Review | FIFA 10
Playing with your Virtual Pro allows you to increase your player’s attributes by performing well in any given category, but this is easier said than done. Playing as a single player on a team obviously means a lot less time with the ball than you would usually have in standard game modes, so making a meaningful contribution can prove difficult, and waiting around for your opportunity with the ball truly tries your patience. The camera is a little awkward as well, simply because depth perception isn’t portrayed very effectively, making dribbling a harder job than it should be. Further additions tied with the new Virtual Pro mode allows you to use your created player in almost every available mode, including online with player-created teams.
Online is as enjoyable as ever, with the standard head-to-head games as well as the online leagues and team-play for up to 20 players all being present, but the mode that truly stands out is the Pro Club Championship, which allows you to create and join player-created teams with your Virtual Pro. It’s a great idea – human control of all players on the pitch (bar the keeper) with your very own team evokes memories of schoolyard football, and the encouraged teamwork plays to the strengths of football mentality – but its ambition is possibly too great to consistently work. Having enough players online on the right teams to start a match can prove tricky, especially if your team is made up of strangers, but even organising nine friends to join you can prove difficult. The concept works well on paper – it’s essentially clan support in a football game – and it’s the fault of the community more than anything else if it doesn’t work as planned. Here’s to hoping that more players get involved and the community gains a clue to organisation.
//A sound vision
The improvements to FIFA 10 begin to fizzle out slightly in regards to its presentation. The commentary remains as frequently inaccurate as ever, with situations being completely misread, but the banter between Martin Tyler and Andy Gray is the most natural and informative yet. It’s just a shame they seem to be watching an entirely different game to the one you’re actually playing. The music used on the menu screens is an acquired taste, with a mixture or R&B and European soft rock leading the pack, and to my ears at least, it sounds mostly awful.
Graphically, FIFA 10 is a largely solid but mixed bag. While everything looks great on the pitch, there’s been no significant leap in quality, but it certainly runs at a smooth rate. The 3D-modelled crowd is a welcome addition, but the low polygon count makes close-ups look terrible – certainly not a very noticeable flaw, especially with crowd close-ups being quite rare, but with many other EA Sports titles pulling off highly detailed and independent crowd reaction, it would have been nice to see the same implemention in FIFA. Weather effects are somewhat unconvincing, with rain and snow looking oddly artificial, but these few graphical flaws are nothing more than nitpicks on an otherwise fine-looking game.
Regardless, the strength of the gameplay shines through, with improved ball physics reducing the amount of shots flying over the crossbar, and much better collision detection between players during tackling and blocking. The buffered button presses still cause unwanted shots and passes if you press too early, but it’s not a deal breaker with regards to compromising playability. In all aspects of the game the quality is high, so the few quirks present make little difference to the overall experience.
Indeed, FIFA 10 has achieved a new standard in sports titles and will certainly put pressure on Konami to produce a comparable Pro Evolution title. Though a few problems do remain, next year will no doubt see further improvements to the already great FIFA experience. The inevitible World Cup edition can’t come soon enough, but in terms of FIFA 10 lasting the year, players needn’t worry, because EA Sports are back on top.
9/10
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