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...