Sick as a parrot
This is actually a spin off from EA's better known FIFA series and while it offers a decent game of soccer, you're probably better off with the main franchise for your footballing fun. It's not a bad game as such, just a little lacking in the flash and options of its parent and without which means it just ends up feeling a little bland and unmemorable. There's a greater focus here than in other similar games, concentrating only on the Premier League and it's here that the game falls down a bit. As with other such titles, you've got a mix of gameplay styles here, and you have to take care of certain managerial aspects like enhancing your players' abilities and looking after transfers, as well as taking to the pitch and looking after the action there. You can progress through an entire season, which includes league games, championships, internationals and so on, while challenges also pop up and which require you to complete certain tasks. You've got commentary from real world experts from the period, as well as music from the Ministry of Sound, just to round out the package. This certainly isn't a terrible football game and is worth picking up if you've exhausted all the challenge of the others on the market, but you might end up a little disappointed. It certainly delivers in the atmosphere department, with the usual decent visuals and sound which add to the sense of immersion, while the range of options on offer is also pretty good. The game is let down by its narrow focus however, and by a few other niggles which prevent it from being as enjoyable as it should have been, and which make it less than a must play.
