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JUST AS IT BECOMES apparent that Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer will once again have no online support when PES4 releases this Spring, an even more amazing scenario is brewing over at Electronic Arts.

FIFA 2005 is the best football game we've ever played. That's right, the series that has the most licenses now has more gameplay to boot, and while we don't doubt Konami will once again emerge with another groundbreaking title this year, it's going to take some doing to beat what EA has been up to.

Knocking the football around with FIFA 2005 is a detached delight, akin to observing a live match while holding a PS2 remote as opposed to one for the TV. PES provides concentrated gameplay even with its passing system, where unless you time your button presses to coincide with player positioning and body movement, you'll hoof a dud straight to the opposition. FIFA has always made this part easier, hence the feeling of detachment from the actual players. If you have the vision, it is possible to keep the ball going from player to player just like on TV, whereas Konami will have you thrilled at the end of a 0-0 draw at the pleasure of a clean sheet and several minutes of thumb training in demanding conditions.

If soccer is the beautiful game, EA Canada has made it so even on PlayStation 2. That's not a reference to the graphics, by the way. We all know the relative strengths of each game in this department. However, EAC has taken FIFA to a new level with animation and ball physics - and pass execution - that is a lot closer to the real thing than anything that has gone before.

Receivers now move into the pass, which tends to go a step ahead of them after skidding, rolling and bouncing with supreme authenticity. The passing and trapping is equally realistic, and even your analogue aiming threatens to ruin opportunities and put team-mates off their timing. Remember - PES has never used analogue control for anything other than filling meters (and we don't want to get picky about the fact the DualShock 2 is in fact all-digital anyway).

Something else we love about FIFA 2005 is the television-angle camera, which not only provides our favourite angle for seeing angles and action but moves like no camera before it, crossing the pitch from is central position with perfect zoom and framing. Mixed with the new animation and ball effects, you can see why the detached experience is so believable.

But it's time to talk about the single improvement that has seen the game progress not only beyond its previous iterations, but also anything we have seen from Konami to date. That improvement is the implementation of first touch control via the right analogue stick. Now, Gameplanet has seen some footage that possibly no-one else in the world has seen outside of Electronic Arts staff. It explains how the system was implemented but while we don't think we should share the specifics with you, ironically in case Konami learns all about it (that would be good for Konami but not good for football games in the long term and certainly not good for Gameplanet's chances of getting this kind of access in the future) what we can tell you is how it works during gameplay.

If you don't know what first touch is, it is simply what the player does with the ball in the moment of his first contact. As EA admits, opportunities were wasted in FIFA 2004 due to players always trapping the ball rather than doing something else with it, and trapping it in the same way no matter the situation or the player involved. First touch, which has been automated in PES based on your player positioning and movement since it was introduced two years ago, now has a legion of permutations, all determined by your input to the right stick as well as the left depending on the height of the ball. You can even score goals with it, which doesn't sound unusual in football, but now it's executed manually rather than as necessary in PES based on when you hit the shot button.

This changes FIFA 2005 from a game that lets in goals based on exploitation more than anything to an experience where the striker-keeper relationship is totally revisited. PES implemented a delay in the 'keeper's reactions that was necessary, and while frustrating in terms of realism, about the only way to balance the game. And balance has always been a hallmark of that series from evolution to evolution. Now it's a matter of tricking the 'keeper rather than simply forcing him into a compromising situation.

You can use first touch to get around a marker, or through him, or over him. You can use it to set up a long pass or a shot, or another fancy right-stick move that many players will be well versed in from FIFA 2004, both on the ball and off. And if you don't care for any of this, you can always ignore it and play without the right stick altogether, though we doubt anyone could resist the opportunity to play such a beautiful game.

Gameplanet commends Konami for sticking to hand animation to allow for instant player control rather than forcing players to put up with motion-capture cycles, but now even that has been changed in FIFA 2005. Players react immediately and we can only wait with baited breath to see what PES4 will do with its own animation, not to mention everything else.

Our advice - don't pre-order anything just yet. This is going to be the most interesting few months in virtual football history, and we can't wait.

Show me the screenshots!