First off, FIFA 07 Soccer looks absolutely gorgeous. From the players to the crowds to the pitch (better known as the "field" here in North America) to the stadiums and all things in between, drop dead purdy. Also gratifying is the atmosphere captured while playing, conveying, almost, a sense that you're actually there, caught up in the drama unfolding -- almost, but not quite wholly immersed.

As it happens, the 360 version of FIFA 07 suffers in-game commentary of the repetitive kind. Too, it often trails behind the pace of play and sometimes flat out ruins the experience as a whole. Ambient audio like crowd noise, meanwhile, is sometimes abruptly interrupted. It's glaringly noticeable in an icky, staccato sort of way.

Also, the artificial intelligence (AI) of all the computer controlled players might be just unintelligent enough to drive you mad. Sometimes, for example, there are clear play opportunities that anyone with any soccer knowledge would recognize yet the computer does not. Worse, the AI (or lack thereof) is inconsistent, working beautifully sometimes and you can initiate a play with several team mates on board; other times they're off in their own little brain-dead world and it's all you can do to resist temptation and not put your controller through your sexy high definition TV, wondering what could have been if the computer players were doing something -- anything --, like their job.

Single player frustrations aside, FIFA 2007 really shines as an online multiplayer game, where up to 20 players can play at once (that’s all the players on the field with the exception of goalies). Truly remarkable, online play with that many players at once is virtually lag-free. May not sound like a big deal to gamers who play shooters or MMOs with dozen or even hundreds of other as a time, but for a sports game where a ball is meant to stay in motion rather that just contact another player and make them dead, this is a note-worthy breakthrough.

Built from the ground up exclusively for the Xbox 360, FIFA 2007 both shines and suffers. It’s graphically superior to the iterations found on Xbox and PlayStation2, obviously, and sports multiplayer play that can't be beat. Still, it lacks some of the fine tuning found in the less-pretty versions, leaving room for improvement that we'll most likely see in FIFA 08. Not perfection by then, no doubt, because the 2009 version will need to show improvement, too. Funny how that works...

• TIP: In FIFA 07 soccer, you can get create a perfect player going to "traits" and selecting all the negative ones (nets 1500 pts), exit the traits screen, then add the points to categories such attack or defense, press the A button, go back to the traits screen and de-select the negative traits, exit, press start and save your player, go edit the created player (again) and repeat those steps until he's perfect.