EA has just released a wealth of details on its upcoming soccer title, FIFA 2002, which will appear on a handful of game consoles. Since this includes Nintendo’s GameCube, PGC is here to begin our FIFA 2002 preview!

FIFA 2002 features numerous gameplay improvements; some of the biggest additions will are all new systems for passing & tackling. The new passing system is more flexible & open-ended. You’ll be able to pass the ball into space, utilize through-balls and one-twos, and strategically direct your teammates through the defense. The improved tackling system will make players 100% responsible for their actions; in other words, you won’t be able to slide-tackle with free abandon without racking up the red cards! For this latest FIFA, the timing and angle of your tackles will be what determine success and potential ramifications from the ref. Therefore, you’ll want to gauge reward vs. risk and act carefully when contemplating getting physical on the field.

During the game, you’ll be able to keep up on all the action with timely pop-up messages, which can even be set to include advice on substitutions and other tactical changes so you’ll have a helping hand staying on top of your team.

Speaking of teams, FIFA 2002 features quite a full roster of 16 leagues with over 500 teams including over 175 International sides, all approved & based on the FIFPro License that includes all the names and likenesses of FIFPro’s member player associations. There are numerous ways to play too, with FIFA 2002 featuring a handful of game modes: Friendly, Season, Custom, Training and World Cup Qualification.

Burning within the heart of any true soccer player is the desire to compete in the World Cup and you’ll find this at the core of FIFA 2002 alive & well in the World Cup Qualification mode. Here, players will pick a team and begin the rigorous & ambitious road to the World Tournament, held in Korea/Japan for 2002. This mode of play will incorporate more user feedback than ever before, using an expanded injury-fatigue system and informational “hotsheets” which updates the user of the status of teams, players, upcoming opponents, and more. It won’t be easy keeping your team competitive enough to remain in the running, so you’ll have to pay attention to such info and act upon it accordingly as the season progresses…

No screenshots are available yet, though we expect the GameCube version to show off some impressive graphics. EA emphasizes we can expect greater detail in players than ever before. This means more authentic faces, hairstyles, player accessories and things of that nature will be discernable.

The game’s audio will have commentary (part of any good soccer game) and will even have varying speech & FX between home and away games.

FIFA 2002 will have an amazing amount of customization, where you’ll be able to create your own leagues, teams and players. Then save your creations and use them in either the Friendly or Season modes of play. The amount of personal tweaking extends all the way down to the control scheme, where users will be able to re-program the buttons & pitch-action to their preference

Like any good game, FIFA 2002 will have a few extra goodies packed in too. Part of it will be an expanded rewards system that is affected by certain factors. For example, if you qualify for World Cup in a particular zone may open up new modes & cheat codes.

EA hopes to deliver a satisfying football experience that can be appreciated by players & fans at all levels. The early info has FIFA 2002 looking well on its way to succeeding in this goal.

FIFA 2002 is listed for release this coming fall. Whether or not this means the GameCube version will appear at this time has not been clarified.