FIFA 10 Review

Fifa 10

EA Sports

Xbox 360
PS3







Well, it's that time of the year folks when EA, THQ (amongst others) come along and hypnotize to monopolise you're hard earned euros with a glorified update of the previous years title release. Now, we've all grown weary of the bells and whistles thrown about the place and empty promises to 'change the way you play games forever' but no matter, we still splash the cash! So with about as much surprise as the moment your girlfriend waves an Xbox controller about as if it's a Wii wand comes along the mighty EA with the equally mighty Fifa 10. They say it's ground breaking so let's take a look under the hood.....

Firstly let's get the whole FIFA V PES out of the way, simply put this is better, on many levels. A blinding loyalty to PES has always been the modus operande here at Reaper Towers as long back as I can remember, but something strange happened a couple of years ago. Konami fell asleep in their Toyotas and along came EA who like 'em or lump 'em pushed the football game in the absolute right direction. Capitalizing on the 'Sim' quality brought to the genre with PES, EA got it just right with fluid controls, full and licensed rosters, brilliant manager modes and create-a-player that was second to none. We were (like Lindsey Lohan) swayed, and you were too!

Now 900 billion trillion copies* later we have just laid Fifa 09 to rest and wrapped our goalie gloves around Fifa 10 which is, if you pardon the expression, a perfect ten. So, what's new? Lot's actually...

Much has been written about the brand new 360 control, and surprisingly it is as good as they say it is. Although only slightly different than previous eight way player movement it's enough to completely change the entire feel of the game allowing measurably superior first touches and runs with the ball. For the first time you actually feel like you're playing football as opposed to playing a game, creating a real immersion that you never knew was missing. This feeds in to the new player dynamics where weight and speed are represented brilliantly and effectively. You know intuitively when a player can take a player on the ball, that said however, as much as I like to feel Ashley Cole's player dynamics I'd rather feel his wife....

Moving on you'll notice on the pitch everything just works better, from attacks at goal to passing dynamics to defensive abilities a little tweaking has helped a lot. In previous incarnations a defender found himself in the way of a shot on goal almost by mistake, where as now it's brilliantly animated when a shot is blocked. This adds an immediacy that was lacking and a sense of urgency when trying to get the ball in the back of the net...

Free kicks have also had an overhaul from the ground up. At the practice mode screen you can access create a set-piece, which might be construed as 'fiddly' but with a little time and patience you will have some seriously effective goal scoring chances that you can take online. I know the purists out there would probably like it 'harder' to score like this but by freeing up the chances of a screaming goal EA have put the responsibility on the defensive play to try keep it clean around the box, a change most welcome.

Outside of the pitch some new developments have also taken place. Players can now share their faces on-line via the My Virtual Pro Game Face option, create your player and splash your mug on it via the EA website (Mac users can't do this at the moment... Typical). Probably a bit pointless for girl gamers and people with fat faces but a fun tool none-the-less. You can bring said player through all sorts of skill curves and build up his ability over all modes including the practice arena, this can be great fun and especially handy for setting up your own team on-line with your mates. Live Season, allowing you to play in real life fixtures, returns in the form of 2.0, which 'Goddammit EA!! costs MONEY. This whole idea of paid for content really gets my grits. Was my initial money not good enough? It's like paying for a seat in McDonald's... Won't be buying that.

Manager Mode is, as ever, totally immersive and excellently executed. Full control is on offer here for those who fancy themselves as 'De Gaffer' from player health and tactics to ticket prices and player transfers. Word to the wise though, these players want a lot of money if they're gonna move to your club, so just give it to them... I hate Ronaldo. Also remember to turn off auto save to avoid those crucial losses and moments of madness where you throw your controller through your shiny HD tele...

The Menu system has been modestly improved and stream lined a bit better than last year and the load times have improved also. The gut's of the game are all still there, including the commentating of Andy Gray and Martin Tyler which really add to the atmosphere of a 'Big Game Match' although they're especially hard on poor old Van Persie, constantly reminding you that he's had a bad season. Wonder what he did to EA? But it's exactly this precise tie-in that makes you appreciate the importance of licensing to this title, reminding us not to take for granted everything reflecting real life, from kits to stadiums.

On-line play is fantastic and seeded to your skill level and in terms of racking up the points, highly, highly addictive. It's an integral part of the appeal of Fifa and EA seem to understand this, in turn building on it year in year out. And at time of review a notable drop in connection losses with your opponent, a problem that dogged '09 in my opinion.

Xbox achievements got a slight overhaul also, whereas you might expect 'header' 'free kick' and 'distance goals' to make a return, they don't. It seems to be mostly centred around Manager Mode and Virtual Pro which forces you to really delve in to the one player option and two player lounge modes. Fine by me, changes things a little and keeps it fresh. For those with a PS3, bad news, the graphics and fluidity are superior on the Xbox and on-line is better also.

The only real problem I can find with Fifa 10 is the inclusion of the Dutch side. I don't like them, wooden shoes and big women.

In closing, a great game indeed. It's not perfect and I'm sure as you play through you'll find little glitches but so far, so very good. EA have listened and responded satisfactorily as far as I'm concerned. From the minute you load this puppy up it's obvious that you're dealing with much more than a game. It's a community, a world within a world and a really great social game. From the frustration to the almost orgasmic satisfaction of scoring a winner in the last minute this title runs the gamut of emotion, exalting the highs and lows of the real life beautiful game and packaging it in a shiny little disc for your Xbox pleasure. How do EA improve on this? I'm not sure they can.

Blind Side G's Verdict: Get it!

P.S Avoid Exciting Alien if you want to win a match...

Halo 3 ODST - A meaty meal - or a disappointing lunch?

Halo 3 ODST

Xbox 360

Bungie
Microsoft






The Halo franchise is to Microsoft as Mario has been to Nintendo. They have both been milked for every penny possible with merchandising and sequels but the question is – is it running out of steam? Halo 3 ODST is the latest offering from Bungie. Backed by a massive marketing campaign and the general hype machine, it is a sure success regardless of its quality. But what is the truth? Is it as disappointing as comparing a real life ‘Big Mac’ to its pretty photo on the menu board or is it a succulent delight to sink your choppers into? Read on…

Originally ‘Halo 3 Recon’ was set to be a DLC add-on but it grew during creation to become its own title and was then named – ‘Halo 3 ODST’, personally I thought ‘Recon’ was better… but never mind. The important thing is that it was being made by Bungie and is set in the Halo universe. Of course this story is about the ODST, not mister big pants John Spartan, so don’t expect the exact same Halo experience as before. ODST means “Orbital Drop Shock Trooper” which is basically an overly clever way of saying ‘Special Forces’ but not special enough to be Spartans, think X Factor contestants that don’t make the final round…

When you strip off the cellophane and crack open that green plastic box you’ll notice two discs, one is the ODST campaign, the other is a collection of all Halo 3 multiplayer maps available to date along with the new ODST multi player levels. If you are a long time Halo player you will piss all over this as it is likely that Bungie has already fleeced you for these maps in the past, if you are a Halo virgin then you are in for a massive fun filled online romp. The campaign disc also holds one of the most promising features of this whole package called ‘Firefight Mode’ (which we’ll come back to) along with access for next years ‘Halo Reach’ beta. Quite a bit in one package depending on your perspective but ultimately the issue remains – is the actual game any good? The answer is Yes… and No!

When I first put the disc into the machine and began the campaign I have to say that it was disappointing. The first game sequence was less than impressive for a start… It involves being introduced to the team, being called ‘Rookie’ alot and bearing witness to the beginning of a cheesy love story. The player models and animation did not look like the usual Bungie brilliance, the character ‘Buck’ who is voiced and visually based on actor ‘Nathan Fillion’ (from the hit series Fire Fly) resembles a burn victim on day release, in fact the whole cast of pixel people just don’t look… right. However I was more concerned about the actual game play and soldiered on.

Thankfully the visuals, animations and characters are back to top notch form during in game play and the streets of ‘New Mombassa’ the African city setting for the tale, is also impressive and convincing. The world can be viewed through normal eyes or through the new ‘VISR’ mode which is futuristic night vision and works very well. There are new weapons in the form of a silenced rifle – weak but fun to use and a powerful hand gun that makes short work of alien heads, feeling more like a sniper pistol than your run of the mill hand gun. You have no shield and have to seek out health packs when injured, much like in the first Halo and all the familiar baddies are out for your blood but are a bit tougher and smarter than before.

The structure of the game is quite atmospheric and will have you roaming the city streets looking for clues on what happened to the rest of your squad upon arrival. Initially I found this clever, hiding in shadows and avoiding enemies when out of ammo did feel like a sneak em up but everything gets boring when repeated, roaming through deserted streets and buildings while fragging enemy patrols gets old, its like ‘Groundhog Day’ and becomes that unpleasant claustrophobic corridor scenario that all gamers know and hate so well. When you do find the clue, you are then transported into past events involving the ODST trooper related to that clue, again the first missions were a bit ‘more of the same’ type of play and I was quickly losing interest in this ‘bigger than Jesus’ title, but I persevered and thankfully so. Later the ‘Clue’ missions began to flower and turn into a garden of blood dripping roses. Vehicle levels became available and wide open spaces replaced the corridors of urban warfare, the game had taken a turn for the better and my enthusiasm was peaked to what it should have been from the start. Later levels really shine and can be quite challenging, making strategy more important then bare faced shoot outs, some have a flavour of the Halo 3 multiplayer maps and are totally satisfying. Even the Rookie city missions improved and the narrow spaces didn’t seem so bad. The storyline got richer and I began to hear angels play trumpets… Basically it all came out good in the wash. It adds little depth to the Halo Universe with the story but nor is it a problem, it is pleasant enough to follow but irrelevant for the most part. It’s no ‘Band of Brothers’ anyway!

The addition of four player co-op makes it an even better experience especially on the open area maps. Any setting lower than Legendary is a bit easy and the odd bug here and there might piss you off but overall the single player campaign is a deffo play for FPS or Halo lovers, although I don’t think its enough to convert many new players to the Hip world of Halo. Firefight mode is basically a survival setup similar to ‘Horde Mode’ in Gears of War 2 by way of concept. One to four players can team up to survive waves of Covenant attacks while scoring points for their efforts but it’s by invite only not a matchmaking setup, so you need to team up with buddies to enjoy the full experience. This is great, working as a team is important and the constant action is like a pixel drug that will have you cursing like a true marine. This feature saves ODST from seeming anorexic and will provide many additional hours of play… thankfully! It will get boring eventually unless there are plans to add new maps down the road (educated guess is – Yep, I recon they will, at a price!) but it is a solid experience as is.

The second disc containing the Halo 3 and ODST maps is good value for the Halo virgins but for the Halo scholars all you really get is the new ODST maps and the convenience of having everything multi player related on the one disc… so it’s a matter of perspective if this is a good deal or not. There are three ODST maps - Heretic, Longshore, and Citadel. They are all nicley done and have some new strategic elements to them but really it just adds some extra variety and nothing very new except the weapons. Luke warm stuff really!

The bottom line is that it’s a DLC add on that dreamed of being a full stand alone title and nearly made it - but not quite! It’s a good experience and a must for Halo fans but is not at the quality level for the hype it received. Multi player extras are good or bad depending but most Halo gamers will feel ripped off by this setup. The inclusion of fire fight mode is a good idea and perhaps the strongest feature here but not enough to justify Halo 3 ODST being its own boss It’s a glorified add-on that really should have been available to download in segments that suit the gamer just like the Fallout 3 expansions were. Worth the price of a full title? No! Worth playing – Yes! Get it second hand, rent it or better still, wait for it to appear as DLC. (I bet its part of the greedy marketing strategy to come). Just like a fast food buger it’s over priced, smaller than its menu picture but tasty for a short time and will leave you hungry for more… it’s no whopper, more like a cheeseburger!
Do better next time bungie – eat it!

Reapers Verdict: Good for Halo newbees - A rip off for Halo veterns - Worth a play either way!