So it offers instant playability and long-term depth?
Precisely.

How many teams are represented?
Over 230, consisting of more than 5,000 real players. The game has been developed in association with FIFPro (the Federation of International Professional Football Unions - and no, the acronym doesn't work), giving Sony access to 30,000 real footballers from across Europe, Africa and Asia. This means that all the players have correct names and many even resemble their real-life counterparts in appearance and playing style. Choose from umpteen national squads, as well as league teams from all over the world.

Can I add my local pub team?
The comprehensive team editor allows you to tinker with existing squads (useful for keeping everything bang up-to-date) or create complete teams from scratch. Each player can also be tweaked in terms of name, attributes and even physical appearance. It's not exactly a new feature - you could do this in Sensible Soccer on the Amiga - but it's always a nice inclusion.

Groovy, providing Big Ron doesn't do the commentary!
Thankfully not. The action is interspersed with learned observations from ITV's Clive Tyldesley. He's no Motty but at least he's better than boring Big Ron or the excitable Jonathan 'Prat' Pearce.


Do say...
That really does look like David Beckham.

Don't say...
I only buy football games with a number in the title.