The game made after the great football event of the year,but unfortunatelly it's a downgrade from FIFA 08.
Graphics:6/10
Well,the graphics engine EA continuosly used for all their FIFA games is getting really old.I think it's the same one from 2003,& the last great achievment of it came with UEFA Champion's League 2006-2007,game who put the engine to good use & delivered a good looking experience.But FIFA 08 looked much worse & Euro 2008 looks even worse.The player's textures are of incredibly low quality & don't ressemble their real-life corespondents at all.But the public...looks really really abysmal.And it seems they gave up to the motion:the crowd is still 2D, looks like painted by a really bad painter & doesn't move at all.The stadiums & the ball (yeah,the ball) look okay,but that doesn't mean the other textures are forgotten.
Sound:8/10
Fortunatelly,the sound is still quite good.The music isn't bad but not good either...a mix of pop-rock that does its job,plus the official Euro 2008 theme.Quite okay.Now,the stadium sounds are really really good in some matches,but absurdly,sometimes they aren't there.And if that match happens to be the Euro final,then it makes an incredibly stupid atmosphere.The commentators are the same guys which have recycled their lines from FIFA 07.Oh,I almost forgot,the Scottish commentator has changed his name again.They've got some stupid lines,& sometimes they repeat one many times into a game,& that is really really annoying.But with all the flaws,the sound may be the best aspect of Euro 2008.
Gameplay:8/10
Well,you know it,so I shouldn't insist,but I will,because I'm reviewing the game & I must tell everything about it.Euro 2008 comes with 3 play options: the lame play now,which you shouldn't use,because you can do that much better in FIFA 08, UEFA Euro 2008,where you can qualify with your favorite team or can start from the groups.They are the real ones,so you might think this will give you a bit of feeling.It doesn't.The team with the most stars wins & we know that the stars don't represent the team's quality,but the number of copies of FIFA sold in that country.The more copies,the more stars.So I can't undersatnd why Russia & Romania have less stars than Sweden, Swithzerland,or why Holland has less stars than Italy,France or England.Oh well...The last play option is European Campaign.Here you find a map of Europe with all the countries.You start with one of them & you'll have to battle with the unlocked countries in order to "conquer" them.And you can find different types of matches:Team Challenge ,Be A Pro Challenge or Shootout Challenge.In each you'll have different objectives,such as win by 2 goals, score a goal with a certain player,don't miss any penality,etc. ,which will bring you more groth points.With these points you can increase the skills of your players,& with the credits you can buy stadiums,balls or special stickers.Maybe the most interesting game mode is Be A Pro,also seen in FIFA 08,where you'll conrol only one of the players from your team,& you'll really need teamwork in order to succeed.But this campaign has its big problems.Ignoring the difficulty & game duration you set in the menu,the campaign will randomly set these options for every game.You can beat Germany 20-0 if you get a long game on Amateur,& next one Israel beats you 2-0 in a game on World Class.Simply stupid.Plus,the atmosphere ain't good at all here,even in the finals the match isn't what it should be;no cheer at goals,no colour,nothing.Geez...Now during the games,the penality shots & basicaly the free kicks are a bit better made,but the passing & tackling system is back in the stone age,exactly like in FIFA 07.And I can't explain why they went back after an excellent tackling & passing system in FIFA 08.
Multiplayer:9/10
Yeah,the multiplayer still saves the game.Either you do it on the same computer (recommanded,because you can "tackle" your opponent in real life in order to score a goal or do something that advantages you),or you play on LAN or over the Internet,the games seem to be balanced (now it doesn't depend on the stars)& you'll enjoy yourself much more than in singleplayer.You'll get bord after a while,but still...But still,you can play exactly the same multiplayer,but better,in FIFA 08.It would have been great to play a whole Euro 2008 cup starting from the groups with your friends,but EA didn't do it & it's a real pity.You can try a co-op in be a pro with your friends,which is real fun,but again you could do it in FIFA 08.
Overall Impression:5/10
It doesn't bring anything new.It's worse than its predecessor,FIFA 08.The Euro 2008 campaign isn't what it could have been.So a word of advice:avoid this game.If you want to play matches play FIFA 08.If you want a good Euro 2008 campaign play FIFA Manager 08,which is a lot better than all FIFA games.Or,best of all,go to the TV & watch the damned cup!!!