Let's Play: This is Football 2005

By Michael Cunliffe

Hot on the heels of the latest incarnations of EA Sports Fifa series and Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer comes Sony's This is Football 2005.

THIS IS FOOTBALL 2005 Format: PS2 Price: £39.99 Publisher: Sony Genre: Football simulation

Given the quality of its rivals, Sony are trying to pull out all the stops to get people to make the switch to their football game.

Their exclusive license with FIFPro means the game boasts 19,000 players, 935 teams and 32 Leagues from all around the world.

Despite this there are still some major players missing, most notably the Dutch - Ronald Nestor leads the Manchester United attack for instance - but this can be easily rectified using the games editor.

However, what sets TIF 2005 apart from its two big rivals is the option to use your Eye-Toy in conjunction with their game.

Eye-candy

No, you're not expected to kick a virtual-ball around your living room, but thanks to the latest Digimask technology you can now map your face onto a player's head and line-up alongside the likes of Zidane, Henry and Rooney.

So, if you've ever dreamed of scoring the winning goal in a cup final from a Ryan Giggs cross then this is the game for you.

And, if you've got plenty of spare time on your hands you could even turn out a team full of your friends and family!

Gameplay

The gameplay has been tweaked from the 2004 version, it certainly runs a lot smoother, and a variety of new player animations gives you a greater range of dribbling, passing and shooting moves.

There are all the usual cup and league options available, but for those of you looking for longevity the excellent career mode offers you the chance to guide your team from the schools' league into the big time!

VERDICT Graphics: 87% Playability: 85% Sound: 81% Lastability: 90% Overall: 85%

Online gaming is something that is proving more and more popular by the day and TIF 2005 boasts not only the ground-breaking eight player online experience that proved such a huge success in the 2004 incarnation, but Sony have also introduced online competitions as well.

On the downside, TIF 2005 is let down by the average quality and slow response time of the commentators - Peter Drury and Chris Kamara are hardly the commentary dream pairing in anyone's imagination!

This Is Football 2005 is still not ready to topple its main rivals, but this latest version brings it another step closer.

Fifa and PES finally have a reason to look over their shoulders - the competition is hotting up.