I'm a fanboy. I have been a fanboy for quite some time now. I respect fanboys. I understand them, because I am one. Huh? Oh no no no, I don't mean the kind you are thinking of, so please wipe that bloody drool from your keyboard and rest the bursted blood vessel in your right eye. You see I'm not a petty console fanboy fairy, but instead one of the variety that really matters: A football game fanboy.

Two years ago I was a man possessed by the power of the Pro Evolution Soccer series. I would practically spit in the faces of those who told me they played Fifa, a game that was clearly behind the times in the genre. The EA Sports title would try and try (until it was blue in the face) to simulate the sport but would continuously trip over itself in doing so.



Pro Evo was just pure class. I converted a number of friends with number 3 in the series. They found that being able to see the sponsor on their favourite team's shirt or hear the superior commentary was no longer important when Pro Evolution Soccer flowed the way it did, and continued to until.... Well, until last year when, out of nowhere, Fifa 08 spanked PES 2008 all over the park. Both online and offline, Fifa had upped it's game, while PES became stale and I was converted. After years and years of stauncher than staunch criticism for the series and loyalty to Konami's once great game, I was gone. I was now over on the darkside, but somehow felt like a footballing Jedi - while Konami promises of patches to cover up lag (on and offline) were, to me, an insult.

So, Fifa 09. It's a year on since my rebirth and I can happily say that EA have gone out of their way to improve on everything possible from last year's iteration. The physics are incredible. Players bounce off of one another, due to the collision detection system now employed. This means when you are controlling, say, the powerhouse that is Emmanuel Adebayor of Arsenal, and are chasing a ball alongside a slightly smaller defender, you can out muscle them and reach the ball if you are determined enough. Headers too are hotly contested with players often hitting the deck if challenged by a player who is stronger in the air, while timing of jumps as well as jostling for position before the ball comes down are all important (a mistimed leap can result in a striker pouncing in on goal behind the defence).

The finishing has been worked on massively as one-on-one situations can end in any number of ways, with ball physics really feeling like they should, rather than a leather bag of rocks that Fifa all too often presented us in the past. Passing is based entirely on how long you hold the pass button down for, making the game feel how a simulator should. This goes for so many aspects of the game, as you really feel in control of the destiny of the ball - it's just all about how much composure and patience you have in your build-up play, as well as your skill level, as players move into great positions and signal when and where they want the ball played to them. It makes for a truly living and breathing football match.



Graphically the game is absolutely superb. The stadiums are fantastically well recreated, as you'd expect, while player models have become sleeker and more realistic. EA's familiar menu screens are perfect for the game, while the soundtrack includes some really great music (CSS and Ladyhawke FTW!) and the commentary from Sky Sports (here in the UK anyway) stalwarts Martin Tyler and Andy Gray is second-to-none.

With Be A Pro mode giving you the chance to create yourself and play for your club and country and a strong online community, including 10 vs 10 squads, Fifa 09 is the ultimate football experience. Time will tell whether this one will live to out muscle Pro Evo 4 as my favourite footie game to date but, right now, I'm a massive Fifa Fanboy and am playing the most immersive football game I have ever had the joy of playing.