FIFA 10

Without any doubt the jewel in EA Sports crown in Europe has to be the FIFA series and this year as with every year in recent times we are again treated to what EA Sports have been working hard on for the last 12 months. The quest to create the most realistic football game keeps growing and each year we see more features added and some of the existing ones refined. In FIFA 10, EA Sports have implemented some of the best innovations to date and its these features that make the FIFA 10 the best football game you can lay your hands on.

Its hard to know were to start with the features that have been packed into FIFA 10 and as soon as the menu system has appeared in front of you its a bit mesmerising as you flick through all the possible options and extend all the menus. All the usual suspects are present from last years incarnation of the title but its the amount of options that are prefixed with the word ‘New’ that will have you wondering what to do first. So rather than write a review going over old ground we thought we would focus on the new content and additions that make this years FIFA release something rather special.

One of this years biggest additions is the introduction to the Virtual Pro and no matter which mode of FIFA 10 you choose to play you will be able to take your Virtual Pro with you and use him in your team. Creation of your pro is a simple affair and all the usual body and facial attributes can be altered to give you exactly what you want. The creation system works well and its easily achieved with the controller and it’s both effective and uncomplicated. This year also see’s the addition of game face and now you can get that real life look for your pro that will be used in the game just like other EA Sports titles have done previously. You should be aware though that game face is now an online system and links to your EA Sportsworld account and does not use the usual camera based console system and instead opts for a web based tool using a PC and therefore does away with the need for a camera with your console.

So with your pro ready to start his professional football career its up to you whether you choose to add him to the regular squad in manager mode and or take complete control in Be a Pro mode and you can also go online and add him to your online team or play a ranked match in the Pro Club Championship. No matter which way you choose to play your pro will start to build up fitness and start to increase his skills in key areas depending on your style of play and this in itself can bring new challenges. Your pro’s attributes will begin to increase as he tackles, dribbles and shoots and as you play you will start to complete certain accomplishments which will speed up the process of increasing your overall stats and allow you to get to superstar status a little quicker. All your accomplishments are categorised and can be found in a book that lets you see which ones are complete and which ones you need to learn to progress further and this in itself adds a new dimension to the game play and takes the FIFA series into character progression, and I have to say it works extremely well and is a very welcome addition.

All your accomplishments are tracked in an easy to view book

No matter which way you play FIFA 10 its easy to see that this is more than FIFA 09 with a few tweaks and the amount of changes in game play, ball physics and animation are clear to see. All the animations have been adjusted and the players body postures and movements are definitely more lifelike and when this is added to the new 360 degree control the whole football experience feels more organic and whereas games in the past have felt very scripted in certain areas this year you always feel that it’s possible to win the ball or change the outcome of a tackle or challenge. One such area that has benefited from this is the goalkeepers and in FIFA 09 it was almost impossible to win a 50/50 ball with the keeper and you usually ended up in a stumble towards goal with the keeper winning every time. This is just one area that has benefited from EA Sports continued improvement of their game and goalkeepers will now also make second and third reactionary saves including goal line clearances so the game no longer has that scripted feel where a rebounded ball ends up in the net. Another improvement is the ability to muscle your opponent of the ball and use your upper body strength to good effect, its another aspect of the real world game that EA have captivated and brought into the virtual game to allow us to mimic our sporting heroes.

The arena in FIFA 09 was something that was introduced as something to do during the game loading screen before kick off and acted as a warm up area but this has now been taken a stage further and in FIFA 10 it now acts as your in game training ground. You can set up training matches with anything from 1v1 right up to 11 v 11, there is also a great addition of set pieces too and these can be recorded using the simple in game interface to set up ‘off the ball’ runs and create space for that killer goal. You can also practice the set pieces you have created in the arena and make sure you have it just right before using your moves in a real game. The Arena has now become a key area of the game and again it works very well and if used correctly can be used to hone your skills and ensure your set pieces are perfect.

Using the Arena to create set pieces is a great addition to FIFA 10

Last year saw the introduction to Live Season allowing the game to be kept updated with some of the latest stats from real world football and showed when players were improving or suffering due to a bad performance. This has also had a major tweak and is now called Live Season 2.0 and has dropped the Adidas sponsorship. The game updates every Wednesday and now brings all the real world stats from all the league games including bookings, goals, injuries and transfers and this data will be used to allow you to see if you can do better than your favourite team by graphing your performance against the current form of your chosen club. I have to say its another great addition to the game and one which again adds a different challenge. How many times have we all thought we could do better or wanted to see if we could rewrite history for our club, well now that is exactly what you can do for a small additional fee with Live Season 2.0.

In summary FIFA 10 not only builds on the previous titles but it really does for the first time in many years feel like a new game. The work that has been done to create a flowing game of football has really paid off. The ball is now controlled with more fluidity and as I said earlier its a very organic experience with more of a real feel about it. The game now ebbs and flows and you find that its no longer very easy to get past a defense and score once you know how and the game now starts to see more classic midfield battles due to the much improved AI and also the 360 degree ball control feature. FIFA 10 put simply is the virtual beautiful game.

Lost Gamer Verdict: 9/10