Sept 20, 2007

Paul Hossack, FIFA 08 (PS2) CG Line Producer
Hi, guys. I’m looking forward to the imminent launch of FIFA 08, and wanted to tell you more about our new game mode this year “Be A Pro: Co-op Season”, how it came about, and some tips for playing it.

What is Co-op Season?
Be A Pro: Co-op Season is a new way of playing FIFA 08 – as one footballer. Instead of controlling all 11 players on your club, you play through a whole season with your friends where each of you controls one footballer on the pitch. It feels much more like playing football yourself.

Playing Co-op Season feels a lot different than traditional FIFA games. You have new controls, like when your CPU-controlled team-mate has the ball you can ask for him to pass it to you or encourage him to have a crack when he’s in a good shooting position.

The way Co-op Season works is you pick a club to play a season with. At the start of every match, you get a specific task (e.g. attempt three shots on goal), and your friend, or friends, you’re playing with also gets a task. On top of that, you get a Team Task to accomplish as a group (e.g. win by two goals). After each game you earn XP points based on how you played and if you accomplished your tasks.

Getting XP lets you level up and boost your player’s attributes every couple of matches. The more tasks you accomplish, the harder the next ones will be, but don’t worry … the pay-offs get better too. In the end, the gamer who grows his player the most wins the season! It’s a really fun mode to play with your friends. When we first showed an early prototype of Co-op Season to a focus group in January, it was interesting to see that the gamers who responded most positively to it were those that played football in real life. They really appreciated the concept of playing one role for the full match, understanding all the skill it takes to play football when you don’t have the ball.