UEFA Euro 2008 Comments by Martin Korda

FREE TIBET!!!!

oh...

Tried the demo this week end. Loved it, really loved it. I'm still undecided if I will get this or Fifa 08 actually; the latter seemed deliberately slower and more like a thinking man's game, but Euro08 played like a wonder.

I missed out on 08, well except for the psp version, so may well go for this on the 360

I used to buy the Euro and World Cup games but I've come to realise that they're just not good value compared with the yearly FIFA updates, regardless of their quality. More often than not, the short develop time means that you get a game with little content and plenty of bugs/glitches so you're better off waiting for the full FIFA and with England out of the competition there seems less reason for me to buy this game anyway. If this game gets great reviews (85%+) and has enough content then I may, may buy it but my common sense is telling me to wait until October for the proper game.

Question is does it have a proper 2v2 online like the 1v1 option, not just that be a pro effort. That’s 2v2 with 4 diff G tags on diff Xbox or ps3's!

I'm torn. While the demo is undoubtedly better than FIFA in terms of gameplay, I just spent £35 on it less than 6 months ago. If this game comes out at full price it's going to be a hard sell.

Speeding it up a bit sounds good, FIFA 08 was too slow for my taste.

we played the demo, twice, then we popped back PES08 and we smiled and smiled and smiled, so nice speed and ball physics, Fifa has some noce quality graphics, and it is better then fifa08, but gosh I just can't take soccer games serious besides PES, I mean how can you enjoy such frustrating programmed Ball and shoot things???? Just don't get it, I really can't understand the EA fans, love a shit game just because of some licences? weird.

I'll give Fifa 09 a new try, but if they dont increase the speed and the ball physics, i will be very happy to come back here and bash the fuck out of such stupid bad total unispired soccer games!

Day 1 for me, a big improvement on FIFA 08 (which I still play a bit but not as much as I play Pro Evo on my PC).

The demo is superb, i don't by into EA cash cow, and always been a pro footballer, but prefered fifa 08 (i feel dirty saying that lol), me and my bro thought that fifa just needing faster reponse to button presses, and speeding up a touch, and they've done both, gameplay wise over fifa 08 worth the extra money in my account, plus it's not like i wouldn't of spent that £35 on something else that is pants.

Must admit I think I am enjoy Pro Evo Wii too much to bother getting this

but gosh I just can't take soccer games serious besides PES

Then evidently you have no desire for a game that plays vaguely like football.

I loved the demo, particularly the Be a Pro mode which made me buy Fifa 08 straightaway.

Yea i'm getting sick to death of trying to play pro evo. The game has turned into unplayable rubbish.
And i'm a hard core pro evo fan.
Alot of people i know are turning to fifa and after playing the demo i think i'll be buying this.
It's smooth and your players dont make questionable passes, they dont run the ball of the field and the keeper is far more dependable.
The king is dead long live the king!

Coming from an avid Pro Evo fan of 8 years: I liked this Fifa demo, much so that I may buy it. For the first time ever I sold this years Pro Evo, I'd made my mind up after 20 seconds of my first match! It was a joke. I have a feeling it will be FIFA's year next year...

It should be noted that the PS3 version continues EA's vomit onto the console with almost unplayable frame-rates and horrid crowd graphics.

For me Fifa 08 was last years winner, i hate EA in most ways possible and mainly without reason (like most people lol) but i agree with the people saying the last Pro was a joke, you can't just keep using the same engine since the first ps2 version almost, its just lazy and all EA needed to do was make a proper next gen footy game which they finally did with '08.

Pro isnt realistic when the ball is being pinged around faster than a game of pinball fx, its just arcadey these days and as an avid football fan i want something deeper in the next-gen era, which is why konami are going to finally make a new engine, however there gonna have to go a bit this time round as EA are already on the right track, rather than trying to rectify something already broken like in the barrage of passed Fifas.

Only problem being in camp fifa now is all these mid year updates which just burns a hole in my pocket.

This is the game that is gonna kill konami for a long time. bravo EA, it took a decade but eventually they made a good football game.

@MisterSlimm - "It should be noted that the PS3 version continues EA's vomit onto the console with almost unplayable frame-rates and horrid crowd graphics."

Agreed. Owning both machines, I've tried the 360 and PS3 demos and the latter is definitely inferior: poorer framerate, no anti-aliasing (no surprise there really) and no grass effect when the camera gets close to the ground in the cinematics either. Granted these are work in progress demos and may not reflect the quality of the final games, I doubt they'll change for the actual release. Mind you, both games have their share of glitches like flickering players during set-pieces so I'd hope that that is fixed for the final game, although being EA I suspect that won't happen! ;)

i have to say..initially i hated it..it looked current gen compared to fifa 08..the lack of animtions really shows..e.g. look how the players arms flail around when they run!

but the gameplay...i agree...its the best football engine out.

Nice game, not long till PES09 blows everyone's brains out, though.

@chiz - That's what people were saying about PES2008 so I certainly won't be holding my metamorphical breath this year ... ;)

I'll rent it, eventually buy. PES seems to get clunkier for me - although I had a great 20 game marathon with my mate in a Man U vs Chelsea series.

I was dispointed with last years PES, I really expected more on all levels, but hey, after the first hour of frustration and after the first hour of admitting that Fifa08 looked mucb better, we came back to reality and had to admit that no matter how good a soccer game looks, if it doesen't feel right with gameplay its rubish, so rather play a dispointed PEs game then a lovely looking Fifa game.

i downloaded the demo from the PSN store and i must say that these version looks very impressive and much more user friendly then the last one (Fifa08), the gameplay is very accurate and now easier to control, the game is faster (closer to ProEvo) and the graphics look good, really good... i will buy it for sure, the only advantage ProEvo had when compared to FIFa is the gameplay, and even in that department i'm beginning to question it's superiority... Fifa is ultimately and specially after these version, the best football game you can get.

Played the demo, looks okay, but plays like crap. The fact you cant swap from analog to D pad did not help either.

The game is still not as good as PES 2008, and that was not great either this year, but still better than This and FIFA08

Bullshit, usual konami fanboy, pes 2008 is crap fifa 08 was a good game. Go play your beloved pes2008 on line and come back to apologize .

Big Swiss, imho, PES08 is pathetic. I mean, is a dribling festival. One can take the ball from one end of the field to the other. Very mediocre, much worse than FIFA08, nothing to do with licenses.

These pro pes2008 nuts are probably the same people running WENB blog, just lies lies lies and nothing more.

i'm so confused. very dissapointed with pes2008 but played the demo of both fifa08 and this and they both failed to impress me. the frame rate on ps3 is shocking. the cut scenes are as unwatchable as pes' replays. why can't they make football games work on this gen yet? think i might pick up a ps2 copy of pes08... think that seems to be the choice and the cheapest.

Good stuff, I sold my copy of FIFA08 to CEX for £22 to part fund this bad boy :D

I'm one of the unfortunate PS3 owners so EA insist on pissing on my chips but what choice do I have, I need a football game :(

/shakes fist at EA

Like the sound of this, Fifa08 was the best football game in a while, soundly trouncing PES for once, so an incremental improvement on that can't be bad. The completely differing stadia/pitches/atmosphere will be a nice exercise in giving a sense of context to qualifying alright, look forward to that. Also, about to take the plunge and buy one of them fancy G3 consoles, probably the PS3, so be a good opening game for that methinks.

Damn, I'm gonna have to buy this, gameplay and atmosphere were very impressive from the demo.

Enjoyed the demo especially the 2 player be a pro mode. Had lots of fun with a mate trying to control the game with 2 people. I think the game as a whole felt better than Fifa08 which itself was better than the last Pro Evo. I used to love Pro Evo but while Konami remain cheapskates and not pay for the license I'm gonna stick with Fifa as it seems to be just as good now if not better.

@Big Swiss,

I understand your affection for ProEvo, but the series is definately going in the wrong direction (imho) while the EA games are going in the right one. But then, it's just like racing games where people have their favourites.

FIFA is now something like PGR4, with solid physics and environments which are rooted in reality but just hightened a touch to make it fun to pull off some cool moves. PES08, on the other hand, is more like Sega Rally where the physics, speed and environments have been exaggerated significantly in an attempt to create a pure "arcade" experience.

Personally I prefer PGR4 to Sega Rally and therefore preferred FIFA08 to PES08.

@immateriaux,

Just be aware that you are unlikely to get such a good EA experience on the Sony console, if EA's past history is anything to go by.

For once I agree with miiguel. WTF Swiss?!

Fifa shits all over PES right now. I mean in PES 08 you actually could just give the ball to your keeper and run the pitch. Fifa 08 plays like actual football, you can beat players (though not easily) but you'll be rewarded more by exploiting gaps in the other team and finding players in space.

Just got Fifa 08 in the end because I prefer playing with clubs instead of Nationals, and it is a blast. Played all night online, even won a match, and enjoyed it every single second. After 10 years of wait, this is another Fifa that really delivers the goods. Pro Evo for me now is dead, still have Pro Evo 6 but there's really no comparision.

After playing the game I've tried again the Euro 08 demo; still loved it, it is a little bit more fluid than Fifa 08, but I prefer the original pacing to the faster one of Euro 08. Let's just hope EA doesn't start making the game faster and faster just like Konami did...

can't read the strapline...design flaw

FIFA08 is brilliant (IMO lol) been playing it since launch :P but I am almost definitely getting EURO08, just seems to have everything 08 had, but faster! I loved the demo, and look forward to putting right the wrongs of the past hehe :P It helps if you're a bit football nutty hehe

MARTIN KORDA:

Was it the real andorra stadium or a generic stadium assigned to andorra?? How many stadia are in the game? Which teams are not licensed???

I mean if u are a game journalist you need to give us some infos about the game, not only some impressions. cheers.

But where was the career mode? Thankfully, UEFA Euro 2008 looks set to rectify that omission.

Captain Your Country is a mode in which you and up to three other players (either human or AI-controlled) choose a player from your favourite European (international) team and embark on a twenty-five match campaign, during which you must outperform your rivals and earn the right to become captain.

Err... 25 matches is less than the 38 game season you got in FIFA 2008.

I loved the Be A Pro mode, but felt somewhat let down by the fact that once it was over, that was it - my player was no longer able to gain experience and was stuck with a whopping rating of 70.
Not only that, there wasn't a proper league system either, so there was no incentive to win the game - instead my mate and I would pass the ball around for the first 40 minutes just to complete our objectives (e.g. call for the ball 100 times) and let the result take care of itself.

And to all the PES fans that have slated this year's version (Wii excepted), I totally agree. And I'm not an EA fanboy, quite the opposite. FIFA 2008 is the first FIFA game I've bought since 2000, while I have every single PES since PES2. Konami hit their heights with PES4. PES5 was frustrating, PES6 wasn't much better and PES 2008 is, as asharkman says, unplayable rubbish.

Come on Konami, pull your (collective) finger out!

Sorry to post a rival link, but very interesting review on Hexus today.
http://gaming.hexus.net/content/item.php...

@ praetorian

You're talking about PS2 FIFA.
The NG version didn't have a career mode for Be a Pro.