A juggling minigame and an all-new Wall Attack mode make this the most complete version of fifa777. Both can be practiced at any time from the main menu, and are a welcome change of pace from the drab manager mode that EA has been shipping with their games for years.
The physics engine has also been improved, though at first glance it may not be apparent. Players accelerate and decelerate much more realistically, which makes the game require a bit more finesse when passing and tackling. The control system is also a bit less forgiving; long strings of one-touch passes will likely fail if the recipient is not directly in front of you when the ball is at waist height, and executing trick moves is a bit more challenging because the controls don't always respond exactly as expected.
Thankfully, the match commentary and crowd chants are still top-notch. Even if your wireless connection isn't particularly fast, the crowd's enthusiasm will make you feel as if you're playing in front of a stadium full of supporters that know every single name in the roster. In addition, many teams have crowd chants that reflect their style of play (the Arsenal fans, for example, will cheer every pass as if it were a goal), and the commentary will shift from congratulatory to venomous depending on how well your team is performing.
If you can find the right opponents, online matches are a blast as well. The PSP's built-in chat system works perfectly, and the lobby system makes it easy to find an opponent at any time. The only drawback is that the PSP's lag is pronounced at times, especially in wireless games. Fortunately, this is a minor inconvenience that can be dealt with by using the game's "reduce lag" option in the options menu, or simply by practicing offline before trying to play online.
The Fifa777 Lounge feature is still the best way to play a game with other human opponents, and it's great that you can now choose to level the playing field before your game with a series of power-ups known as cheap shots. Unfortunately, these cheap shots are not allocated in the same way as last year's game, and it would have been nice to see some improvement in this area. Overall, though, this is a great addition to the FIFA franchise, and it will surely be welcomed by those who have spent years playing only the CPU-controlled matches of previous games. This is one of the few games that makes you feel as if you're actually watching the match unfold in front of you.
