FIFA Football 2004 (Xbox)

The latest edition of the hugely popular FIFA series shows that EA have put a lot of effort into 2004 but maybe a little too much in places.

First of all I must mention the new 'off the ball' system which allows you to not only control the player who has the ball but all so the player making a run to recieve the next pass/cross, this is a very good idea gone bad because by the time you have pressed the white button to initialise off the ball and then quickly chosen which other player you want to control chances are you have already been tackled. Dont get me wrong if you are the kind of gamer that enjoys a challenge and are willing to put a lot of time in to perfect your off the ball skills then it might become usefull but quite frankly me and all of my mates just couldnt handle the stress! without using off the ball FIFA doesnt become any worse than if you do use it, its just a matter off prefrence and believe me when i say YOU WONT NEED IT as the rest of the game is solid enough to still be great. the new career mode (similar to that of rival pro evo) adds a lot of depth to the title as it lets you manage any team you want and allows you to control transfers and training regimes for your club.

Two of the greatest aspects of past FIFA titles are back with avengence in 2004:

1. John Motson and Ally McCoist are back with the best and most fluent comentary on any sports title to date

2. Immaculate graphics which show the likeneses of each REAL player perfectly coupled with gr8 motion capture.

not to mention all of the cups you could imagine including the FA cup and Champions League. Real teams, real kits real players real stadiums all up to date, stunning AI which will really challenge youre skills. All in all this is great value for money which will keep you coming back for more month after month until 2005 arrives.