Review: UEFA Champions League 07 (PSP)

It's only been half a year since Fifa 07 was released and already EA have seen fit to release another football game; this time cashing in on the Champions League. It is quite clear from the beginning that this really is just Fifa in new clothes.

Let someone play a match from Fifa and then Uefa Champions League and they'll seriously find it difficult to spot the difference. Gameplay is identical and although the last Fifa game was the best in quite a while, if you already own that then this release is automatically pointless. Football enthusiasts may get a kick out of the Champions League theme being blasted at the start and playing for the coveted trophy, but even such die hard football fans may question the choice to splash out.

If you haven't played the latest Fifa game then you may be in for a quality title. The passing play is excellent with your standard through balls, straight passes and lobs making up your offensive arsenal. Shooting is far trickier than previous EA football games, you have to really line up a shot and get a clear view of the net otherwise you'll end up hitting it wide or over the crossbar. It also makes it extremely satisfying when you hit an enormous shot from outside the penalty area. EA's sports games have come a long way since the days of winning 8-5.

As well as playing Champions League mode you also get The Treble mode. Just like it says you have to play through the league and cups in order to achieve the treble also giving you option to transfer your game over to the PS2. Rather than being straightforward matches it there are a number of objectives that need to be completed. These can be simple things like putting a playing in the starting eleven or to obtain a win from 1-0 down, but as the game progresses these become more difficult. Winning in matches will also give you points. These points are used in the shop to purchase new balls, stadiums and a special Uefa video giving you plenty to unlock. Aside from this you have the ultimate challenge where you can re-enact classic Uefa Champions League moments or maybe even change history, a couple of training modes to improve your skills and a quiz to test your football knowledge. Plenty of things to keep you occupied then, making it an incredibly worthwhile package, and not to mention the inclusion of online play.

Graphically it's a fairly competent title. When the play is zoomed out (the majority of the time) then it looks good, but zooming into close-ups of players the graphics can look surprisingly average. Not to mention the fact that some players don't look much like their real life counterparts. Although we did get a kick out of Peter Crouch's robotic dance celebration. Animation on the ball fares better though with various tricks performed using the L button making everyone of your players play like Ronaldo. Other controls are spot on and make good use of the PSP's layout. EA have even sneakily added an option to quickly take throw ins and free kicks, exactly likely you could in PES6 - we're not saying they stole it from them though. Although they did.

Uefa Champions League brings with it all the faults that we've come to loathe from all football titles. First you have the atrocious commentary which is worse than ever in this game. One example being when we took a free kick, hit it and blasted it way over the bar because we're useless, and the then the commentator decides to say,"well it was on his weakest foot". We just took a free kick, we weren't going to take it with our worst foot, were we? Other moments like this really take you out of the action. We have hope (perhaps false hope) that one day our commentary woes will be ended, but this game isn't the one to do it. The other fault are the goalkeepers who seem more useless than ever. Balls constantly go through their legs at about 2mph and when the ball comes in from an angle they try the hardest to punch it in their own net. The goalkeepers are less Edwin Van De Sar and more David James.

Uefa Champions League is a funny old game. It can really be split up into two camps, those that have played Fifa 07 and those that haven't. If you're the latter and an avid football fan then we wholeheartedly recommend this title, if not then it's best waiting for the next Fifa or Pro Evolution Soccer instalment.

Rating: 7 / 10

Words by Adam Gulliver