A fantastic game for hardcore soccer fans and newbies alike.

I have to admit it, I'm not the biggest fan of sports or sport games. They usually are aimed at die-hard fans and are hard to pick up and play. But imagine my surprise when I started to play UEFA Euro 2004. This is one soccer game that is very easy to get into.

Installation of the game was a breeze. Simply insert the first disc and follow the menus until it asks for the second disc. That's the only CD swapping that you have to do and I doubt that the second CD will leave your computer's drive any time soon.

The first menu that you see contains different game modes such as Play Now, which is basically a quick match, UEFA 2004, the career or tournament like mode, Play Online which, of course, allows you to go online and compete, the My Euro settings area and the Modes area which allows you to choose from different modes such as Practice, Fantasy, and Situation.

If you're unfamiliar with soccer or have never played a soccer sim then you'll definitely want to check out Practice Mode first. This mode allows you to get used to the button layout, practice your shooting, play a never-ending game and much more.

Once you think you're ready then it's time for the UEFA Euro 04 tournament. When you first start you're asked to pick two teams out of the 51 qualifying UEFA teams. You will then be presented with a new set of menu's that allow you to manage your team, keep track of morale and injuries and more. Managing your team doesn't seem too important at first but you will soon find out that if your entire teams morale is low then they will not perform well and substitutions must be made.

A nice touch to EUFA Euro 2004 is the fantasy and situations modes. In fantasy mode you will be allowed to take players from all 51 nations and create your dream team. Situation mode will allow you to customize an entire game, from the quarter that you start playing to the amount of yellow and red cards a team has. Other than these differences these modes play like a regular quick match.

As far as graphics go Euro 2004 will not disappoint. The players are very detailed and you can usually recognize a player from his digital counterpart. Their animations are fluid and if someone doesn't know that its a game that you're playing they think that you're watching an actual soccer match on your PC.

Commentary by John Motson and Ally McCoist is also fantastic. And unlike other sports commentators the two make a brilliant team. The calls and friendly banter between Motson and McCoist sets the perfect feeling for the game and make it feel as if your actually sitting at home watching the game.

Even with all the great things there are to say about UEFA Euro 2004 there are still some drawbacks to the game. While these flaws don't subtract from the whole experience they do become bothersome at times.

The first, and biggest, complaint is that the referees are just too good. Although it makes the game more challenging you sometimes get frustrated when you're given a yellow or red card for something that is very minor and then computer opponents turn around and perform a horrible sliding tackle and they never get called for it.

Another flaw that I noticed is that there really isn't a tutorial mode that teaches you the ins and outs of a soccer game. This one small mode could save newbies countless hours of questioning yourself as to why you got called for an off-side.

It would have also been helpful for teaching you how to perform impressive moves like a bicycle kick. The other factor that doesn't make this game newbie-friendly is the complicated keyboard defaults. While they are difficult to figure out at first after a few hours you'll be passing and shooting like a pro.

There was also some sound issues. I found that in certain modes that sound sometimes stutters during replays. At first I thought that something was running in the background that was causing the hiccups but after shutting down all the background applications and updating my drivers the problem was still there. If EA releases a future patch this problem will probably be addressed but for now you either have to skip the replay or tolerate the sound problem.

The last problem that I found with the game is the Online mode. While the experience is quite fun it can be hard to find a match within your skill level. When I performed a quick match search the program found a whopping number of zero within the rookie skill level.

The good news is that if you create your own match people will usually find you. Also the online mode works well for people using dial-up. As long as you find someone with a low ping number you shouldn't have much of a problem keeping up.

When taken as a whole UEFA Euro 2004: Portugal is a fantastic game even with the above flaws. The game is great for hardcore soccer fans and people that haven't played a soccer game since the good ol' days of the Nintendo Entertainment System. With its pretty graphics, fluid animations, good controls and a wealth of modes UEFA 2004 should tide you over until next year's round of titles.


Review by Christopher Burkett.