by
Ted Kritsonis
Faze Video Game Editor

With the Euro 2004 soccer tournament now over (with an historic championship from Greece), EA Sports capitalized on their agreement with UEFA and released the official game of the tourney, UEFA Euro 2004. If you’ve played FIFA 2004 then you’ll have no problem getting used to this game because the look and feel of both games are virtually the same.

The difference here, of course, is that Europe is the focus, with 51 countries at your disposal. From Scotland to the north, Russia to the east, Spain to the west and even Cyprus and Israel to the south, it’ll be easy to enjoy the kind of choices you have. A number of game modes are offered too, like Home and Away, Situation (you create the setting), Fantasy (where you put together your own dream team), PK Shootout and Practice.

Where the game really shines is in the sights and sounds, thanks to graphics that are consistently awesome and sounds that are incredibly realistic. The play-by-play is excellent (in both English and Spanish), with the passion from the fans coming out when they sing and chant from the stands. There is also a bunch of music tracks, mostly from Europe, though Nelly Furtado has a track in there too.

UEFA Euro 2004 is the perfect game to get you in the mood for soccer now that the tournament has come and gone. The game’s learning curve isn’t that hard and the general pace is enough to maintain a steady flow of action.

Publisher:
EA Sports

Platform:
PS2

Rating: 9/10