The FIFA series has been a busy little bee over the last two or three years. Firstly, the previous generation versions have been morphed into something which actually reflects the sport of football. Additionally, since the introduction of the series to the next-generation in FIFA 2006 (as a Road to World Cup release), the developers have built modes around their all new next-gen engine every year to the point where it now offers the multitude of features that the discerning Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 owner demands.

Firstly - and let's get this straight right off the bat - FIFA is not Pro Evo. While it's fair to say that FIFA has moved towards a more organic and realistic football representation over the last few years, it simply doesn't (and probably never will) present the same gameplay style that Pro Evo does. The manager's shouts from the dug-out and half-time slices of orange in the locker room realism of Pro Evo, just isn't FIFA. FIFA is the glitz and glamour of football superstars with their lavish 12 room properties, Hummers in the driveway and page three girls on their arm.

Now that's said and done, the most touted new feature in FIFA 08 is the 'Be a Pro' mode. This might just be the most exciting and original new feature in a footie game since Sensible Soccer introduced aftertouch swerve to the genre. In 'Be a Pro', you're locked to one player for the duration of a game. This means holding your position on the field, calling for passes or long balls and finding space. For this type of gameplay to work, the developers needed to introduce advanced enough AI to ensure that you only get passed to when you're in a good position, and the EA Canada guys have definitely succeeded in doing this. If you keep calling for a pass when you're marked then you'll get nowhere. Another nice touch is the camera, which seamlessly zooms in and out depending on your position and proximity to the ball. Also, when you start sprinting with the ball you get the much loved 'CNN' shaky cam effect (a bit like Gears of War when you run for cover).

On the next-gen versions, the only available single player mode for 'Be a Pro' is a training game. It allows you to play in an exhibition match as your footballing hero. This would've been rather limited if it's all that was on offer but, thanks to all that is good and true in the world, EA have promised that gamers will be able to go online with up to nine other players (five on each side) and compete in 'Be a Pro' online matches. This will apparently be available as a downloadable feature six to eight weeks after release. While we're a little frustrated that it won't be a playable online mode out of the box, we're also licking our lips like a salamander at the prospect because the short training feature truly is a lot of fun.

Speaking of the online features on the next-gen game, EA really have gone all out to please their PSN/Xbox Live gamers, adding the successful 'Interactive Leagues' from the previous generation formats to the next-gens for the first time. For those not in the know, 'Interactive Leagues' pit players against each other in matches that reflect real life fixtures. The results of the many thousands of online matches are then tallied up to give an overall result that can then be compared to the real life outcome. Both the 'Be a Pro' and 'Interactive Leagues' new modes for online play add to a host of other features (online leagues, ranked and unranked matches - the online FIFA world truly is your oyster).

But, without good core gameplay none of this really means anything, so ears pricked everyone. The next-gen game has seen considerable improvements since last year. Ball physics can be credited for some of this as the pig's bladder now swerves, dips and takes flight in more believable ways than we've seen previously on the Xbox 360/PS3. Going hand in hand with this are the improved shooting mechanics and animations of players. The direction of your shot varies more realistically depending on what position you find yourself in and the shot you try to pull off. So, if the ball is coming into you awkwardly and you try to pull off a shooting angle that will contort your player's body in ways that cause herniated discs, the result will be a pretty poor shot. This is also affected by the footie player's weight distribution when they shoot. In other words, teeing up shots nicely will result in the most effective result.

AI has been knocked up a notch as well (although not with a spice weasel). Goals are harder to come by and breaking down the opposing team's defense takes careful probing attacks and relies on holding onto possession. We did come across a couple of peculiarities though, such as the AI's uncanny ability to knock in free kicks at a rate of about one in every three or four good opportunities - clearly this doesn't reflect the success rates of free kicks in the Premiership and means that set-pieces on the edge of the box really can't be given away. Speaking of which, we also felt that we were unfairly penalised for a few too many good challenges although, what football fan or player doesn't think that?

While the AI has seen improvements, attacking play still feels a little bit two dimensional. Creating scoring opportunities still tends to depend far too much on repetitive one-twos and crossing into the box hopefully. Basically, throw it about enough and something's got to stick. The gamer is rewarded too much for this type of 'Conference' play, meaning that subtleties and nuances of the beautiful game (such as lightning counter attacks, deftly weighted passes and pin-point long balls) are less important. This is ironic, given the series' stress on flashy skills and superstar players which, again ironically, seem to provide more style than substance in-game.

Another area where the title still falls down is its failure to make one player seem different from the next. Other than basic abilities and attributes such as pace, playing with Ronaldhino still feels irritatingly similar to playing with Mark Viduka. This is something that the FIFA series has continuously fallen down on since its very first game in the early to mid nineties. I guess some things will never change.

However, the graphics on the next-gen machines have been given a lot of spit and polish this year. The visuals look more convincing, drawing you into the illusion that you're actually at a Saturday afternoon game in a stadium of thousands, rather than the slightly ethereal graphics of FIFA 07. Player likenesses of the FIFA all-stars (i.e. Ronaldo, Ronaldhino, Rooney, somebody else beginning with R) are nicely rendered, and the mo-capping has made for some smooth and realistic animations of the player's in-game.

As for the previous gen version, it refuses to go quietly into the night and is still churning out original features left right and centre. It also brandishes the 'Be a Pro' feature but, unlike the next-gen machines, gamers won't be able to go online with the mode. Instead, PS2 gamers have been treated to the 'Be a Pro: co-op season'. In short, you choose a player (or create one) and play solely as him in a season of games. Your player then improves depending on whether or not you complete certain individual and team tasks (i.e. complete 10 successful passes). The 'co-op' part of the mode allows you to play with three other guys locally (each as one player on the same team). Given that there's no online play, you would expect this 'co-op season' mode for the 'Be a Pro' feature, but it's good fun nonetheless.

The all round play has been nicely spruced up similarly to the improvements on the next-gens. Better AI, more realistic gameplay and better ball physics/player shooting mechanics make for a more engaging FIFA experience. But, the team responsible for the PS2 and PC versions of FIFA 08 at EA Canada has also managed to add in a couple of unique control/gameplay features that aren't on the next-gens. Manual Crosses and through balls are the standard control setting, forcing you to get used to gameplay that's quite awkward at first, but very intuitive and rewarding after a few games (N.B. on the next-gens, players can choose to control manual passes by changing the settings, but this just makes passes uncontrollable rather than intuitive).

Another nice touch is the ability to manually control your keeper by clicking the R3 button. He can then be brought out for a user controlled dive or positioned on corners and free kicks. To balance out these new abilities, EA Canada has done something rather special with the freekicks. Let's say you position yourself for a curler into the top-left corner: the opposing player can then move his goalkeeper over there prior to the kick to stop the shot easily. To counter this, you can move to aim towards the right side of the goal but keep the camera frozen. It's a nice little touch that really livens up three kicks. There's also a similar feature for when the ball goes into touch down the sidelines, which finally makes footie game throw-ins fun rather than tedious. We look forward to seeing these clever little PS2 additions winging their way onto the PS3/Xbox 360 titles in the coming years.

In both the next-gen and previous-gen games, depth is added to the single player experience with the stalwart 'Manager Mode'. Here you're tasked with various tricky situations such as signing up youngsters, dealing with the press and getting the right sponsorship deal, while all the time retaining the morale and performance of players on your team.

As a final note, the soundtracks on both games are actually quite good. This is particularly the case on the PS2 which has an eclectic mix of world music that I'd like to have on my iPod, let alone a game. Our theory is that this is because FIFA has such an appeal worldwide, there are roughly 120 million PS2 owners and EA has realised they need to please a wide audience. After all, variety is the spice of life.