With the 2008 UEFA European Championships just around the corner, UEFA Euro 2008 steps forward to satisfy the fans of football (also known as soccer, to some) who are hungry for goals, dives and, in England’s case, disappointment. Is this merely a repackaged Fifa 08, or does it have something more to offer?

First things first: Yes, England (and the other home nations) are included in the game, as are every other nation that took part in the qualifying stages. This means it’s possible to change the course of history and guide England, past Croatia and Russia, into the finals and all the way to cup glory. So if that was all you were worried about, you need not worry any longer.

What is most impressive about this game is that it certainly is not just a repackaged Fifa 08. The developers seem to have taken into account the criticisms levelled at the game and have reworked the gameplay to an impressive degree, given the relatively short period between the two games release.

You can’t help but applaud EA Sports on this one, they really do seem to be focused on innovating and improving this franchise to match the performance capabilities of the current generation of hardware. This is something Konami, and their Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) series, needs to learn, and fast, because on the evidence of this game, they’re in danger of being dealt a knockout blow the next time Fifa and PES do battle.

If you’ve played Fifa 08, the first thing you’ll notice with UEFA 2008 is just how much faster this game plays in comparison. Fifa 08 was often criticised for being too much of a passing game– it didn’t really allow players to knock the ball past defenders and have a crack on goal.

This time around, running straight at the defense with a quick attacking player will often lead to a goal. The defenders will just not be able to keep up. This adds a whole new layer to the gameplay that was sorely lacking in last year’s Fifa, and makes this a much more enjoyable experience.

In addition to an increased pace, the A.I. seems to have also gone through a bit of an overhaul. In comparison to Fifa 08 and PES 2008, it feels as though you’re taking on an actual team, rather than a few fancy (or not so fancy) algorithms.

Opposing players will pass it around you with a fluid ease that makes Arsenal’s passing prowess look distinctly schoolboy. You’ll also see players taking shots from impossible distances and angles that have no hope of hitting their target, but what is neat about this is that it only tends to happen with players that try similar antics in real life, so don’t be surprised to see this happen a lot when you go up against a team such as Portugal.

Graphically the game neither disappoints nor impresses. It seems to be running the same graphics engine as Fifa 08 during match play and it serves its purpose well enough. What is impressive however, is the level of detail in terms of presentation. As you’d expect, being an EA Sports title, the game menus all look beautiful and are stuffed full of the official logos and artwork that have been licensed for this game.

All the stadiums that will host the tournament this summer are present and correct, and a special mention needs to go to the quality of the crowd noise. Fans will sing team specific chants and anthems, when the team is performing well, and notably there are multiples of these for each team.

Of course, no discussion of a sports title would be complete without mentioning something about the quality of the commentary. In the English language version of the game, this is taken care of by Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend.

Compared to other recent football titles, it’s fairly impressive, due in mostly to the fact that it takes a slightly more conversational style. This means they’ll often go off on a long dialogue about a specific player, or team, rather than just describing the action. While it doesn’t reach the quality of the announcers in a game like NBA 2K8 it’s certainly a step in the right direction.

In terms of game modes there are a couple of interesting additions. As well as the obvious inclusive of the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament itself, and various exhibition modes (both online and off), you also have Captain Your Country and Story of Qualifying.

Captain Your Country is an expansion of the Be A Pro mode found in Fifa 08, in which you control only one member of your selected team. Rather than just being an exhibition only game mode (as Be A Pro was), Captain Your Country encourages you to create a player from scratch and then earn your way into the national squad, eventually proving yourself worthy of the captain’s armband.

For football fans with enough patience, this mode is extremely satisfying. The improved A.I. of your teammates means they can usually understand your intentions when, for example, you’re making a run into space, they’re able to recognise this and pass the ball accordingly.

After each match you gain experience based on a number of categories; goals, assists, passes, tackles and perhaps most interestingly, positioning. This means that if you choose to be a central midfielder you can’t just sit up front with the strikers and try to put the ball in the back of the net; you’ll have to give a hand to the defense when the time comes if you want to earn maximum points.

Story of Qualifying is a scenario-based game type in which you must match (or better) certain scenarios that occurred during the qualifying stages of the tournament. For example, one of the earlier scenarios challenges you to come back from a two-goal deficit against Romania using Bulgaria. The twist? There’s only ten minutes left in the game. This mode offers a good change of pace and is fun to drop in and out of for shorter gaming sessions.

Overall, though, there isn’t that much content to keep you satisfied for long. With a limited number of players and teams, and a lack of game modes this is a game you probably won’t be playing, outside of multiplayer, much after the tournament itself ends on June 29th.

There are a couple of other drawbacks as well. While the graphics during gameplay (on my 360) are good enough, the cut-scenes graphics– goal celebrations, substitutions, replays etc.– are not so great. Player models look poor and, in some cases, barely resemble their real life counterparts. There also seems to be some frame-rate issues and the odd glitch (the pitch flickering constantly from green to black for example), which ruin the atmosphere during these moments.

It’s a shame, because I really would like to give this game a higher score, but the aforementioned lack of content and animation issues mean I can’t do that. If you are a huge football game fan, or you can’t wait to live the dream of taking your country to the finals, then think about picking this up, if not, you should probably wait for the 2009 versions of either Fifa or PES.

Madden ‘09 is the first casualty of the cull, which is apparently because we love our consoles too much.

We had wondered whether last week’s decision not to ship Madden for PC might be an isolated incident, but not so. Speaking on his blog, EA Sports head Peter Moore said:

The PC presents some very serious business challenges to us in the sports category, particularly because so many of you all are playing your favourite sports games on the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii.

He goes on to say a limited number of titles will be released on PC this year, but without an indication of which ones, and whether that means they’re slowly winding down or just keeping the few bestsellers.

Meanwhile, if you are at this moment spewing vitriol or letting the tears cascade down your face, at least there’s a caveat; PC appears to be getting a suspension rather than a lifelong ban.

Moore promises:

We do have ideas for how to revitalise the PC for sports games and the types of games that are best suited to the platform, and we’ll continue to explore those.

Of course he’s yet to respond to the outraged Madden community about whens and hows.

His comments are buried in this post over at EA

Long time readers of the site will remember that we reported this news months ago when an EA representative slipped and mentioned it to us at last years E3.

As the representative began to explain the contractual reasons behind certain coaches being excluded from the game he slipped and mentioned that they are “going through” the same situation with NFL Head Coach.

The latest installment of Head Coach will showcase Indianapolis Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy on the cover, and feature the following enhancements:

Different Interpretations of Player Ratings: This means that certain teams will value attributes such as speed differently. A receiver like Hines Ward may not be as valuable to a team with a speed philosophy.

Trade/Free Agent Acquisition Auction: Free agent signings are conducted much like an auction. A time limit is set and teams bid back and forth. Trades come in the way of packages and allow you to ask for specifics or simply demand that the team sweeten the deal.

More Realistic Player Behavior: Player personalities are bigger factors now, as certain players will demand mid season trades and/or contract negotiations, while others will respect the teams process.

Authentic Combine/Pro Day Experience: A detailed focus on the scouting process that begins with the Senior Bowl and ends with individual player workouts. Certain players will inevitably skip out on these events causing their attributes to remain an unknown.

The features above are based on IGN’s preview of the game. Full press release below.

EA ANNOUNCES NFL HEAD COACH 09

Indianapolis Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy Will Grace the Cover of NFL Licensed Strategy Game

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., – February 26, 2008 – Put on your headset, grab your clipboard and see if you have what it takes to be a head coach in the National Football League. Today, Electronic Arts Inc, (NASDAQ: ERTS) announces NFL Head Coach 09, featuring Indianapolis Colts’ head coach Tony Dungy on the game’s cover. Released under the EA SPORTS™ brand, NFL Head Coach 09 is a unique NFL experience that gives gamers the power to make decisions that define their career and ultimately the fate of their franchise as a head coach in the NFL.

“In NFL Head Coach 09, the gamer has complete control of their franchise’s destiny,” says NFL Head Coach 09 Executive Producer Jeremy Strauser. “From draft day to game day, the gamers’ decisions impact their team’s success and make or break a team’s road to the Super Bowl.”

In 2007, Dungy became the first African-American coach to win a Super Bowl when the Indianapolis Colts defeated the Chicago Bears 29-17 in Super Bowl XLI. Since Dungy’s arrival to Indianapolis in 2001, the Colts have earned six playoff berths and have won more than 70 regular-season games. Dungy has an impressive .661 winning percentage as a head coach over the past 12 seasons.

NFL Head Coach 09 provides a complete NFL experience, offering a variety of different ways to control an NFL franchise, on and off the field, in-season and off-season. With strategic game planning features, NFL Head Coach 09 places gamers in the coach’s seat by allowing gamers to comprehensively scout the opponent, build playbooks, and develop a team that will adapt to the philosophy and system of an NFL franchise.

The sideline is your playing field in NFL Head Coach 09 – gamers can make adjustments to plays and game strategies in an instant. The outcome of every game depends on game-time decisions made on the sideline. Success depends on proper preparation and knowledge of the opposing teams’ strategies, as well as expert and timely play calling.

Developed in Orlando, Florida by EA Tiburon, NFL Head Coach 09 will be available for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360™ video game system from Microsoft.

EA SPORTS™ is the leading interactive sports software brand in the world, with top-selling titles and franchises including Madden NFL Football, FIFA Soccer, NHL hockey, NBA LIVE basketball, NCAAFootball, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR and NASCAR racing.

EA have today announced FaceBreaker, a brand new franchise being produced by EA Canada. Due for all current generation systems sometime this year, the arcade style boxing game will offer players “irreverent fun, immersive gameplay and eye-popping stylized graphics”.

In a statement issued by EA, Peter Moore, president of EA Sports, said that:

“FaceBreaker reinvigorates one of the great genres in sports videogames … in no time at all, you’ll be picking up the controllers and knocking your opponent around the ring, smashing faces, and having a riot.”

As well as a number of “ego-wielding characters”, the game will also use Photo Game Face, a feature that lets you map a photo of your own face onto your in-game character. Combine this with the game’s ability to use real time face manipulation and you will see exactly what you look like after being pummelled by opponents such as “Romeo, a Latin lover known for his pelvic thrusts” or “Molotov, an oversized Russian demolitions expert with a penchant for fighting dirty.”

We received a press release today from Electronic Arts, announcing their official prediction for this years Super Bowl, featuring the 18-0 New England Patriots and the New York Football Giants.

Lead by quarterback Eli Manning, the surging Giants aim to end the Patriots quest for a perfect 19-0 season, and take home the Lombardi Trophy in the process. However, Tom “Terrific” Brady and his talented squad of receivers see a different outcome.

EA’s predicted winner is decided using their Madden 08 simulation engine which of course takes into consideration each teams current roster, injuries, and statistics. We seriously considered including the full video in the post, and we would have had it offered any real value to you. However it is front loaded with touchdown highlights and to make it worst, replays of those highlights. There is no commentary, and the lack of stadium noise would almost certainly put you to sleep by the midway point.

There was however one glowing highlight that showcases the realism that EA prides themselves with. It happened in what I can only believe to be garbage time, since the video not once shows a scoreboard or any measurement of time for that matter, and involves a late interception thrown by Eli Manning. Asante Samuel picks off the pass and begins weaving his way through defenders only to be knocked on his ass by none other than Eli himself.

We have the clip of little brother Manning laying the smack down for you below, and we even went as far as to include a few seconds of EA’s glorious finale … a camera that pans around the stadium to the faint sound of what sounds like five to ten people max celebrating a three year old blowing out all the candles on her birthday cake.

Click here to view the embedded video.

EA did include a lovely run down of the games simulation, however you would never be able to relate any of it to the video they provided. In short, the game starts off close, pulls away late in the third, with one team making a valiant effort in the fourth, only to fall short. The final score according to EA’s uber accurate and always entertaining Madden simulation is … Patriots 38, Giants 30.

If you aren’t a big fan of EA’s predicted outcome, you are more than welcome to witness the real deal, as Super Bowl XLII kicks off Sunday, February 3rd at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Here’s to hoping the team you want wins, and the Super Bowl commercials don’t suck. And EA, please get your shit together, or release the NFL license so fans of the sport can finally get back to enjoying its videogame counterpart.