FIFA 10 Review

In real life football terms, the FIFA series went from a struggling Liverpool team of the 90s to a promising Arsenal team ending up as a powerful Man UTD team. That right there is a big shift in attitude caused only by the excellence of the last few games in the series. The improvements started in FIFA 07 where everyone that played the game noticed something different about the series. FIFA 08 added even more features and was the best football game for that year. FIFA 09 basically killed off the competition, leaving other football games buried in the dust. One would expect the developers of the series to relax. After all, most of their goals were met. They managed impressive sales figures worldwide and took over as the best football game in the world. Luckily for us earlier this year EA Sports announced a whole set of new features for FIFA 10. And oh boy, they delivered this time as well.

Let’s forget all the new modes, moves and features and just concentrate on the gameplay. FIFA 10 is as close as many of us will come to playing top class football week in and week out. As you might have heard before, strength is a very important attribute this year. Bigger players will manage to squeeze through more often with faster players having a harder time, but that only makes the whole game more interesting. Forcing your fast player through with a low through pass will fail unless you actually aim now. Yes, you have to carefully watch the flow of the game, based on your game plan, and wait for the player to run the route. Playing the Arsenal 4-3-3 tactic, the wide players in Walcott, Clichy, Sagna and Arshavin look and act like the smartest bunch of video games characters we have ever seen. That’s if you manage to feed them the ball at the right time. Slower, more creative players like Fabregas and Barry are way more influential this time around. Remember these nifty through passes a 3rd division player could execute in FIFA 09? Now only the best players can guarantee a dangerous attacking move every time down the field.

All the new additions to the gameplay fit in just perfectly. The dribbling moves will catch some eyes and will certainly help you secure a few nice runs towards the goal. The whole gameplay certainly improved however, and that’s what everyone that plays this game will notice instantly. One obvious improvement compared to FIFA 09 is the 360 dribbling. Last year, a player running one on one against the GK can only run straight in one direction. That applies to the defender running behind him as well. This year though, you need to press a few more buttons to register a goal scored. First you have to run in the correct direction, the defender behind you will be trying to flunk you from every side, so moving in the right direction is crucial. The way you move the player and at what speed can result in you losing the ball, making a pass to a better positioned player or scoring that goal with style.

One much talked about new feature is the set piece editor, and that comes out as a fantastic addition to the gameplay. You no longer have to count on luck to step in every time you earn a free kick or corner. Using the editor you can instruct your best players to move and run in the exact direction and movement you wish or stand in a certain position waiting to head the ball home. I was absolutely thrilled scoring my first Arsenal goal thanks to a perfect header by Vermaelen from a well placed Van Persie corner.

One frustrating aspect about the gameplay this year is the goal keepers. They seem to get caught out of position a few times too often, with some failing to hold on easy shots. Once a striker is set free for a one on one chance, the GKs tend to get out of goal without permission. Keep in mind how small this is of an issue, proving how great the gameplay department is here. Other little issues on the field include the referee himself for two reasons. First, the ball hits the referee way too often in FIFA 10. In real life, if the midfield is swarming with players, the refs usually take a back seat, watching the action carefully from distance. In FIFA 10 though, the refs are a bit too close to the action watching your every little move resulting in some intercepted passes. The other issue is the foul calling. Some calls are quite questionable and penalties are awarded based on the ref’s mood for the day it seems. Again, a realistic yet annoying feature that we applaud the developers for having in the first place. Things can get pretty ugly and dramatic now with the AI going in for harder tackles, giving the refs something to think about. Booking for handballs and diving is yet to be seen in FIFA, something we would like added in the near future.

Another issue that we cannot blame the developers for, but is still frustrating, is how many times the ball hits the post in a game. Fine, if you do watch live football every week you will notice many balls hitting the woodwork. Last season, Arsenal alone had a record of over 20 shots hitting the post, so yes it does happen quite often. We are not saying every shot has to either hit the back of the net or miss the target, but the number of times the ball hits the post should be limited somehow per game, making the game less frustrating and resulting in less broken disks and controllers.