So here we go again. Or not, as the case may be. This year’s FIFA is good. Very good. And what’s more, it’s not even through personal taste. It’s indisputably good. So much so, in fact, that even folk in the office known for a somewhat unreasonable love of Konami’s alternative soccer game have been seen trotting off to the games area, packed lunch in hand, to play FIFA 08. Of course, this usually happens with the latest FIFA but then everyone discovers the one glaring error EA Sports somehow left in and goes back to play the other game. This time around, however, it would seem that either EA has hidden the cockup rather well, or that it’s just left it out altogether. After hours of play time, we’re convinced it’s the latter.

We feel obliged, though, to immediately put the goodness into context. There isn’t one area here that’s vastly different from last year’s next-gen effort, so don’t go expecting something entirely new or even something quite different. This is last year’s FIFA but with most of the major problems given the heave-ho and everything else tightened up a bit. Now, we grant you that’s not a particularly thrilling dissection of the series’ improvements, but it is nevertheless true, and bloody valid too. A slight tweak to one or two areas in a football game is frankly a waste of time, but when slight tweaks – and smart ones at that – are made to every area of the game, the overall difference is there for all to see and enjoy. In layman’s terms (the layman portion of our demographic is surprisingly large, we’re told) this means FIFA 08 features better shooting, better crossing, better dribbling, better passing, better ball physics, better goalkeeping, better AI, better defending, better graphics, better commentary, better modes and better likenesses. Even its better is better. Add all this to the fact that last year’s effort wasn’t even that bad and you’re left with a pleasing truth: the first FIFA on PlayStation 3 is thoroughly decent.

Unifying all the improvements is the feeling that some head honcho at EA Sports woke up one day and said, “Bugger all this arcade malarkey, let’s make it real.” Of course, this isn’t the real thing – it’s still designed so that 90 minutes’ worth of action occurs in 15 – but it is the most realistic football game we’ve ever played. The players seem much weightier, the ball bobbles along more believably and the passing requires that much more attention. No longer can a world-class defence be regularly split with a tap of Triangle and gone are the days when attacks are more a familiar pattern of button presses than a tactical workout. Scoring goals requires buildup play and lots of it. Winning matches requires patience, waiting for your chance and taking advantage of it with a couple of deft touches and a well-placed shot. It takes some getting used to as well – for your first few games you may not even score at all. You’ll almost certainly become frustrated at the strictness of the passing and the frequent impotence of the once-omnipotent through ball too. But once you’ve settled in and bagged your first few goals, you’ll start to realise this is different from before. It’s harder but it’s more interesting, it’s less forgiving but more fun, slower but more rewarding.

This more convincing approach to football simulation is not easily achieved, though – you are, after all, only ever one player on a field of 22 – and it was absolutely necessary that EA Sports ensured the AI was able to live up to the challenge. Thankfully, it is, your teammates making overlapping runs and intelligent support play as often as you could hope them to. This particularly impressive aspect of the sports game is also highlighted by the Be A Pro mode offline training, itself a terrifically enjoyable exercise.

There are, however, minor gripes (like you’re surprised). First up: wing play.

Though crossing has improved, wingers aren’t quite as potent a force as they have been in the past and though you could argue it’s now more realistic, it is actually less fun. Second, first-time shots in the box are too rare a treat, players too prone to taking a touch before unleashing a fierce drive. Such a tendency, of course, invites a swarm of defenders, so the once-explosive move fizzles to nothing. It’s frankly annoying. We’re also still undecided on EA’s homogenised style of menu, but as it’s about as excellent a system there is for that sort of thing, we’ll go easy on it.

For the first time in a long time, a FIFA game will top the PlayStation charts with good reason. If you like watching football, it’s about as decent a simulation of that as you’ll find. If you like playing sports games, it’s one of the better ones. So, yeah, buy FIFA. It’s really good. Actually.

Aaron Asadi