Score: By: Andrew Castenmiller Date: Thursday, 03 June, 2004
UEFA Euro 2004
Game Type: Action
Developer: EA Sports
Publisher: EA Sports
Platform: PS2, Xbox, Gamecube
Another season over. Thankfully the Beckham scandals and transfer rumours can be put on a hold as Euro 2004 approaches. Until then, put the fate of your country in your own hands with EA Sports Uefa Euro 2004.
As an avid Pro Evolution Soccer player, I was a little reluctant to switch back to a soccer game made by EA Sports. Nothing has changed about my view about PES, that it is undoubtedly the best soccer game on the planet, but just because of that it's no excuse to write off Uefa Euro 2004. This game is a very good game in it's own right, and in many areas it out-does all other soccer games.
Presentation - 8/10
The presentation, as always with an EA Sports game, is exceptional. The license has been used to its full, with the exception of Holland which is made up of all fake players. The whole game is centred on the European Championships, but not just the finals. You can take any one of 51 nations through the qualifying process which is followed by the finals, dealing with injuries, suspensions and player morale along the way. There are a variety of songs by European artists, keeping in touch with what the tournament's all about, including the official song 'Forca', by Nelly Furtado who appropriately is of Portuguese roots. It is definitely what you'd expect from a FIFA game. Although looking back at the FIFA series my personal favourite in capturing the event was EA Sports FIFA World Cup 2002, which had the World Cup feel and atmosphere even in the menus. While Euro 2004 is still good in presentation terms, I feel that World Cup 2002 should be the benchmark in capturing a tournament which Euro 2004 just doesn't do quite as well.
Game Play 7/10
Euro 2004's gameplay is an improvement on FIFA 2004, but it isn't a huge overhaul. Even though the changes are subtle, it does make for a better gameplay experience. Wing play is now more prominent, the crossing system has been improved and long shots are more realistic as they are less successful. There are new skill moves which can help you get past an opponent, along with the addition of fake shots, chip through passes and chip shots. Chip through passes can work well but the chip shot seems useless, as is always seems to go almost straight up in the air leaving plenty of time for the goalkeeper or defenders to clear the ball. There's also the addition of diving headers and bycycle kicks, of which there seem to be too many of, but it's still nice to see these things added.
One area that could do with improvement is player movement around the pitch. This is where off-the-ball control comes into play. Performing the off-the-ball movement with the right analogue stick is just too confusing and too difficult for the average player. Fortunately there's a button to trigger the player runs which is the main way to split the defence. Once you can put that to good use then there shouldn't be too many problems. But even when there is good player movement up the pitch it's difficult to spot, as the there is no option anymore to display a radar on the screen in this version.
Direct free kicks are done in a similar fashion to how golf swings were performed on the computer in the past. You aim, put the power you want and then try and hit the button in the green area for better accuracy. This sort of technique went out of golf games a couple of years ago and a more realistic alternative is probably needed for soccer as well. At least it's easy to figure out and get used to. One annoying flaw is that often you are forced to take direct free kicks from impossible areas. Worse still, is that set pieces in general are often taken with the wrong foot of whoever's taking it. Just playing as the French team I noticed players including Henry, Trezeguet, Thuram, Gallas and Vieira taking penalties and free kicks with their left foot, whereas natural left footers like Lizarazu and Silvestre were taking them with their right foot. No wonder EA are looking for more researchers because when every second player in the game has an incorrect preferred foot then there's obviously a problem.
Gameplay in general can be tweaked a bit. It's all just a bit too slow, controls could be more responsive, ball physics still can do with some working and problems such as goalkeepers catching thunderbolt shots from 5 metres out take away from the realism. Overall the gameplay is good, but it still would need a complete overhaul in order to compare to the realism of Pro Evolution Soccer. At least it is unique and something different if PES isn't your style.
Graphics - 8/10
Graphics have always been a strong point of any EA Sports game and this version is no different. I do however hesitate to say that I do think the graphics of the FIFA series have been a little overrated, including Euro 2004. The lighting is excellent, as are the stadiums, along with some very good player (and even referee) faces and nice detail like dirt on shorts. However it still seems some way behind other sports games, like any recent Basketball title, take ESPN NBA Basketball for example, which has immense detail. Cut scenes in Euro 2004 are however very realistic, especially during the handing out of yellow and red cards. Animations are also very fluent, with some awesome skill moves, but aren't quite on par with Pro Evolution Soccer. They are captured very well but sometimes, particularly during shooting, they can be unconvincing. Other areas that could to with improvement are the nets. The nets just don't look or move realistically once you've smashed the ball past the goalkeeper and into it. There's also frame rate problems during some matches in the Xbox version, which is ridiculous to say the least given the power of the console. But having said all that, disregarding the frame rate problems that are rare occurrences, it still is the best-looking soccer game to date.
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