It’s over, it’s done, it’s in the bag – England have qualified for the World Cup, so why would we want to tread that road again? Fans have had to endure the tedium of the group stages with its strange and exotic formation changes, its string of dire performances and, of course, its endless tactical tinkering. There have been calls for the manager out and a new captain in and although the team seemed to have done everything wrong, we still ended up a group winner. How does it happen, why does it happen? Nobody knows, and that’s precisely the reason we’d do it all over again. Because if nothing else, the beautiful game is always unpredictable – the glamour, the glory and goals – once you’re on the road, there’s certainly no turning back.

Perhaps then, this is the reason why, when it comes to the football fan’s game of choice, FIFA is often left twiddling its thumbsticks on the bench. It has become predictable – each year a new addition of what is essentially the same game simply glazed with a new layer of shine and a selection of new play modes. But as any game-loving football fan will tell you, this year things have changed. EA has battled hard to address the criticisms levied at its series and has delivered one of the most engaging editions to date. The new development team has trimmed away the fat and made the FIFA franchise a contender once again, primed and ready to dominate the next-generation of consoles. And let X360 be the first to tell you it has every chance of doing so, as FIFA 06: Road To The World Cup has the potential to play all opposition clean off the park.

Behind the spin of real-time sweat, ponytail physics and individually rendered blades of grass, there’s an extremely solid engine at work and nothing can quite prepare you for what awaits you on the pitch. You know it’s going to look good, but within the first few minutes of play we were pointing and gasping at the screen, positively gurgling with pleasure as we realised that this was real, that behind the hype, FIFA was serious.

To clear up any confusion, both the Xbox and the PlayStation2 have FIFA 06, but this is no port – Road To The World Cup is a game made exclusively for the Xbox 360. It’s not a fully fleshed out, feature-packed FIFA addition, but rather a humble taster of just what this machine can do and its focus is on the qualifying stages for next year’s World Cup. So while it's international teams only and the modes on offer aren’t as extensive as those on current-gen machines, when you discover the attention to detail, it quickly becomes of little concern.

The first thing to strike you is the visuals. EA has long been famed for its über-polished graphics, but this is something else. By using slightly exaggerated player models, it’s easy to tell individuals from a distance – the Beckham in-swingers, the leggy Henry strides and even the Ronaldo step-overs. When you go in for a closer look, things are more impressive, as even though player models aren’t photo-realistic, almost every player is instantly recognisable with the teams’ top boys receiving special attention. Blocky angles and flat faces have been eliminated, while skin tone and texture are enhanced. However, it has to be said that certain players look a tad too shiny; well, shiny doesn’t quite cover it – most of them look like they’ve had their faces buffed with 15 layers of Turtle Wax. Shine aside, during the action players move and act like their real life counterparts, warding off tackles and taking tumbles. The falling animations are outstanding and totally random courtesy of a new physics engine that drives the calculations behind each stumble and collision. Better still, each player reacts differently: some with their hands in the air unable to believe the referee’s decision and some mouthing expletives as they dust themselves off.

Hair and clothing no longer mask the player. They have physical properties of their own, shirts bob and flow independently of the player and intricate shadows mirror every movement. It’s these minute details, combined with smile-raising elements that aren’t even directly linked to play, that help make up such a realistic world. For instance, when the ball trickles over to your fans for a throw-in, they will raise from their seats and show their support, whereas if your opponent is lobbing in the pigskin, your fans will remain seated. In fact, the crowd deserve special mention as they are a big part of the experience: despite looking a little generic when up close, their noise roars over the action and reflects what is taking place on the pitch – cheering and chanting when things are on the up but muted when the game fails to cut the mustard. When you get close enough to notice, the stadiums and crowd look as impressive as they do in real life and the dynamic real-time lighting affects almost everything in sight. Even the weather conditions are worth a mention, as huge selections of the pitch are often eclipsed by shadows that the sun casts, and when the sun drops from the sky, the rain also affects play. A light drizzle means a quicker playing surface, but if it’s a downpour, then your passes and shots will need to be hit with a little extra pace and power.

When the crowd isn’t fully on song, there’s always the Sky Sports commentary team of Martin Tyler and Andy Gray to listen to, who despite becoming somewhat repetitive after extended periods of play, are always accurate and up to speed with the action. Whenever anything delays play, the duo will often enter into banter about previous meetings between the two teams playing. When we were playing as England we heard tales of the team’s ’66-cup victory, as well as their woeful history when it comes to penalty shoot-outs. However, there’s always the option of turning the commentary off and customising a playlist using FIFA Trax, which has quite a mixed bag of tunes.

Granted the game looks good and sounds the business – we expected no less. But it’s the revised gameplay that will have you double-checking that the disc is bearing the famous FIFA brand. After just a few passing moves it’s clear that though this game may indeed be a FIFA title, it’s not hampered by many of the troubles and annoyances that plagued previous instalments. Players are incredibly manoeuvrable and the control system is instantly accessible to FIFA veterans – the same button configuration is in place, as well as all the fancy flicks and tricks. There’s been no drastic overhaul but it just feels much more solid, with exceptional physics that clearly mark the step up to the next-generation.

It certainly won’t take ninety minutes to realise that in its efforts to strike a balance between casual kickabout and subtle simulation, RTTWC is taking its cues from the Pro Evolution Soccer series. Despite moving more to a simulation style of play for some time now, there is a marked similarity here. It shouldn’t be construed that EA is merely trying to replicate Konami’s classic formula, but it’s simply taking the elements that work best and integrating them into a new brand of console football. Passing moves are much more accomplished and link-up play is tighter, but the most noticeable change is that goals are certainly harder to come by. No more route one, or shooting sweet spots – if you want a goal you have to earn it and some serious effort has to go into your build-up play. This does prove frustrating after your fifth nil-nil draw when all the tried-and-tested tricks aren’t working and the goalkeeper seems more agile than a frenzied flea, but if your tactics aren’t working then changes have to be made. Having migrated straight from playing the Xbox version, where a chipped through ball seemed to be the answer to any troubling situation, that simply wasn’t the case with RTTWC; players close you down and press the ball and if you haven’t thought about your next move by the time you receive the ball, then there’s a good chance you’ll lose it.

As always, the key to success is to size up your opposition and continually adjust your strategy to deal with them. Having said that, this is no mean feat, as the AI is ‘on the ball’. If they have their noses in front, your opponents will resort to some rather underhanded tactics, playing for time by holding the ball in the corners or making needless substitutions. In fact, the computer-controlled opponents only added to our goal drought.

Never ones to doubt our prowess on the pitch, we left not only the qualification group but also our England team behind, and engaged in a two-player showdown. There is a discernible difference in how both the game and teams perform when playing a human opponent; the goals that had eluded us for so long began to fill the net until bursting point. Okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration but we certainly made the onion bag ripple on several occasions. RTTWC is best played with a friend, as choosing your time-honoured teams, setting up formations and trading moves always ends in friendly ribbing.

Nevertheless, some underlining gripes have permeated the next-generation of FIFA football. The ball animation is unmistakably FIFA as it often seems stuck to the players feet as they make their upfield runs and from time to time passing is a concern. Our personal peeve is the overelaborate animations that make players slow to respond, never thinking that the button pressed two seconds before might be a little inappropriate now. Also, the on-the-fly tactical changes are often a little pointless, as by the time you have fumbled around with the pad, your opponent has been able to steal an attacking opportunity.

Given the panoply of graphical and gameplay improvements that have been made to this version of FIFA, these are minor gripes. Although it borrows from Pro Evo and is not as feature-crammed as you might expect, RTTWC is a solid and enjoyable experience that truly takes the visuals, spirit and technical aspects of the beautiful game to the next level. It’s a mere appetizer of what to expect from the Xbox 360 in the months and years to come. But what you really want to know is, when compared to the best of what Konami and company have to offer, can Road To The World Cup kick it? Yes, yes it can.

Keith Hennessey