As usual, Electronic Arts takes advantage of a major soccer to even to propose a videogame version of it. A few weeks before UEFA Euro 2008's kick off, the eponymous game offers to wake up the patriot inside of you to lead your national team on to the victory. Largely inspired from FIFA 08 and spiced up by a party-like atmosphere, does FIFA 08 have what it takes to become an undoubted pro-player?

Rendez-vous in Switzerland and Austria

Out with club teams and some national selections, on with the 53 European countries represented in UEFA Euro 2008. As for the game modes, aside from the classic Kick off and the indispensable Penalty Kick Session, the game of course honors Euro 2008 with the possibility if competing in the tournament's final phases or to begin with the qualifications. You can also generate random groups in order to vary things a bit, or to give England a chance of taking on the final phase towards the title (joking). The Scenario mode submits a series of challenges based on real match situations, in which you will generally have to turn the score about with particular conditions. Battle for the Nations and Online Euro are the main online modes of the game and will look quite familiar to FIFA 08 owners, with its online tournaments allowing you to represent your team against players from all around the world. By the way, it is only possible for now to play in 2 vs 2 teams; let us hope 5 vs 5 will be proposed in the near future. Finally, one can note the presence of the Become Captain mode, an international version of the latest FIFA's Become a Pro mode. Here, not only will you control a single character. Become Captain proposes to create or choose an existing player and to try to become his team's captain against three mates managed either by the AI or by three friends in local multiplayer. A mark is given to each by the end of a match, the best one the inheriting the captain's brace. Enjoyable, this game mode forces you to find a balance between collective play and personal performance, a rather interesting challenge.

UEFA Euro 2008 also means all official licenses from all countries that are UEFA members. Each nation comprises, in average, around thirty players. Some will regret the absence of marking players as well as the presence of others that may surprise or bother. A sometimes arguable choice, notably when it comes to noticing the surprises announce of the 23 names retained often provoke. One may console himself by thinking some update might show up in a few weeks... or not. The 8 stadiums welcoming the competition are of course included and the player will have the occasion to trespass the grasses from St.-Jakob-Park, Stadion Zuric, Stade de Genève, Wankdorf-stadion, Stadion Salzburg, Stadion Tivoli, Weidmannsdorf and Ernst-Happel-Stadion, truthfully represented for the occasion. Everything, in the title, is aimed at making you bathe into the ambience of this sports event and on this point, Electronic Arts does not disappoint.

Solides bases yes, but...

UEFA Euro 2008's gameplay of course owes a lot to FIFA 08's one. The notable differences can be seen about the game's speed. Where its predecessor sometimes suffered from slow sequences, this new installment proposes a somewhat raised rhythm. A constant fact that is better noticed ball on foot, when you perform dribbles and leave an adversary behind. A quicker game thus, but you can still set your foot on the ball to impose a more thought and calm game. As for the rest, the playability thus is quasi-similar to the 08 edition will its qualities and defaults as they're known today, meaning a complete and pleasant handling, but some precision issues notable when it comes to selecting a player on the field. Another recurrent problem of FIFA 08 one would have liked corrected in this opus: the goalkeepers' AI. When they sometimes prove themselves worthy of their international class on dreadful shots, they fall back into amateurism to push back an easily lockable ball or by tempting, far too often, some random strolls out of the goals, too bad. It is all the more annoying since, from a general point of view, the artificial intelligence shows a defensive character pushed somewhat further up, a feeling one discovers mainly in matches looking unequal as far as the quality of the effectives is concerned. These encounters thus take a turn called of a attack/defend where, at high difficulty levels, things are not that easy.

UEFA Euro 2008 is also the occasion of seeing the Celebrations appear. Purely gadget, this addition allows, once a goal scored, to taunt the adversary some more by taking control of the marking player and make him adopt a precise attitude or pose. All the more sympathetic as numerous actions are possible. Another novelty more influencing the game: weather. More precisely, the rain will make the tackles harder to perform or oblige you to push the passes a bit further. Largely present in the game, maybe too often by the way, let us hope the next episode will be more balanced on that point.

Graphically speaking, this Euro 2008 installment benefits a visual ambience proper to the event and transcripts the tournament's spirit as should be. Globally close to FIFA 08's animation, this opus however comes up with some pushed up fluidity made possible by the game's rhythm raise. Even better, the players' modeling has gained some quality though everyone was not subject to the same attentions. The coaches are also represented in game and will be largely present all along the games, spending most of their time grimacing. Let us congratulate the animations and movement’s panel that are still as well-made that comfort a visual comfort acquired y the series. As for the audio, it's all good and nothing les was awaited on the developers' part. We will give a special mention to the anthems and other chants sung by the supporters, quite delightful. Unluckily, UEFA Euro 2008 also comes up with a little lot of graphical bugs like textures disappearing from the terrain, players becoming invisible or some display issues during the replays. One may even blame a simply awful audience resembling a sheer stack of cardboard characters.