Every four years, the World Cup Final captivates the entire world except of course for North America…well at least the US and Canada. It also means the potential for more profit for Electronic Arts who releases a World Cup game less than six months after their ‘regular’ FIFA game.

What does FWC have that FIFA doesn’t? Well, the World Cup final for one. There’s also the “Road to the World Cup” which allows you to pick any of 127 nations from the initial qualifying way back when (2004) and have them qualify for the Finals.

The graphics aren’t bad up close and using the power of HD, look great. During the World Cup itself, even the time/score graphic at the top of of the screen is special. During the final, there are way too many balloons going up in the air in the stadium, even during the game.

The in-game default camera is a wide panoramic shot. While the game play looks fluid, you’re so far away that it’s very difficult to appreciate subtle things like the ball spinning or really enjoy the HD picture. As has been the case for sometime, although the play by play refers to linesmen signaling balls going over the touchline, there are no linesmen to be seen in the game. While it doesn’t seem to bother anyone else, I find it appalling that they aren’t there. It’s akin to no ref in a boxing game, or no umpires on the field in a baseball game. Last I checked there aren’t any blinking sprite issues on an Xbox 360 so we’ll just call it complete laziness.

Speaking of laziness, the audio is just plain average. I played the Road To The World Cup mode as the USA and practically EVERY game I heard the same initial commentary that soccer is played in the USA by the millions but hopefully it will be watched by millions if they have a World Cup summer to remember. Of course, this is during the 2004 preliminary group games, which absolutely makes no sense. The play by play is redundant and predictable. Every time there’s a foul, if the referee doesn’t give you a card, the commentary says you should have gotten a card. If there is a card, it was deserved. It is frustratingly poor.

Gameplay itself isn’t bad, but it is not fantastic. Controls are similar to that of Winning Eleven and you’ll need to be familiar with the right thumbstick and bumper buttons in order to get around defenders. Whenever you have the ball, I found it amazing how fast and how good your opponents are, regardless of skill level. Interestingly enough I found that your defenders couldn’t seem to have the same speed as the computer players which made it rather frustrating.

Another frustrating problem with the game is that like Winning Eleven, you can “pre-load” your moves. What I mean by this is: if you do not have the ball but push the A button and up right before your player gets the ball, he will then pass the ball towards the top of the screen, regardless of who is there. I seem to have this control problem quite a bit – and whatever you do, don’t try to cross a ball by pressing X and then get stripped of the ball, because then you’ll do a sliding tackle and probably get carded. It is easily one of the most annoying parts of the game.

The CPU’s AI is actually pretty good. They will even switch fields (that’s going from top to bottom with a looping cross) when the need arises. Midfield can often be a hodgepodge of bodies, so be careful. Also, make sure you choose uniforms (kits) that are markedly different. You can have both teams wearing white if you’re not careful, and that does not make for a very fun game.

In addition to the World Cup mode there’s also a ‘World Cup Scenario’ mode where you are dropped into game situations of past World Cups…you know down 2-1 in the 80’ minute, can you come back and win the game, etc. While you are told about the teams and the year the World Cup game was held, you do not get to play as World Cup players of old, instead you are playing with the current players on the team, which makes it a little odd. I do like the scenario mode though and you do get 500 GamerScore points for clearing all the scenarios, just to make it worth your while.

Every game you play earns you points which you can then spend at the store to unlock players and the usual store-like items. It’s not necessary but a nice touch. There’s also a FIFA World Cup magazine that shows your stats and how you are ranked with other national teams. All of the Card rules (2 yellows over 2 games in the final = 1 game suspension) are implemented correctly.