Ah, football. Wasn't it? Freshly cut grass, muddy boots, the unmistakable changing room aroma of Deep Heat and sweaty men... But for the popular national sport, there's a surprising dearth of decent Xbox titles. FIFA 2004 is the best of the bunch, but towards the end of last year, Codies' promising (if ambitious) franchise Club Football rose like a salmon to nod home a brilliant debut goal. As national pride reaches fever pitch this summer with Euro 2004, it seems only fitting that Codies pounces onto this as Michael Owen would a teasingly accurate through-ball and releases a tie-in footy sim. And more than this, it's managed to tap the holy grail of football games - online play via Xbox Live. Get in!

EIF uses the same engine as Club Football, so unsurprisingly it plays almost exactly the same, but this is no bad thing. The presentation has been given a good scrubbing, so all 25 England players look brilliantly lifelike, although the crowd effects remain relatively bland and disappointing. The core of any quality football title, however, is realistic gameplay, and EIF delivers like a perfectly weighted Beckham cross.

Any fan knows it's no fun when winning a match is simply a matter of repeatedly dribbling around the opposition from kick-off and banging in goal after goal. In EIF the opposing teams are a lot more switched on than this, thanks to some challenging and impressive AI, that is not only adept at tackling and countering your every move, but is pretty effective at anticipating your next pass as well. This calls for thoughtful and measured play, mixing up short and long passes with through-balls. Although initially tricky, this quickly becomes a rewarding experience as you're forced to play the beautiful game exactly the way it should be played. The game flows along at a decent pace, although there doesn't seem to be much difference between players' running and sprinting.

The only shortfall EIF is guilty of is that because of the lack of any real individual player skill, dribbling sometimes feels a bit awkward and laboured. Turning on the ball isn't that effective either, more often than not resulting in the loss of possession, and is exemplified by the inclusion of skill moves on other footy titles. There aren't a great deal of technical options either, particularly in dead ball situations, where it's more a case of roughly lining up the ball's direction and guesstimating the power needed, rather than precisely placing the ball with a measured degree of spin. The upside of this is that the controls are simplified, making EIF easier to get into than the Leeds first team, and gives the game an accessible appeal.

But the reason we're so excited is that EIF is fully playable on Live, and here's where it shines. The single-player game admittedly isn't as good as it could be (although it features 20 European teams, 12 International sides, Custom tournaments, leagues, the Euro 2004 championship and the return of the brilliant Create-A-Player option), but gather round a few mates and play two vs two, and it's hours of fun. Alternatively, fire up Xbox Live to take on anyone game enough, though unfortunately there's only the option of one on one or two-player co-op online. Still, there's no slowdown or lag over Xbox Live, so your virtual virtuosos will skip across the pitch just as fast as they would offline, keeping the game fast and fluid.

We've been waiting for ages for a decent online-enabled footy sim. While it's not quite the Jules Rimet of multiplayer madness we hoped for, EIF stamps its authority over the opposition from the off, just like Vinnie Jones. Back of the net.

1. Intuitive controls and gameplay
2. Fluid movement
3. Challenging opponent AI

1. No individual skills
2. Turning on the ball feels laboured

Power
Everything bobs along at a respectable pace, though the crowd effects are a bit lacklustre.

Style
Picture-perfect players and kit, with authentic commentary from Barry Davies and Gary Lineker.

Immersion
The simplified controls and gameplay mean if you're not into footy yet, you soon will be.

Lifespan
With custom leagues and tons of teams, single-player will last ages. You'll be playing it on Live forever.

Summary
A competent and intuitive footy sim with fluid play and good AI Xbox Live play elevates it to the Champions League.