The UEFA Euro Championships only come around every four years. They're sort of like the Olympics of European football in that way. While UEFA 2008 might lack several of the authentic teams and stadiums seen in FIFA, its gameplay has been tuned and refined enough to warrant the attention of football diehards.
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UEFA EURO 08 Cover
The poor quality of EA's two-a-year FIFA-licensed games (World Cup and Champions League of late) has irritated me for multiple seasons. Not so with UEFA Euro 2008, though: The follow-up to the acclaimed FIFA 08 has dulled my doubts about this annual double play. Instead of coming off as a money grab, Euro 2008 is an inspired piece of work -- not just a shimmering semisequel.
UEFA EURO 08 stadium screenshot
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As you'd expect with a franchise game like this it is literally plastered with official logos and stylings. I suppose you must be paying for something. To give you a greater feel of participating all eight stadiums are lovingly recreated. It is obvious that a lot of time and attention has been paid to creating player likenesses and a first (for me) actual team manager likenesses, too. Miss a golden opportunity and you are now faced with rather sour looking Steve McClaren in a tracksuit.
UEFA EURO 08 some tricks screenshot
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Something new to the franchise is the Battle of the Nations tournament. Beautifully described by the enigmatic Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend as you load up the game. Essentially this feature means that whenever you play a game in Euro 2008 as long as you are connected to the internet your scores with be added to an online leaderboard where the nations are battling it out until the end of the actual real world tournament. When you start you are asked to choose a country you would like to represent, this doesn't have to be your own country but once selected it cannot be changed. Then throughout playing the rest of the game you are awarded points for your performances, you do not need to play as your chosen country for these points to count. Play as a worse country against stiffer opposition and you will earn more points.
UEFA EURO 08 ronaldinho hitting the ball in the air screenshot
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The first thing to note about UEFA Euro 2008 is that it plays very similarly to FIFA 08, no matter which version you opt for. On PSP, PS2 and PC you get a game that plays remarkably similar to Pro Evolution Soccer, whereas on Xbox 360 and PS3 you get the completely new next-gen engine that we've had for a few years now. It's the next-gen versions that seem to have received most attention, with the gameplay now flowing better than in FIFA 08. It still doesn't feel quite there (at times you'll be knocking the ball about in midfield like you're playing pinball) but EA is certainly one step closer to nailing it - excellent news for footie fans seeing as PES seems to be going in the opposite direction.
UEFA EURO 08 italy VS spain screenshot
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The excitement of Euro 2008 comes not from tweaks to passing, shooting, crossing, tackling and heading - although veterans might spot a few nips and tucks, such as more easily definable passing meter, more satisfying header contests and better turning - but from the plethora of new modes and how well they play to the game's strengths. The headliner is Battle of the Nations, which is introduced - at length - the first time you load the game up.
The biggest feature addition to UEFA 2008 on current-gen systems was the Captain Your Country mode which allowed players to choose a player from their favorite team and participate in a kind of Superstar-style (the feature from Madden with the third-person camera angle that's locked on one player of your choosing) mode. Sadly, the PS2 doesn't see quite the same treatment. You don't get a new camera perspective, nor do you advance your four chosen players up through the B-team and onto the international squad. Instead you'll have the option to pick up to four players and play a fairly standard game while controlling only one of them. There are no helpful indicators on the field and there's no attribute advancement after the match, but at least the mode is here in some form.
UEFA EURO 08 managar screenshot
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So, on the pitch things are really rather good. Long-time PES players can once again choose to play using a control layout that mimics Konami's classic series, so the learning curve isn't as tough as it once was. Being an officially licensed product of UEFA Euro 2008, you won't find any of the club teams that you get in FIFA, or the likes of Brazil and Argentina; this is strictly international teams from Europe, including those that failed to make it into the tournament proper. England, Cough.
UEFA EURO 08 rooney taking penalty shot screenshot
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Online leagues also come stock in UEFA EURO 2008, which tells us that every EA soccer game from here on out will automatically come with an online league structure. Other notable ways to play UEFA EURO 2008 include a “Story of Qualifying” mode, which is a take on the Challenges section of past FIFA affairs. Instead of drawing from ancient soccer history, however, EACA took bits-and-pieces of the ’08 qualifying rounds and kneaded them into interesting objectives. Some of these are basic and quite easy, but others are as frustrating as those past FIFA Challenges and may seem unfair to the casual player.Euro Online Knockout Cup lets you play in 16-player online tournaments; and Story of Qualifying lets you replay or rewrite moments in European Championship history. On top of this there's the usual array of online game options, including one-off friendlies and leagues.
UEFA EURO 08 challenging the goaly screenshot
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The next mode that will attract football faithfuls is the European Campaign which instructs you to pick your favorite international stable of players and tour them around different parts of Europe, completing specific challenges in different scenarios. There will be games that are only shootouts, certain matches that need to be won by a certain margin, and other challenges of a similar type. It's more of a distracter from the standard action than anything else, but it is something for PS2 owners to hold over the heads of 360 and PS3 adopters.
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UEFA EURO 08 disapionted sreenshot
Yet another progressive mode, albeit more forgiving, is entitled Captain Your Country. It works off of the principle of zero-to-hero, whereby users have the chance to move up to the big leagues if they perform well. A solid create-a-player (the breakdowns of skill attributes is tremendous) allows Captain Your Country hopefuls to be cast out of individual molds. Those wanting to jump right in can choose an existing player if they so desire, however, but it’s worth the extra effort to start from scratch. As in FIFA’s Be a Pro, or Madden’s pigskin take, Captain Your Country is a mode that locks a user into a set position. The good news is that this has been handled much more thoroughly than its predecessors, and is actually a great way to play UEFA EURO 2008.
