UEFA Euro 2008

In what already amounts to an extremely well-realised mode (in single or multiplayer), perhaps the element that really elevates it is the quality of the AI, and how frequently your team-mates read your intentions or play the ball with precision. Playing it entirely with CPU AI can be more rewarding in the initial stages, simply because they're likely to be far better at reading the play, but further down the line, with more experienced players by your side, the Captain Your Country mode becomes one of best additions to a football game in years.

Elsewhere, some of the most pleasing aspects of Euro 2008 are vanity tweaks, like the introduction of personalised commentary. If you're blessed with a relatively common surname (around 200 are supported), you can live the dream with Clive Tyldesley bellowing in triumph or berating you or harping on about that night in Barcelona. Similarly pandering to our need for personal glory, the new interactive celebration is a pointless but brilliant inclusion, giving you about ten seconds to pull off a signature move, like the Shearer salute or an aeroplane, with a further option to kneel and point to the sky, slide on your knees, chest, or bait the away fans. It all adds to the sense of fun and drama. Other minor tweaks worthy of praise are more general improvements like the team-specific chants, or shouts of frustrated derision from individuals in the crowd. Or the little pools of water on specific parts of a pitch which slow the ball down. Or. Or or or.

To add a final gloss, you can also run through a bunch of 'what-if' scenarios in the Story of Qualifying mode. Similar to previous, internationally-flavoured FIFAs, the game throws up all manner of quirky challenges at a specific point in one of the real-life qualifiers. For example, rescue Bulgaria from the jaws of a certain 2-0 defeat, or match the 13-0 scoreline Germany racked up against the hapless San Marino. None of this, of course, makes up for the utter farce of allowing Croatia to humble England following the People's Hero's heroic equaliser, but it will have to do (and success, happily, unlocks the 2004 campaign if you fancy reliving past failures). You also have the option of controlling an entire qualifying campaign, followed by the upcoming tournament proper, but then you probably expected that. More exciting are online elements like the Euro Online Knockout Cup, with support for up to 16 players, not to mention regular one-off online multiplayer games.