Bon jour soccer fans! It's time to get out the cyber shin-guards and the virtual cleats. FIFA Soccer 2002 has revamped the stadiums, tweaked the character models, and even made the grass look grassier. I thought it would be very difficult to top last year's version in looks and atmosphere, but apparently EA Sports did not have those same limitations in mind. From the moment you put FIFA 2002 in your PS2 unit, you're in for a treat. The marvelous intro traverses its way right into a 'much easier to navigate than last year' menu. From this little nice-looking menu you can select to start a game, in which case prepare your eyes for sheer joy. There are more player animations this year, which give you a vast array of facial expressions and fluid body movements. The players are very impressive looking, with every type of kick or pass seemingly cut and pasted right off of The Spanish Channel's 'Presentacion de Futbol.' The stadiums seem to just pop out at you, with so many thousand screaming fans dancing, and flag-waving. Heck, even the ball itself appears to be real leather. I don't know that there's anything NOT praiseworthy about the graphics. Everything just looks so real. EA Sports also made sure that each team's uniform looks like the real life thing, and is just another testament to the graphical brilliancy of FIFA Soccer 2002 .

Anyone who is a soccer buff or has ever been to a soccer match knows that the atmosphere and crowd are just as much a part of soccer as anything. When you make a game that is as good-looking as this title, you definitely want it to hit hard in the sound department as well. EA Sports smacks another forehand winner in the sound department. The music in the game is very tasteful, and not overdone. You don't have to hear music during a match though, but I'm not so sure you'll want to. With superb commentary provided by John Motson and Andy Gray, you'll have no need for musical notes. The in game sounds are as real as you'll hear, and once again the crowd is perfectly done. From team specific chants, to a monumental 'goal-scored' ROAR, the crowd really gives FIFA 2002 a strong pulse that is wonderful to listen to. It's very refreshing to see a game this well done in the sight and sound portion, and still have excellent gameplay.

Nothing too difficult here. You can start with the Play Now Mode, which has you in a quick matchup faster than a dog backing into a briar patch. You can also go into Game Modes Mode, that is the gift that keeps on giving. You can take part in a Friendly, or have a World Cup qualifying tournament. A whole season is possible with your favorite team, and for those of us that are malcontent unless we are on the screen, you may create a player which resembles you...or your pet hamster 'Mousie.' You can edit the uniforms in a slew of ways: design, collar, shorts, socks, and even colors (don't worry, Fuchsia is in the mix). You may even trade players, or make a team up of your favorite players. Not bad if I do say so myself. So with all this manipulatory power at your fingertips, plus over 400 teams, you're as set as the finest of restaurant tables. The controls also have been revamped with the most noticeable being the passing game. No longer do balls automatically magnetize to your teammate's foot. This year, you can actually pass where you're aiming thus making lead passes in open field and have one of your other players run and get it. This creates a neat ol' strategy, as you can do a 1-2, which has a man passing then sprinting, and with the touch of a button, you can get the ball right back to the sprinting man. This year the 'money play' has been pretty much eliminated, with the AI figuring that one man sprinting from midfield could mean trouble. It isn't too difficult though to score, and a well-thought out strategy is usually well rewarded. Of all the Options in the game, you'd be hard-pressed to find something you couldn't tweak. Difficulty, time, weather, etc. is all customizable. The only thing I couldn't find was to control how much ice to put in the soft drinks...

FIFA Soccer 2002 pretty much lets things be a variety in how difficult you want things. They range from easy, easy, or for those of you that feel chivalrous, you can make things extremely tough. The controls don't make things too difficult, but will take some getting used to, as they try to be realistic. This means no stopping on a dime, or super jumps from 10 meters away. If you want to make things really tough, then put it on the hardest difficulty setting, get players with all 1's as their skill level (7 is the highest, or best), and set the language of the game to Swedish. This will be as difficult as climbing a mountain nude, covered in motor oil. Suffice it to say that I only tried it once, and I needed a helicopter to get me down from the top of the mountain.

Everything necessary for a successful game is here. The manual is informative. Changeable camera angles also rear their pretty head. All of the sequences run really well without any slowdown. The controls, once gotten used to, are extremely comfortable. The load times are great, and not a lot of memory card is taken up. Thank goodness too; have you seen how much a PS2 memory card goes for these days?

Riot Rundown: Bravo EA Sports for another job well done. FIFA Soccer 2002 is a must for soccer fans, but even a great buy for your average video game enthusiast. It packs enough action for the sports freak, and can easily adapt to any player with the amount of customization. This of course, keeps the player's interest. It has decent replay value as well, with all the game options you can control. All in all, a great game. Don't forget to ask Santa for this one.