FIFA Soccer 08 [PS2]

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It's hard not to get excited about the annual release of EA's FIFA franchise. This season we were promised more leagues and teams, new skill moves, a clever Be A Pro mode, and the most satisfying FIFA gameplay to date. But, inevitably, FIFA 08 does what its predecessors did before it: excellent graphics, sound and presentation elements capped off with lackluster gameplay.

Keep in mind that 08 is a marked improvement over last year's next-gen effort, dogged by silly AI and Swiss cheese goaltenders. Some may even say that FIFA 08 is a realistic soccer sim in which goals are seldom and the satisfaction is in the offensive build up. We, on the other hand, say that players are slow and clunky, and even the best offenses such as Arsenal have trouble scoring against doormats like Derby, no matter the difficult setting.

Offenses are now armed with slick skill moves like step-overs and Ronaldinho's flip flap, although they aren't as effective as expected for the game's most agile players. Not even Cristiano Ronaldo's sterling step-overs -- an all out seizure from the waist down -- seem to faze cement-footed defenders. Instead, players get into open space by accelerating from a slow jog to a jailbreak sprint, which never seems to fail along the wing. But from there, probing the defense and creating offensive chances proves difficult as defenders suddenly become impervious to attack. Yes, goals are that much more rewarding, but they tend to feel as products of dumb luck rather than a monumental offensive triumph.

The defense is not nearly as stalwart in multiplayer games and the added presence of a friend suddenly renders defensive AI as meaningful as a Spice Girls reunion tour. The only plays to be made are usually done by your selected player as the CPU takes a hands-off approach. While EA boasts that its AI uses a "35-point decision engine" and "1,000 potential player reactions per second," we would have preferred if our CPU-controlled brethren "played defense."

Still, FIFA 08 improves in both passing and shooting as you have noticeably more control over the trajectory of long, aerial passes and cracks from the top of the box. The only real hole in the passing game -- and it's a doozy -- is the lack of control when waiting to receive a pass. Your player is simply stuck in the mud as a slow roller approaches, and these are too often intercepted. On the pitch, fans are still going to enjoy EA's revamped gameplay, but the occasional, aforementioned gaffes are more frustrating than watching a marathon session of Footballers' Wives.