When This Is Football came into the office we were expecting schoolboys in the park, jumpers for goalposts and all that. Instead we found Sony's first attempt at a PlayStation FIFA beater.
Andy Ashwin

Well is it?
What? A FIFA beater?

No, that's a given. Is it football?
Of course it's not. It's a videogame, and first impressions suggest that it's a pretty darn good one. It looks dead nice, with some lovely motion-captured animation and a plethora of national and club teams. The general consensus in the office is that it's a kind of cross between Actua and ISS.

In what way?
Well, Actua Soccer 3 delivers a more simulation-type experience, where you have absolute control over what the players do on the pitch at the expense of fancy moves. This sense of freedom has established Actua as an office favourite for over a year. This Is Football has a similar feel but with some of ISS's more arcade qualities thrown in for good measure.

Nice. So how does it feel?
The controls are very intuitive - all you really need are two buttons, one for pass and the other for shoot. However, after a bit of practice you'll be adding more tricks to your arsenal, like the 'one-two' pass and the 'give-and-go'. Both are achieved without learning an agonising string of button presses. To perform the 'one-two' you simply tap pass twice and hope that your player is in position to receive the returned ball. The 'give-and-go' involves tapping the pass button once, followed by an immediate press and hold. Now you'll be in control of the runner, so you'll need to find space before releasing the button to complete the move.