This is the next football game in a long line of titles due for release over the next few months to celebrate/coincide with the finals of the UEFA EURO 2004 tournament in Portugal this summer. Derek dela Fuente, our football fanatic, spoke with Joe Nickolls, Line Producer on the game, to find out more about what is already looking a masterpiece.

If you feel you are already well served with the likes of FIFA then this will offer the true essence of the EURO tournament. We are assured that there is nothing generic in the game when it comes to EURO 2004. All the new stadia are there, licensed national teams, right down to the national anthems – there’ll be no mistaking this is the official game of the tournament!

If you are concerned by the fact that this coming from the home and studio in Canada of FIFA then allay that fear, for this is no mere makeover. The Euro team is an entirely new team made up of some veterans from FIFA, and a lot of new talent hired from Europe.

You only have to read some of the unique new features in the game, which include new skill moves mapped to the analog stick, fake shots, bicycle kicks, diving headers, improved crossing model, etc., to see this has been created almost from scratch. Even the passing system has had an overhaul, with 2 methods of simple passing - the basic pass which finds the closest ‘best choice’ player and the new through pass that allows the user to head the ball to their team-mates. Joe’s comments added more weight. “It really feels different from FIFA in moves, speed and animation. One thing to remember is…. although it is made in Canada, the team that makes it is from around the world. Representatives from all over Europe have been brought on board to make this a true European Football title. Once people sit down and play the game for a few minutes – they’ll know it’s not FIFA.”

The team has worked hard to capture each nations ‘unique’ style and look for all 51 teams. For example, each team has tendencies; like playing the long ball, or having players that are both skilled at and likely to use crossing more than other teams. It was important that all the 51 teams were worked on because using each one will pose a unique challenge. Some of the smaller nations will have a tough time going up against the powerhouse teams like France, England, Italy, Spain, Germany, etc. but the reward will be great as a smaller team like Iceland will gain a big morale bonus for knocking off these teams.

“As far as Seeding goes, we’ve rated teams by skill and talent rather than an overall number. We’ve found that ‘seeding’ is often open to interpretation, and graphic bars indicate the strengths of each team.”

“And finally, Portugal is a great place to host a tournament like this, rich in history and passion for football. We’ve put effort into capturing the Portuguese ‘flavour’ in our menus, stadia, transitions, and even the lighting and weather in the Portuguese stadia.”

The morale system was highlighted when asked which was one innovation they were most proud of. Incidents and events that happen on and off the field will affect players’ performance. If you bench a star, his morale will go down and his play will suffer. Take a small team and knock out a powerhouse team, and your team will enjoy a morale boost – and in turn – a skill boost. It’s a game where you have to pay attention to your player’s mind-set, health and formation or winning it all will be extremely difficult.

Joe was eager to expand and give more details. “Pay attention to your pre-game reports. If you notice, for example, that one of your player’s morale is low, find out why, fix the problem and you should see improvement. It’s a real balancing act as well – if you have a player with low morale because he’s not in the starting 11, by moving him into the 11, someone else has to be moved off and he won’t like that. So now you’ve got player 1 happy to be a starter and player 2 feeling bad because he’s been removed from the starting 11. Add in other situations like being beaten in a previous game or a nagging injury and you’ve got a real challenge on your hands.”

A full blown experience only comes when the ambience of the event comes complete with a full representative feel of the country, Stadia, even climatic conditions of the tournament that it is set in, which in this case is Portugal. It goes without saying that this area is one where plenty of time and effort has been channelled!

“This is an area I’m particularly proud of. All of the new Portuguese stadia have been modelled from the ground up. From the exposed stonework in Braga to the huge Luz stadium, we’ve really captured it. Thousands of photos were taken of each stadium at varying stages of construction – from the bolts on the seats to the entrance tunnels – we’re really gone all out on our stadia. We’ve even redone the lighting on sunny days to make it look like it would in Portugal. The levels of light saturation have been adjusted to look and feel like a real Portuguese game. Nighttime games also have an authentic feel to them, as will dusk and rainy days. The weather in Germany and England is completely different from that in Portugal – and I think that will really shine through in our game.”

Extensive and disernable modes of play are on offer for all football fans. To start with – the EURO 2004 Mode is the title’s flagship mode. There is also a very robust Tournament Creator so you can play all kinds of tournaments with the rules you want. There are many friendly modes, as well including Home and Away (which is a 2 leg game where the aggregate score is taken into account to decide the winner). Fantasy Mode looks exciting and this is where you and a friend can put together your own dream team chosen from all of the European players available. Basically an all-star team could have Henry, Figo, Beckham, Zidane and Totti all playing together on one squad. There is also a situation mode where you can set all the conditions of the game – like how much time is left, how many players are carded, you name it.

Summing up, Joe gave some final thoughts on the future of football games and his parting shot.

“Well, the best indicator of the future is to look at the past. I remember when the first PS1 games came out, and as that console was maturing the games got better and better as we learned how to squeeze more out of the systems. We are only limited by storage space, memory and graphics and, as the consoles get better with new versions coming out. You’ll see things like real rain rendered on players, sweat and mud, better ball physics and shooting. I’ve been lucky enough to see what EA has planned for the future and truly – it is unbelievable.”

“You’ll buy it to play the Euro tournament, but the features we’ve packed into this game will keep you playing it for a long time afterwards.”

When summing up we feel that this is a real class act of a title; we’ve certainly been enjoying our time with the game, and think that FIFA fans (and critics) will certainly find surprises in store - we’ll have an extensive review of UEFA Euro 2004 later in the week.