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Football has got everything you could want, well for us that actually enjoy the sport. You’ve got the excitement of watching your team get one over on the Premier League champions, then you’ve got disappointment of your team starting off with a 15 point deduction, but worst of all you’ve got the shock of finding your manager, one of the best in the world, leaving your club by mutual consent. Not only is it on the pitch where all the action happens, it’s with the managerial stakes, or whether the club is going to be in the hands of a foreign owner.

While all that’s in the real world, the real debate in the videogame world is a simple one, FIFA or Pro Evolution Soccer? FIFA used to be the king of the football pitch, but Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer series has put FIFA down a few notches over the past few years, at least in the majority of gamers opinions, but EA still has its followers. While the debate could go on about what is best, Club Skill is here to review EA’s contender for football game of the year in FIFA 08.

FIFA has always had one major plus compared to Pro Evolution Soccer, and that comes in the form of the licenses. While Konami are scraping licences for PES2008 altogether, FIFA already has the licenses for the clubs and players; statistically, FIFA has more than 15,000 players, for 620 of the licensed teams across 30 leagues, including the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and the MLS. While it’s good to have the licenses, the downside is having to replicate the players faces, and to be honest, the majority of them look somewhat flat from their real-life counterparts. Sure, it doesn’t affect the gameplay, but EA have got the license for the players and it’s just a shame the replays of them don’t look true-to-life.

However, on the whole, the game itself plays and looks beautiful; so beautiful in fact, it’s the closest a game has come to simulating the real thing. The way the players move, the way the ball floats across the surface, the aerial balls which sees players barging one another to get their head to the ball first - FIFA 08 has that realistic effect. Each player has their own attributes, such as the pace of Christiano Ronaldo, he easily runs past your defence given that little bit of space along the wing, and Micah Richard’s aerial defence and body power clearly shows when running into the ‘smaller’ players in the game. FIFA 08 is a lot more tactical, as it is now quite hard to put a goal past the keeper, and trying to break the defence down is a tough challenge unless you’re playing on the amateur difficulty.

Making a return to FIFA is the players abilities to do various skills, which is much more advanced than before. Holding down the L-trigger and moving the right analogue stick in various combinations allows your player to do a number of selected skills. Player’s tricks can range from a simple step-over to a running flick-over your head, and if you get it right, over a defender - all the skills you see in life which are possible by the likes of Ronaldinho, but perfecting it in a videogame is just as hard as the real thing. While the controls are simple for running, passing and shooting, getting used to using the L-trigger to do skill can be a pain in the backside. The L-button and L-trigger are practically your key to getting to a one-on-one situation with the keeper. Not only do you use it for your players skill, but the L-button Valso sends players on runs that can break the defence down, although the computer’s offside trap is very tight.

Along with the newly added skills, EA has introduced a whole new mode for gamers to get to grips with. The inclusion of Be A Pro Mode takes FIFA another step closer to being the football game to have this year. This mode puts you in the boots (literally) of any footballer you select from whatever team. Whether you’re going to pick Christiano Ronaldo or Samuel Eto’o to take the challenge, this mode requires dedication on your part to be the best. You have to do everything to perfection. Being a striker is particularly hard because your team works around you, and you’ve got to find the space to run into and stay onside. This mode will make you master your player’s discipline to be the best; passing and movement is the key to your success.

While the game plays fluidly enough, what can become a pain in the neck is the commentary from Martin Tyler and Andy Gray (Sky Sports), with the same repetitive statements on players, particularly when you’re playing through the season. Constantly saying the same thing does get annoying, but there are also points when you hear “we’re into the final few minutes”, and if you haven’t looked at the clock already, and your 1-0 down, you panic, but when you look at the clock, you realise it’s on 75 minutes - panicking for no reason. Another thing is the delayed reactions the commentators have, you can shoot and it goes miles over the cross-bar, and there is no statement, but after the goal-keeper has kicked it off, Martin Tyler is going wild with his voice screaming “that was close”. Fortunately, while you’re listening to the commentators, your supporters do truly get behind you, by singing the anthems of the club and cheering you on; also when the home team are losing, you can hear the majority of the crowd booing showing their thoughts of their team.

The online side of things sound promising for the future, with EA looking to get a 5v5 scenario on via a patch early next year. What we have at the moment is your usual 1v1’s and 2v2’s. As much fun as FIFA is, it’s unfortunate the old ‘run down the wing and cross’ scenario seems to have appeared in many gamers tactics as it’s too hard to break down the defence. Although it’s not a constant goal-fest from the crosses, it does frustrate you seeing people blatantly trying to switch back to the old FIFA style which everyone criticised so heavily as it was too easy to score. When playing with friends, it’s a different story as it’s a competitive game and you don’t want to use that old ‘tactic, instead you try and break down the defence, and try shots from a distance and try and get the right swerve and power in to them. Playing with friends can really get competitive if you get a good few of you together and start up a league, although only a few people on my Friends List have FIFA 08 with the majority siding for PES2008 on October 12th. What can be setup are leagues for a few of your friends and it can be done within half-an-hour to see who’s the best at that moment in time; 4 players, 5 minutes-a-half, over in approximately half-an-hour. Short and sweet, just how we like it.

FIFA 08 has had quite a facelift since last season, allowing you to replicate the skills of your superstars like Ronaldinho and Ronaldo, but also allows you to create your own moves too. The inclusion of Be A Pro Mode certainly extends the game’s lifespan as you’re not constantly on the ball, you have to make space and pass the ball about to get that vital goal, a great addition to the already improving franchise. Gamers may get frustrated with how hard it is to score, but it’s like being in a real football scenario; make the space, spot the player and so forth. The online play is a bit of a downer with the back-to-basic style of play for some online gamers, but other than that, FIFA has notched up a gear since last season, and with the patch early next year for the 5v5 online play, it seems as if Konami may need to take some action to compete with FIFA online. Could this years result be as enticing as the Premier League’sng games, with FIFA getting one over on Konami’s PES2008? Only time will tell.