Another year, another Electronic Arts football simulation - and once again, EA Sports knock it out of the park with the latest iteration of their FIFA footballing franchise, FIFA 18.
The record-breaking FIFA 17 had brand new mechanics with the Frostbite engine - first introduced in popular action simulation Battlefront by EA - significantly improving the overall presentation and giving the game a more real feel.
FIFA 18, however, takes the Frostbite engine and harnesses it to its full potential. It just 'feels' like how a football game should be played.
Misplaced passes when you don’t quite angle your ball in the right direction, firing wide when you know you should have done better.
Now you feel in total control. And that is no more evident than the opening sequence when, while the game is installed, you are thrust into the action of El Derbi Madrileño with Atletico visiting a remarkably life-like Santiago Bernabeu.
There is a cinematic-style feel to the game. Witnessing the likes of Antoine Griezmann and Cristiano Ronaldo crashing in trademark finishes, followed by their own celebrations, you are invited to join in all the action on the hour mark with Ronaldo standing over a free-kick just outside the Atleti box.
Naturally, the computer makes sure that your finish is landing in no other place than the top corner, with Ronaldo wheeling away and the Bernabeu going crazy, Hala Madrid blaring over the tannoy and a distinct Bernabeu-like feeling.
Which is exactly the feeling that EA is, and has, been looking to create in this edition of FIFA.
Whether it is the home of Boca Juniors, La Bombonera, the Bernabeu or Anfield, each atmosphere sounds different, adding a genuine sense of individuality to each team and its set of fans.
It is not only the presentation of fans in the ground that EA has nailed down to a tee, but with the MLS and LA Liga added to the Bundesliga and the Premier League in terms of broadcast packages and face-scans of players, it now looks an awful lot like you are watching a match on the TV.
With the EFL and EA Sports signing a partnership deal in the summer, Championship players have now seen improved face-scans, and new names added to Martin Tyler’s almost immeasurably large vocabulary of player names.
It is refreshing to hear the likes of Burton Albion pair Lucas Akins and Marvin Sordell name-checked whenever they pick up the ball, adding a new layer of authenticity beyond simply the Premier League and the big European sides.
Also noticeable is that players genuinely play like they do for their clubs, evidencing the mountains of research that EA do leading up to release day.
Players such as Akins are able to get up for high balls, and body-check players off the ball. Marvin Sordell finishes ruthlessly, as Brewers fans saw earlier this season against Birmingham City, and John Brayford gets up and down the wing until he can run no more.
In terms of gameplay, EA has refined the crossing mechanic – simplifying it to just one tap for a normal cross and a double-tap for a low cross.
Timing is key for low crosses, and these can be done to deadly effect if you have a man spare at the back post. Crosses can be whipped in with some vigour, and they are truly whipped in.
Game modes such as 'the Journey' add a little more spice to what can often be an arduous and repetitive career mode - and that's without even mentioning the tried-and-tested (and lucrative) Ultimate Team mode.
The Frostbite engine makes full use of 'the Journey's' premise, which is to put the user into the shoes of an up-and-coming professional.
All in all, EA hits the heights as far as gameplay is concerned, with fluidity the most noticeable aspect along with tidier finishing and better crossing.
And if realism is your thing, you will not be disappointed.
