UEFA Euro 2008 is the inevitable EA Sports tiein for the summer soccer tournament taking place in Austria and Switzerland. Like your above average EA football title, the game features uncannily lifelike visual representations of the worlds best players, playing in what the developer claims is a more accessible, quickerpaced and more responsive version of the EA SPORTS football engine, and all of the teams and official stadiums that will be part of UEFA Euro 2008 finals. UEFA Euro 2008 invites you to take on the challenge of leading one of 50plus European national teams to the finals as the game recreates all of the excitement and drama of the official tournament. Play as any European country from the earliest qualifying rounds all the way through to a faithful virtual reproduction of the championship finals. A new game mode called Captain Your Country enables gamers put themselves on the pitch and wear the shirt of their national team. Working through eight status levels can lead to you earning the captaincy of your team, and then you can lead your team into battle for championship glory against your European opponents. If youre well connected, you can go online in the Battle of the Nations mode to earn status points as an individual and for your country in the quest for global supremacy. UEFA Euro 2008 isnt strictly about summer in central Europe. The game captures the filthy, dirty weather conditions of Tirana, Albania in the midqualification rounds, and the look and feel of freshlylaid pitches in the more affluent parts of Europe before the ravages of say, a Slovakian winter have taken their toll. The mud and the rain really do impact the playing conditions. Realtime player ratings change based on individual performance, and theres a penalty kick shootout mode to recreate the agony and the ecstasy of ooh, lets say, England versus Portugal. Those who know their recent football history will know what we mean.