Burton's Bytes: The Premiership in pitch action

CHRISTMAS is coming and games publishers are unveiling their big guns in good time for the festive season.

Traditionally, the battle for football simulation supremacy on the PlayStation has been a two-way scrap between Electronic Arts (FIFA 2004) and Konami (Pro Evolution). This year, however, there's a joker in the pack and one with a pedigree good enough to give gamers pause before plumping for yet another FIFA/Pro Evo update.

Codemasters is one of the most successful UK games companies. It has produced a string of much-admired titles stretching back to the early days of 16-bit gaming.

Today, it boasts a portfolio of lucrative franchises (TOCA touring cars, the Colin McRae rally series and the LMA football management titles to name but three) that are the envy of the industry.

For its entry into the footie simulation genre, Codemasters has adopted a somewhat unusual method. Club Football places the emphasis firmly on your favourite team (provided, that is, you support one of the 17 teams Codemasters has signed up) and puts you firmly in the mix.

The main season mode encourages you to create a player in your own image to play for the team. The game allows for different hair colours, eyes, mouth, height etc but the results, for me at least, were disappointing. Despite fiddling for a good 15 minutes I still couldn't create a player who looked anything like me. Nor can you insert your own name into the game so you'll never hear the commentary praise your scoring ability or the last moment tackle that prevented a crucial goal.

Your character is allowed to play just about anywhere on the pitch. To match ability to position, you also get some skill points to tweak your attributes.

To be fair, you can edit player names and facial characteristics in Pro Evo but that feature feels like an after-thought rather than a key component of the game.

So how does Club Football play? The key ingredient shared by Codemasters' other franchises is "feel"; the driving titles, in particular, have cracked the art of creating that almost indefinable handling feel that places them among the very best.

Club Football offers excellent ball control. You can leave the game to calculate a pass or move the ball by pushing the joystick in the direction you want. Anything beyond a pass utilises a power meter that builds the longer you keep your finger on the button. This adds a degree of skill to Club Football that's missing from lesser footie titles. Go for a power shot and (as with Pro Evo 3 and FIFA) you could so easily just blaze the ball over the top of the goal as ripple the back of the net.

Tackling is more problematic. Slide tackles seem to invariably result in a free kick, a yellow card or even a straight sending off. Eventually, I opted to abandon the slide altogether. Interestingly, this criticism can also be levelled at Pro Evo 3. FIFA seems to have the tackle trick off to a finer art.

The graphics are sharp but a notch below the standard set by Konami's powerhouse and nowhere near the FIFA eye candy. Playing on the farthest camera setting does something strange to the ball, which seems to grow as the players shrink. It looks as though your team is hoofing about a Space Hopper.

It runs a touch faster than FIFA on standard settings (yes, the EA title still feels leisurely) and players respond sharply to your commands. FIFA retains the annoying habit of responding a split second after your button presses because the game has to trigger a nifty piece of animation. This isn't normally a problem but it can be infuriating if you are near the touchline and want to whip in a cross; the lag means your player simply runs the ball out. Of course the title Codemasters most wants to topple from its sporting pedestal is Pro Evolution Soccer 3 - by common agreement, the most playable of all soccer sims.

Pro Evo may have a lacklustre front end (something FIFA does so well) and a grim commentary track, but the quality of the gameplay is simply sublime.

It is far and away the most realistic of the big three football titles. The ball physics are affected by the weather, the time of the year and even the pitch itself; the referees play the advantage rule and your own team mates make mistakes that can result in own goals.

There are the usual leagues and cup competitions plus the ability to edit team names. The anally retentive will up-date this game throughout the season, the rest of us will keep our fingers crossed for a Datel up-date disc.

Alternatively, you could just buy the FIFA title that has every team and every player you could ever want. Presentation wise, the EA title has it wrapped up every time, although the way the pad thuds in your hands at a crucial penalty shoot out (it's supposed to be your heart beat) is a bit disconcerting.

So which of these three should football lovers hope to find in their Christmas stocking?

If you dream of one day leading out your favourite team in the Premiership, then Club Football is the one to go for. If you want all the glitz and glamour of the "big occasion" then FIFA is your pick. If, however, you simply must have the most realistic representation of the beautiful game then Pro Evo still reigns supreme (just).