With the football season well under way, Scot Bennett takes on the latest FIFA offering to determine if it's within any fighting chance of beating its rivals to the top of the league.

Autumn is a time where you can always count on the same reoccurrences year after year. The air draws colder, frosting up the windscreen of our cars and leaving us cursing as we touch the bathroom floor with our bare feet. The trees then shed their leaves, blanketing the floor with several shades of brown. Then let's not forget EA Sports, who deliver another update of their popular football title FIFA Football. So you can imagine how I wasn't that surprised to see FIFA 2004 on my desk for review this week. So just what has changed since the last update?

Fundamentally, the core game remains largely unchanged. It still looks and feels a lot like previous incarnations, although EA Sports have added a few vital elements to the formula. Among the usual array of passes, shots and on-the-ball trickery, EA have added a new "Off-The-Ball" system which gives you more control over the rest of your team - by simply cycling through the available players, you can control their runs with relative ease. It's a system that opens up the game immensely, allowing for the kind of balls usually reserved for the most competent of players.

As well as providing the chance for you to deliver pin-perfect through balls and such, the new system allows for increased defensive capabilities. By using similar means as the attacking system, you can call in tackles from idle defenders, reducing the frustration caused by previous FIFA titles where defenders would just back away when they saw the opposition heading for goal.

Staying on pitch, EA Sports have also introduced the chance for you to lock shoulders with your opponent and jostle it out for the ball. However, heading into the confrontation too aggressively will leave your opponent on the floor and you having to answer before the official. As with the "Off-The-Ball" system, it opens up the game a little more and allows for extra situations on the pitch that would not normally have been possible in previous FIFA titles. For example, it's now possible to shield the ball and allow it to roll for a goal kick, rather than having to clear it without hesitation.

It wouldn't be FIFA without the comprehensive statistics and team listings that have filled the previous games. This year, EA Sports have managed to build upon their database once again, most noticeably including the Nationwide Football League divisions (allowing me to finally play as my beloved Wimbledon) and a complete list of all of their players. It doesn't feel quite as complete as the more popular teams - the commentators have not recorded any of the names from the lower divisions - but it's great to finally have the chance to participate as one of the lesser known teams of the English league.

Another feature that does serve as an incentive to play as a lower league team is the Career mode. The game type has been extended in that now you have greater control over your team and players. When you first pick your team, you're given a list of objectives you must reach in order to be within a chance of securing a new contract. You're also given the opportunity to assign training schedules to both the team and individual players. It's certainly not as fulfilling as a proper player management simulation but it's a step towards it. One gripe I do have is that you're not given the option to play through the career as you normally would in previous FIFA titles, without the training schedules and the contract. For someone who wants to play a league without the management side of things, this will be seen as somewhat a disappointment.

So, another yearly update and FIFA continues to improve. Fans of the series will continue to enjoy the game and find the new additions most pleasing. There may not be enough in here to turn the Pro Evolution fans away from their favourite, but FIFA is in its own right a brilliant game. It may not have the pace or electricity that the Pro Evolution games offer but there's no doubt that FIFA remains the most authentic and realistic football game on the market.