FIFA Soccer 2004

The most talked-about addition to this edition was a control called Off The Ball. Hold a modifier button and you steered a second player, not the one carrying the ball, sending a winger on a diagonal run or pulling a striker away from his marker. It sounds small. In practice it changed how you built an attack, because a through ball no longer depended on the computer guessing where your teammate wanted to be.

The other talking point was the First Touch system, which made receiving the ball a skill rather than a given. A player under pressure could let a hard pass bounce off him, and quick dribblers could knock the ball past a defender with a flick of the right stick. This was EA answering the complaint that its football felt scripted and slightly floaty beside Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer, which had spent several years winning over the purists. The answer was only partly convincing. The ball still sticks to feet more than it should, and the pace of play leans toward the arcade side.

Where EA could not be matched was licensing. The game carried a huge spread of real leagues, clubs and players, along with the official kits and stadium atmosphere that Konami's rival lacked in so many places. For many players that was the entire argument. You wanted your own team, with the right shirt sponsor and the right name on the back, and FIFA gave it to you without compromise. Career Mode added a layer of management on top, with transfers and a budget to juggle across seasons, though it is thin by modern standards.

Played today, the game feels like a snapshot of a series working out what it wanted to be. Passing is fast, tackling is forgiving, and matches run on momentum more than patience. The Off The Ball idea is the part that still seems forward-looking, a small admission that football happens mostly away from the ball. It did not win the argument with Pro Evolution Soccer that year, but it showed EA was finally willing to change how the game was played rather than just how it looked.