Review: FIFA 10

Yep, it’s that time again folks. October sees the release of two sports videogame juggernauts: FIFA 10 and Pro Evolution Soccer 2010. The FIFA franchise has been the king of the castle for the past two years, but have the team at EA Sports captured the treble, or will PES conquer once again?

I’m not going to lie to you, I am a massive FIFA fan. It’s the one game that I really look forward to each year. I had always admired what Konami were doing with Pro Evo, but I stayed loyal to EA and kept my faith in FIFA. Sure, it’s been a rocky road and, even I will admit, that PES was top of the league for many years. However, just like Manchester United, FIFA has risen from the proverbial ashes to take back it’s crown. FIFA 08 was a start, 09 bolstered the series even more and, with FIFA 10, EA have crafted something that even the hardcore Pro Evo fans can’t ignore.

The worst part of FIFA for many years was it’s gameplay. It wasn’t up to scratch compared to what else was out there at the time. In fact, the gameplay is barely recognisable now from what we were playing a few years ago. Hell, it’s changed a hell of a lot since the last release. There might have only been slight alterations to some things, but all of them make a difference. For one thing, passing the ball is key. Now I know that might sound obvious, but in previous itterations you could just smack the ball up field and hope for the best. Nine times out of 10, you’re not going to get away with that here. Shooting has also seen improvements. The old addage that ‘shooting in FIFA games is always the same’ can be well and truly ignored now. Each shot feels different and it all comes down to your positioning, the movement of the ball and your player’s stats. That might sound a tad over complicated, but believe me it makes the game much more realistic and a hell of a lot better.

This year’s game is a lot slower and more methodical too. You have to think about everything in a lot more detail. The tactics you’re employing, the passes you’re playing and, even the players you have on the field all matter. You can tailor your team to the way you play. If you want a strong front two like Rooney and Berbatov, you’re going to have to sacrifice a little pace. However, if you like a faster style of play you might want to switch out Berbatov for Owen, but be prepared to be less of an arial threat. Of course, this has been a factor of football games for some time, but in FIFA 10 it really matters. That’s not to say you can’t just field any old team and have fun. That’s certainly possible and you will have an enjoyable experience, but to challenge the big boys online, you’re gonna need to know the ins and outs of your team. In fact, FIFA 10 has become almost like a fighting game. You need to ‘learn’ your team in order to pose a threat, because you’re going to have a really tough time if you don’t know what you’re doing. Of course, it helps if you are a football fan, but it’s certainly not a requirement.

From the way i’ve been talking it up, you wouldn’t think there were any faults. However, like everything, FIFA 10 certainly has them. Tackling has been improved to some degree, but I have found problems like big players (i.e. Rooney) being thrown off the ball by smaller, pretty weedy, defenders. FIFA is a football simulation, so this is something that just shouldn’t be happening. Also, the referee seems more intelligent this time round. The last game was riddled with refereeing mistakes and although some of these have been fixed, there’s still a few inconsitencies that become frustrating at times, especially in the bigger games.

Feature-wise FIFA has always been good. There’s a great feature set in FIFA 10 that’s sure to keep fans like me going for hours. Be A Pro: Seasons has made a welcome return and is now bigger and better than ever. You still only get four seasons to play as your pro and the general set up is the same, however, with the new Virtual Pro this game mode becomes hard to resist. I have to admit, BAP: Seasons wasn’t a mode I took to last year. It just seemed, if i’m honest, a little pointless. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea, it just never seemed to be worth playing. This year, with the additon of Virtual Pro, this mode takes on a more RPG-esque role, helping you develop your ‘pro’, giving the mode a lot more of a desireable end-goal.

Speaking of Virtual Pro, this is probably the best new addition to FIFA. Virtual Pro works as a persona that you can play as in both online and offline game modes. Using your pro throughout the various modes in FIFA 10 will help you unlock acomplishments that will boost the stats and unlock items for your player. You can take your pro online, join an online club with FIFA players the world over, and compete in online competitions. If you’re good enough, other teams can even try and buy you. Sadly, no one has tried to poach me from Quality Street FC just yet.

The main game mode is Manager Mode. This is the one that’s going to be keeping you busy, aside from the online content, until next October. Anyone who’s played a FIFA game before will know the idea. You pick a club, become their manager, play through 15 seasons and try and become the best manager in the business. However, much has changed since last year. Manager Mode has now been expanded, and offers the player a much more realistic experience as they progress through their career. A lot of the changes are adaptations on what has gone before. The one that really jumps out at me is the new transfer setup. The buying and selling of players is now much more realistic. No longer will you have Wolves signing Ronaldinho or Stoke spending £30 million on Thierry Henry. The transfer list itself has changed too. Rather than being segmented by league, the transfer window now shows players from all leagues who’re for sale. Of course, this could be done in previous games, but it’d take some menu navigaton to do so. Alongside this, there’s a a new sidebar which shows you the latest transfers that have taken place, a few of the better players who are for sale and a ‘transfer rumors’ section which gives you an idea about who’s going where and if you should intervene. The final major additon to the way transfers are done, is a system that shows how much a player wants to come to your club. If you’re a bigger team, with better staff, like Manchester United or Real Madrid, players will be itching to play for you. However, if you’re playing as, for example, Rochdale, unless you get some wins behind you or offer players a bit more money, they’re unlikely to want to play for you.

The final big addition to Manager Mode is friendly matches. Now, before the season starts, you can take part in pre-season friendly games and test out your players for the forthcoming season. This gives you a great opportunity to give some of the less experienced players a run out without there being any consequences. This is something I really like, but is probably going to be a pain in the arse for others. It just depends what kind of player/manager you are. Another thing I feel obliged to mention (due to all the emails I got about it), is that you now have the ability to change player squad numbers in Manager Mode. This is something that was, stupidly, omitted from FIFA 09 and is something everyone should be happy to see return.

One of the major advantages FIFA has had over Pro Evo (aside from it having better gameplay), is the online suite. Japanese developers are, typically, terrible when it comes to getting a game online and that’s been the case for PES in the past. FIFA’s online content is fantastic, i’ll make no bones about it. There’s a massive amount of features that will keep you going for ages. Whether it’s a quick match you want, or a 45 minute epic against a mate this game has it all. The one thing I really think FIFA needs is, once again, not here. FIFA 09 had a ton of lobbies for players playing ’2 vs 2′ games online. With the amount of people wanting to play as a cooperative twosome, i’d have thought that EA would’ve added this as an official game mode. Alas, this isn’t the case and, as soon as the servers went live, there was already a ’2 vs 2′ lobby available. That’s got to be my only qualm with the online mode though, other than that it’s bloody brilliant.

FIFA 10 is certainly a game for football enthusiasts. This year the game has gotten so detailed, I was afriaid it would alienate those who just want to pick up and play. Thankfully, that isn’t the case and anyone can enjoy the game. There’s a few things that stop this game from being perfect, but it’s undoubtedly the best footy game ever created and I tip my cap to the guys at EA Sports for making such a fantasic game. Come on, Let’s FIFA 10!

9.6/10

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