Football games look to score

Several football games are aiming to score with gamers, but which top the league and which are heading for relegation?

Fifa Football 2005 (PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC, GameCube)

By James Bregman

Wide array of teams to choose from in Fifa Football 2005

The Fifa franchise's carefully refined formula has made this year's update very impressive.

Plus points like awesome graphics strike you instantly. Squint at the screen and it looks a lot like a TV broadcast, aided by flawless presentation and carefully recreated player appearances.

There are a lot of them too, with a gob-smacking array of teams, along with the best commentary yet heard in a football game.

John Motson and Ally McCoist give it their all and even go off on philosophical tangents during quiet moments.

But it almost strives too hard for realism. Many matches turn into rigid low-scoring midfield battles with little potential for the kind of creative, strategic build-up that Pro Evolution Soccer 4 offers.

The new first-touch feature allows you to turn immediately upon receiving the ball, but this is a curse as well as a blessing. On occasions it leads to dazzling break-away bursts into the penalty box, but it can also take you into the path of an opponent you'd otherwise have evaded.

Also, the notion of a dynamic first-touch is undermined by the fact that dribbling is strangely sluggish.

That said, the gameplay is solid overall, even if there is always that underlying fear that a pass will inexplicably be sent in the absolute opposite direction to what you intended.

For those who like their football all fully-licensed and up-to-date, Fifa 2005 is untouchable. For many others, PES4 will pip it as the footy sim of choice, but only by the most slender of margins.

Rating 8/10: Chelsea: Flashy, well-funded and full of flair, but ultimately short of the mark and far too fond of 1-0 score lines.

Club Football 2005 (PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC)

By James Bregman

Club Football 2005 lacks in realism

Club Football 2005 gets many things right but just does not have the depth or tradition to compete with the major heavyweights.

Its obvious boon is that it comes in numerous editions, each focusing on a particular club. But reliance on this selling-point proves unwise, particularly when Fifa 2005 does such a fine job of recreating player likenesses and kits from the big clubs.

Strip away the team-related fanfare and you are left with below-par gameplay that can look meagre.

The ball sticks to players' feet to an unwelcome degree, and there is an overall leaning towards arcade type gameplay. That can make for perfectly exciting action, but it is a world away from realism.

At times the game feels like a slowed-down version of ice-hockey, with players able to turn and move in superhuman fashion and the ball zipping around unfeasibly swiftly.

The animation is good but the overall graphics would only have been impressive a couple of years ago.

The club-related angle is curiously a lot less in-your-face than the England version that came along with Euro 2004, although you still get game presentation in the team colours, as well as bonus features like team-related stickers and bonuses to unlock.

You also get authentic club chants - in the Liverpool version we tested, the fans repeatedly butchered You'll Never Walk Alone with the utmost realism.

The selection of teams featured now spans to the likes of Aston Villa, Juventus and Glasgow Rangers, but in light of the quality of the Fifa-shaped opposition, it would be hard to recommend the game firmly even to diehard followers of those teams.

Though it is no disaster, CF2005 would have been infinitely more wisely released at a different time of year, not in direct competition with established franchises that are impossible to contend with.

Rating 7/10: Portsmouth: One or two elements of quality, but needs more time to establish itself at the highest level.

This is Football 2005 (PlayStation 2)

By Chris Sadler

This is Football 2005 falls down when it comes to gameplay

TIF 2005 was recently released with so little fanfare that it will come as a surprise to most gamers that it exists at all.

Armed with a FIFPro licence, the rosters are mainly up to date and many of the top players have accurate likenesses. There is also a comprehensive edit mode to fill out any gaps.

A unique feature is the ability to add your own face onto a player via an EyeToy.

Game modes include all the usual cups and leagues and an interesting career mode where you literally start playing on the school field.

Despite having a good array of options This Is Football falls down at the most important hurdle - gameplay. You never feel fully in control of your players and they have a tendency to "skate" around the pitch.

The camera can be very jerky, especially when making a big clearance from defence and overall the game mechanics feel very loose. Ball physics are OK although the ball does not feel like it is a separate entity - merely something that is glued to each player's foot until they choose to release it.

After some time you do get used to the handling but it never stops feeling unpredictable, unlike the tight and responsive control featured in Pro Evolution Soccer.

Overall, TIF is an average game in a crowded market where the benchmark is set too high for average games to flourish.

Rating 6/10: Crystal Palace: Plucky and modest, but simply unable to trouble the big guns.

Pro Evolution Soccer 4 (PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC)

By Phil Elliott

Pro Evolution Soccer is one of the most popular footie games

The Pro Evo series has long been hailed as the genuine virtual footballing article, as it focuses heavily on reproducing a realistic and rewarding style of play.

In the past this approach has meant presentation standards have taken a back seat. Aspects like graphics, commentary and even the licences needed if real team and player names are used, have not lived up to expectations.

This time around things are a bit different. Firstly graphics, though still not quite the best around, are significantly enhanced and even the sound has been polished.

Several of the aforementioned licences have now been purchased, meaning all of the Dutch, Spanish and Italian leagues are faithfully recreated, although whilst most other player names are also accurate, there is still some pre-match editing to be done.

Despite that, it is still on the pitch that Pro Evo 4 does all the talking. The gameplay has been improved still further, giving the matches an ebb and flow that you would only expect from watching a real game.

Most obviously it is the added sense of momentum that the players and the ball now have, but there are numerous, more subtle aspects as well. Animations are slicker, especially the variation of fouls now possible.

Konami's unyielding pursuit of perfection does make it a complex game to play. Veterans of the series will be able to jump straight in, as there are only a few additions to the control settings.

But new players will almost certainly have to spend a little while with the specially designed training section, which contains a number of different challenges that gradually bring you up to speed.

The two main attractions of the game are still present - multi-player, where up to eight people can play simultaneously, and the Master League where you play in a kind of career mode.

Overall there is a massive amount of enjoyment to be had from this game, especially when you consider that teams can be edited as and when players are transferred in real life, so it has also got longevity too.

Put simply, one of the best ever football games just got a significant amount better.

Overall: 9/10 Arsenal: Continuing the unbeaten run well into the distance, with enough flair and panache to make even Spurs fans grudgingly admire.