I must admit I winced at this matchup. As the names were plucked out of the hat, I rued the hands of fate; two of my favourite and most-played titles meet in the first knockout round. Bummer.

At first glance, my decision appeared fairly clear cut. I'm a self-confessed Football Manager addict, and placed Sports Interactive's gem at the summit of my Top 10 all-time games listing a few weeks ago in this very blog...
However, based on the criteria of this Head2Head battle - originality, longevity, graphics, sound FX and replayability - it's an incredibly tough call.
A first person shooter versus what is effectively a glorified - albeit entertaining - database. Mmmmm.
Where COD boasts graphics that arguably push the latest generation of consoles to their limits and require PC owners to invest in a pretty meaty graphics card, FM 2009 presents an altogether less attractive option. Bizarrely, it still requires a behemoth of a machine to run properly, but looks-wise it doesn't really cut the mustard, does it?

For the most part, FM 2009 offers a largely static screen - a news or team tactics page - with all manner of clickable buttons and banners to negotiate. The newly-introduced 3D match engine certainly adds to the experience but again, anyone with a poorly-specced computer may have to sacrifice this option. I guess the programmers thought appearance wasn't of the utmost importance and that the tens of thousands of players hidden within its bulging database deserved the computer processor's full attention!

Conversely, COD 4 is a fully immersive beauty of a game. From the moment you're thrust into the action aboard a sinking ship, controls vibrating and lightening flashing upon your screen, it simply oozes class. The variety of missions is a sensory delight: dusty Middle Eastern streets, lush countryside, airborne challenges and as mentioned, nautical fare, are all gorgeous-looking and accompanied by fantastic sound effects.

On the originality scale, neither is a new genre and much of the content has been seen before. FM has been all but an annual stats update for years with the occasional feature thrown in for good measure. Sports management games have been about for decades - Premier Manager, Championship Manager and LMA Manager to name but three - but none have really been revolutionary.

You could argue that COD 4 also heavily borrows from its predecessors...taking many of the best bits from Operation Wolf, Wolfenstein 3D, Quake and Doom, for example.

Lifespan is another toughy. I've played both games to death since they were launched and have tired of neither, regularly coming back for just one more go as my wife can testify.

  • Originality - both improve on previous incarnations but rely heavily on the glories of other games from the genre. Draw
  • Longevity - equally addictive and both have stood the test of time. Draw
  • Graphics - no contest. Next gen graphics, varied beautiful environments. Winner: COD 4
  • Sound FX - with just crowd noise on offer, Football Manager falls foul of COD's awesome aural offerings. Winner: COD 4
  • Replayability - COD shades this thanks to the fantastic online element; no two games are ever the same. Winner: COD 4

...with heavy heart, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare goes through to the quarter finals!

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