FIFA Soccer 2004 (EA Sports, PC G)

By PETER ELEY

(Herald rating: * * * *)

Just as we say goodbye to the ugly game (thanks, England) for a few months, EA launch their version of the beautiful one.

It's Martin Johnson versus David Beckham and, on looks at least, soccer wins. This is the Real Madrid of soccer games and it has made a huge leap forward with this year's version.

The most noticeable feature is the much-improved graphics. The players look like the real thing, and move much more fluidly. Highly detailed grounds and crowds add to the realism as do some superb sound effects.

The gameplay is much better, too. You can control players off the ball, an important feature in real soccer. This feature lets you control up to three players and lets you interpass between them.

It's quite complex, but incredibly satisfying to send Ryan Giggs sprinting down the wing with the ball, decoying the defence with Robin Scholes and slipping a pass for van Nistelrooy to slip home.

The overall artificial intelligence has been tweaked to make the game more lifelike, especially on defence. You have to earn your goals now, and wild strikes from any part of the pitch are unlikely to burst the onion bag, as the saying goes.

Free kicks are now controlled by power meters, and this will suit budding Beckhams, who fancy their chances at bending one round the goalie.

Many other features of the game are quite different from the last version, such as dribbling and passing. These can be quite hard to master at the top level, but much of the game is customisable down to arcade level which will suit less expert players.

* Email Peter Eley