As a lot of you are no doubt aware, I'm a pretty new convert to NFL. For years I was left mystified as to its rules and tactics (first and down, 3 and 7, what the?). It wasn't until recently that I picked up an NFL game to play over Xbox Live! and after a few patient tutorials from a mate I've been hooked ever since. Sure, online I still get my backside handed to me but the amount of strategy and tactics involved, plus the fact that the play style translates extremely well to a video game means one thing. Move over AFL and cricket, there is a new sporting love in my life!

The major thing that I've noticed about NFL games is while they all have their differences, they are all very faithful representations of how the game works. When playing with someone clued up in the tactics and strategies, it can make for some very nail biting gaming moments. Add that NFL games have seen countless previous versions released, the developers of them are definitely on top of their game and put out some top quality products. I can highly recommend the current NFL games if you are looking for examples of sporting games at their best. Everything from the graphics, the animation right through to the excellent commentary is top notch and it makes me wish I had gotten into NFL gaming a long time ago.

NFL Fever 2004 is the second NFL game from Microsoft to be released here for the Xbox. Last years version met with mixed results from NFL fans, not that I can understand why as I rented out Fever 2003 to prepare myself for NFL Fever 2004 and really enjoyed it. Being a pretty new NFL fan I enjoyed the different game style on offer in Microsoft's version of the sport. While I've totally enjoyed NFL2K3 (which has been responsible for some of the best online gaming I've had yet), I found Fever easier to get into and start making long passes and avoiding tackles with spins and shoulder charges, all the things that make offense fun. While Sega's offering offers a more strategic and probably realistic video game version of the sport, for the casual gamer that just loves action sports games NFL Fever 2004 is probably more suited to you with its slightly more arcade feel.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that NFL Fever 2004 is lacking in depth, it's quite the opposite, all the offensive and defensive plays and strategies that you can imagine are in the game as well as a 25 year Dynasty mode! Throw in a player create mode, 3 different passing modes, 5.1 Dolby Surround sound, custom soundtrack support and the icing on the cake, full Xbox Live! support that features XSN compatibility giving you the option of creating your own tournaments on the new XSN Sports website, well you have one seriously attractive NFL package.

NFL Fever 2004 has all the normal gameplay modes on offer from its excellent menu system. Fever features exhibition and practice games with the latter featuring the new Chalk Talk and Training Camp. Training Camp is the games tutorial that will serve new NFL players pretty well and get existing Fever fans familiar with the all new 'Read and Lead' passing system as well as all the controls of the game. Read and Lead passing is definitely an interesting system. After the snap you select which player you want to pass to by pressing their corresponding coloured button, aim with the right analog stick and when ready to pass, tap the R trigger for a lob or hold it in for a quick pass. It definitely provides you with more control in your passing game but after comparing this system with the normal 'single button' passing system, the 'read and lead' system was definitely responsible for my Quarterback getting sacked more than he normally would as it forces you to take your eyes of him for much longer. I've been sticking with the single button passing system ever since but I plan to run through the Training Camp some more until I have totally nailed the new passing system as it really does provide you with much more control. It's there to be used and is a great system that just takes a bit of getting used to.

There is one part of the passing game in NFL Fever 2004 that is kind of hard to explain though. The passing can happen pretty fast with some excellent NFL action happening but while the animations do a great job, they appear slower than perhaps they should, almost as if the in game gravity is higher or the players are heavier than normal causing them to move slower than what you may be used to. As I say, it's hard to explain but after playing NFL2k3 regularly for months, it was something I noticed right from the start. In NFL Fever 2004's defense though, the controls are responsive and when you want to pass the ball, your player will respond and do exactly what you've instructed him to do. The animations are great with minimal clipping and are ultra smooth.

The audio does a pretty good job too. All the ingame bumps sound pretty meaty and the commentary does the job very nicely. The audibles are nice and clear and even the coach chips in with some tips in between plays. NFL Fever supports Dolby 5.1 and also custom soundtrack which is always great to see included.

NFL Fever 2004 features full Xbox Live! support that even lets you have three guest players sharing a single Xbox Live! account (though naturally they can't use voice communication) and online is really where NFL Fever 2004 comes into its own. Featuring full compatibility with the Microsoft XSN Sports website, you can create your own tournaments online to which you can invite all your fellow Fever owning friends to take part in.

All games played through your tournaments have their statistics and results tracked and it's a very impressive package. Playing against some fellow Australians there was almost no lag whatsoever and Fever 2004 seems to continue the excellent quality of Microsofts online titles. As the range of available XSN sports titles gets bigger, XSN sports will no doubt get bigger as well making XSN enabled titles very attractive. It's an excellent service that really makes picking between Madden and Fever a no brainer (due to Madden not supporting Xbox Live!), but picking between the upcoming NFL2k4 and Fever a much harder task than ever before.