Pure Football

3 cert, Ubisoft, Xbox/PS3

GAME OF THE WEEK:Imagine a game of football with no referees issuing red cards or linesmen calling offside – just two teams facing off against each other.

Five-a-side football is out to dominate consoles just in time for the World Cup, with Pure Footballfor the Xbox 360 and PS3.

It’s a leap away from established games such as Fifa, which is all over the charts with Fifa 10 and a World Cup game. The graphics and gameplay are unfamiliar. Although there are well-known faces on your team, it’s a completely different atmosphere from regular football sims.

This time around the international stadium has been ditched, and players are plunged into action, which, while it doesn’t completely throw out the rulebook, certainly dispenses with a lot of the standard rules.

Taken as a standalone game, the five-a-side action in Pure Footballis reasonably good – fast-paced and energetic – and the over-the- shoulder viewpoint makes you feel like you're right in the middle of everything. You can create your own customised player for the (slightly short) campaign, moving through the tournament going up against the world's best.

Unlike regular football sims, Pure Footballuses "meters". The more balls you strike within the green zone, the quicker you fill your "pure shot" meter to perform an impressive shot.

The game isn’t perfect. It loses a little atmosphere with the lack of crowd. Also, be careful about fouls, or you could end up giving away a large number of penalties while being endlessly fouled by the computer opponent. But once you adapt to the control system, the game is quite fun.

Pure Footballprobably won't be a serious contender to Fifain the eyes of football addicts, but it's a nice addition to the line-up.