There’s nothing like a good footy title to beckon in the onset of winter, is there? As I sit here tapping away at my keyboard and occasionally glancing across to our monitor whereupon Ronaldinho is performing all sorts of mad tricks as part of the FIFA 08 intro, it certainly feels like it’s ‘that time of year’ all over again. Quite soon we’ll be having to get in and out of work in darkness, sweep leaves from our driveways (if you’re rich enough to have one, obviously) and raise enough enthusiasm to get ourselves through Christmas Day without wanting to go to the pub and spend all your Christmas cheer on a gallon of beer.

Still, at least the footy season is getting into full swing, eh? Be it the constant heavy atmosphere on a Monday morning when Jay arrives, still disappointed from another weekend of Spurs underachievement, or the misguided optimism that always sees me put a curse on Liverpool at the worst possible time, there’s always plenty of healthy banter in the winter months as to who’s doing what, why they are doing it and when they are going to get sacked. It’s with this in mind that the annual release of EA’s FIFA series feels somewhat of a landmark point in the calendar.

Thing is, y’see, gone are the days when we would rush to the shops and scoff at FIFA games in preference to Konami’s Pro Evolution series (due out later this month, keep your eyes peeled for a review). Whilst the early part of the decade saw the gap between the two widen to Grand Canyon proportions, a combination of EA improving and Konami becoming depressingly complacent means that footy fans now have a real conundrum to ponder over when it comes to selecting their title for the year. This year’s FIFA title confuses the issues further, building more momentum for the series with some fine tweaks and a couple of great additions.

Primary to people’s interest, obviously, is how the football itself feels. Given the FIFA name we can take it for granted that there’s licenses aplenty this year, with up-to-date squads from all of Europe’s major leagues as well as a few other teams from around the world and all the national squads to boot. We can also take it for granted that the presentation will be slick and bolstered by a great commentary team, which this year is fantastically done by Sky Sports’ showcase duo Martin Tyler and Andy Gray. In terms of welcoming you to the game and getting you to pitch-side, FIFA 08 has it licked.

Thankfully the action this year is also great fun, although there are a few issues that prevent it from being the step forward it could have been. The general pacing of the game has been improved slightly from last year’s effort, with players feeling more responsive. The ball physics are pleasingly weighted too, and the little white dot can ricochet off all sorts of limbs and the like. Early adventures saw an excellent Thierry Henry half-volley bounce off the diving keeper’s hip, backwards onto the underside of his arm and then trickle in off the far post. In fact, it’s fair to say that as far as ball physics go, this is as good as it gets.

Another thing that you’ll notice as the games start to tick by is the amount of effort you need to craft goal-scoring opportunities. Gone are the days of gaining control of a central midfielder and blazing a trail around the entire defence before slotting it in – this time around you’ll find that passing and creating space is the way forward. Even on easier difficulty levels opposition players close you down and hassle you at every step, making scoring somewhat of an achievement to savour. That’s not to say that the odd 30-yard curler won’t ripple the back of the net now and then, but for the most part it’ll be slick, well-worked team efforts rather than individual slices of brilliance that’ll win the day.

The one thing that works against FIFA 08 is that, at times, it just isn’t quite fluid enough. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why this should be; on occasion, players do clump a little, leading to schoolyard bundle antics, and there’s the occasional ever-so-slight delay in your player reacting to what you want to do. It’s not anything that ruins the game for sure, but when – sigh – put against this year’s Pro Evolution effort, it does seem a little disjointed at times. The problem is exasperated if you select manual control, which pretty much takes off the stabilisers and lets you got at it with no help in passing or shot accuracy. To say it makes Sunday afternoon pub football look world quality is an understatement, with passes and shots going as awry as the average Momo Sissoko tackle.

But hey, it’s fun. Even more fun for this year is the new and sparkly Be A Pro mode that allows you to take the role of a specific player, much in the style of much-forgotten late-90s PSX title Libero Grande. Disappointingly it isn’t possible to be the goalkeeper so budding Paul Robinsons will have to wait another year to virtually flap at crosses and drop balls at opposing strikers’ feet, but for anyone else who fancies a bit of defence, midfield or attack then it’s all good. Using a well-positioned camera getting a good view on proceedings is pretty easy, although at times when the ball is over the other side of the pitch things zoom to the point where you may have to have a squint now and again.

It sounds great, but just as you begin to get excited you realise that the mode itself doesn’t offer any kind of progression whatsoever. Anyone who’s played the Superstar mode in the last couple of NFL titles will understand how brilliantly a fully fleshed-out career mode can be when controlling just the one player. Imagine the possibilities of creating your own player (as you can do elsewhere in the game, incidentally) and taking him through the ranks at a top club, with a whole season of matches to play through. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Perhaps EA should have drafted me in to pitch for the mode, then, as all you’ll be doing is playing single friendly games and… er, that’s it.

Still, should you have a campaign itch that needs to be scratched then you can undertake a full season or a cup competition from any of the major leagues, and can also have a pop at the rather simplified managerial mode which sees you playing through a season with the added garnishing of transfers and a few objectives scattered here and there. There’s plenty to work your way through on your own, and should you wish to tinker around with players and change squads as you see fit then the editing mode allows you to; a friend (and Everton fan) decided he quite fancied moving Fernando Torres across Liverpool and into a blue shirt and was delighted to find he could do so, which for me was like walking into the room to find your wife in bed with your worst enemy and so I quickly rectified the situation. Still, at least he doesn’t have to find a corner to bury James Beattie in anymore, eh?

Taking things online opens the game up even more, with standard match-ups and an excellent league setup that allows people to join together and play matches against a set group of others. The play itself is susceptible to the odd bit of lag now and again sadly, although sustained play suggested that this was both infrequent and only minor in annoyance. Even better is the news that EA have a patch in the pipeline to take the Be A Pro mode online with five-versus-five play, something which is as tantalising a prospect as a nice cold frosty beer on a sweltering summer afternoon.

So, it’s on a positive note that I can end this review. For footy fans everywhere waiting on both big-hitting games and desperately trying to decide between which to get, the news that this year’s FIFA is a great game is probably only going to make your task that bit harder. Whilst it’s not quite as slick and fluent as Konami’s latest offering (something we’ll take an in-depth look at when the time comes), the presentation is as slick as ever and the addition of the Be A Pro mode as well as a solid online offering mean that FIFA 08 is well worth your dollar bucks. As any seasoned footy fan knows, competition is the spice of life, so with that in mind the floor is yours, Konami. Good luck.