The late-1997 edition of FIFA was heavily tied in with the qualifying procedure for the 1998 World Cup. In the Road to the World Cup mode, you take a team from first qualification through to the main tournament, using the varying systems in different parts of the world. The game features 16 distinct outdoor stadia. The League play features 189 clubs and 11 leagues. Each team has specific crowd chants incorporated into the ambient sound.
The action is faster than in previous versions, and AI has been expanded. Players have distinct facial feature and hair styles. Each match is introduced by Des Lynam and commentated on by John Motson and former Scotland international Andy Gray.
The German front cover shows the Andreas Möller. He won the Champions League with Borussia Dortmund and the European Championship with the German national team (both 1996).
Offside
The 32-bit version of FIFA 98 was the first game in the series to do a proper interpretation of the off-side rule. Until then, most players turned off the option because if a player was offside, doing anything else with ball except running stopped the play immediately - even if the ball was passed backwards and nowhere near the offside player!
Awards
Computer Gaming World
April 1999 (Issue #177) – Best Sports Game of the Year (together with World Cup 98 and FIFA 99)
