar Czondi (Stadiums), Joseph Flumerfelt (Front End), Ladislav Konopa (In-Game Art), Laura Luris Parr (Stadiums), Matt Penner (Front End Art), Calvin Yu (In-Game Menus), Suzana Zecevic (In-Game Art); Animation Lead: Joe Macdonald; Animators: Craig Koehn, Cory Slavin; Animation Assistant: Alan Chuck; Sound Artists: Neil Biggin (Commentary Script Writer), Marc Jorgenson (SFX), Francois Lafleur (SFX); Additional Programming: James Pretorius, Craig Turner; Additional Art: Tony Lee; Production Coordinator: Iris Benbassat; Production Assistants: Bryna Dabby, Kim Nolan; Video Director: Bill Morrison; CG Supervisor: Mark Lange; Director, Digital Production Services: John Rix; Studio Manager, Motion Capture: Francesco Chiarini; Production Manager, Motion Capture: David Pierce; Senior Specialists, Motion Capture: David Coleman; Project Supervisors, Motion Capture: Vince Ng, Michael Paul; Motion Capture Team: Colin Dejose, Dale Yoon, Ryan Wall, Chris Waddell, Jeff Wong, Daniel Eayres, Anne Geiger-Mann, Gordon Waddington, Ken Tsia; Motion Capture Talent: Sol Campbell, Eddie Pope, Steve Ralston, Robbie Williams, Oliver Heald, Tom Kristensen; Manager, Tools and Libraries: Rick Friesen; Tools and Libraries: Frank Barchard, James Fairweather, Sean Halliday, Daniel Kennett, Tony Lam, Dave Mercier, Kaz Okuda, Gerry Shaw, Ted Sylka, Ken Wong; Director, Business Affairs: Brian Ward; Music Licensing: Beverly Koeckeritz; Account Representative, Licensing: Jennifer Campbell; English Voice Talent: John Motson, Gary Lineker, Mark Lawrenson; French Voice Talent: Thierry Gilardi, Jean-Luc Reichmann, Laurent Paganelli; German Voice Talent: Wolf-Dieter Poschmann, Martin Siebel, Jörg Dahlmann; Spanish Voice Talent: Manolo Lama, Paco González, Richard Del Olmo; Italian Voice Talent: Giacomo Bulgarelli, Massimo Caputi; Brazilian Voice Talent: Milton Leite, Orlando Viggiane, Antônio Moreno; American Voice Talent: Phil Schoen, Julie Foudy, Randy Hahn; Localization QA Project Manager: Reena Meijer Drees; Localization QA Leads: Tim Foley, Matao Greig, Dan Rodgers, Nathan Wawruck; Localization Testing: Mateus Andrade, Andrea Bernardoni, Sylvain Caburrosso, Giulio Marchionni, Marco Nuhsbaum, Laura Ten Seldam, Sami Valkama, Antonio Yago; Localization Project Manager: Sandra Picaper; Territory Localization Managers: Christine Jean, Bianca Normann, Mia Opancar, Marcelo Terrafino, Julio Valladares, Petrina Wallace; Translators: Michaela Bartelt, Mateus Andrade, Gian Maria Battistini, Andrea Bernardoni, Natalie Duret, Echo Traduções Técnicas, Magnus Jildestad, Tina Klos, Antonio López, Luis Pines, Paola Stegani, Utrax Multimedia Productions, Olivier Vera; QA Project Manager: Karen Squibb; Software QA Team Leads: David Ham, Darcy Pajak, Dmitry Yanovich; Software QA Senior Testers: Randy Deluna, Mark Evans, Aaron Grant, Mike Kelly, Trevor Kerslake, Dave Tong (Chilly D); Software QA Testers: Richard Barrett, Chuck Boyle, Tim Dale, Brett Daly, Alistair Dejonge, Boris Dimitrijevic, Vladimir Dimitrijevic, Pete Farkas, Joel Frigon, Sarah Gandy, Mike Gascoigne, John Harley, Andrew Hendriks, Mark Henderson, David Hughes, Cristian Isac, Robin Kahlon, Greg Lau, Mike Lee, Ali Mehrassa, Dave Miller, Avinash Narayan, Desmond O'connor, Peter Pearson, Brad Porteous, Shawn Ranger, Dean Richards, Shaugn Robbins, Paul Rodgers, Chris Roy, Jared Schmale, Brian Spence, Winston Sun, Kevin Towler, Jitesh Vagh, Richard Wasnock, David Weller, Lorne Wilson; QA Support Manager: Patrick Colgan; Mastering: Cary Chao, Shamus Frigon, Peter Petkov; QA Database: Jason Feser, Bob Purewal; Hardware Compatibility Lead: Colin Cox; Hardware Compatibility Support: D'arcy Gog, Brian Oberquell, Zech Prinz, Chris Wallace; Product Marketing: Gary Knight, Nick Malaperiman, Clive Downie, Sean Ratcliffe, Bob Aniello, Benedikt Schueler, Kai-Uwe Guenther; Public Relations: Simi Below, Karine Dognin, Kathy Frazier, Javier Gomez, Nick Grange, Jonas Hildeland, Trudy Muller, Marc Trennheuser, Anne Vaganay, David Wilson; Package Design: Cole Bronn, James Hanley, Linda Hunnicut, Jennie Maruyama, Deborah Maxwell, Tim Milner , James Nolan, Larre Sterling; Documentation: Ollie Ladenburg, James Lenoel, Jessica Pooree, Greg Roensch; EARC Customer Quality Control Manager: Joel Knutson; EARC Customer Quality Control: Benjamin Crick, Shane Ferguson, Jacob Fernandez, Darryl Jenkins, Dave Knudson, Micah Pritchard, Andrew Young; Europe Customer Quality Control Managers: Giuseppe D'amaro, Richard Gallagher; Europe LT Managers: Steve Archer, Simon Davison; Special Thanks: Aquarium Studios, David Barley, Ofir Benovich, Steve Bene, Mark Bergan, Curt Bonn, Judy Christianson, Janet Dwoskin, Rami M. Z. El-Hussein, Sue Garfield, Laurent Gilbert, Dominique Goy, Achim Haaz, Graeme Hannah, Sam Iacobellis, Zehra Kazak, Dick Law, John Macdonald, Claudia Madrigali, Patrick Magyar, Inger Marshall, Annemarie Meyer, Mike Mosher, Julie Mutter, Naomi Barnett, Wael Nawara, Scott Newman-Bale, Nirita Limited, Khaled Nooman, Ben Olsen, Dimitri Papadiotis, Fraser Peett, R.B. Contracting, Darryl Scheelar, Greg Smith, Pete Smith, Enda Somers, Zach Thornton, Aris Vassis, Warren Wall, Mike Wombwell, Rebecca Wong
~ Gil Shif, All Game Guide
