FIFA10 (Xbox 360)
Pro Evo.
That's the mention of the opposition out of the way. Any other review you may already have read of FIFA10 has probably mentioned EA's main rival to the title in the first paragraph anyway. Nobody seems sure about when exactly FIFA went from being a symbol of gaming's lack of invention to being the best football sim on the market but it has and then some. Konami's series, judging by last year's critical response, had scored a massive own goal. Let's ignore PES for now and concentrate of this year's offering from EA Canada.
Firstly 2010 sees the introduction of 360 degree passing and dribbling. Now this might seem like something to slap on the back of the box and let that be that but it does give FIFA10 a noticable upgrade from last year. No longer are players confined to 16 preset directions, the ability to dribble in the exact direction you're holding the stick does give games a much more flowing feel. It makes matches feel much more like a football simulation rather than the arcade style kickabout of the past.
Another slight tweak to the engine is the fact that the ball is never 100% under control by any player. It is, as it should be, it's own entity. The days of the ball sticking to a player's feet have long gone it would seen. Both of these tweaks work to raise the game engine that little bit more. Basically, they might seem like minor changes on the surface but the more you play the more you'll find how much it alters things.
EA have tried to give you a complete footballing package right from the off and part of this is the return of Live Season downloads. Chuck EA Sports some of your MS Points and the game will download updated squad lists every week with stats being adjusted to player's current form in real life. Some have panned such features as a rip off, as an example of EA being up to their old tricks again. The old days would have seen you sitting their with the football pages of the newspaper updating everything by hand, at least this way you can let the game do it for you. Put simply, even if an Estonian left back moves from a German 2nd division team to one in the Russian Premier it'll happen in game.
FIFA10 has fantastic atmosphere for it's match days. The English commentary, provided once more by Andy Gray and Martin Tyler, is brilliant. They do what most other football game commentary teams do in describing the shots on goal but you'll also hear them talk about the fact Manchester City have spent £100 million on players this past summer, the fact Christiano Ronaldo has moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid and the fact that Liverpool are still trying to win the league for the first time in 19 years. The flow of their conversations sound natural and as a result draw you into the presentation of each match. Graphically it's also spot on as extra animation means that a defenders trying to tackle a running winger to gain possession has weight and power.
So FIFA plays a lovely game of football, everything on the field is pretty much as it should be. Something about FIFA's backroom staff is a bit lacking though. I went into Manager Mode with gusto as this was the main thing that was said to have improved from last year's effort. The head developers of the FIFA series right now apparently started in manager games so they've been eager to get this aspect of the game sorted. I'm probably going to come across like a raging PC gamer when I say I've been raised on a diet of Championship/Football Manager for the last 15 years and nothing on a console has come close. The same could be said of FIFA10's mode.
Playing as my Italian managerial alter ego Julio Mascarpone I have taken charge of Newcastle United FC in an attempt to get them back into the English Premier League after last season's relegation. The first thing I've noticed is that all the player prices are way over the mark. Fine having Kaka rated at £30 million but when Glasgow Rangers are unwilling to part with Kris Boyd for less than £12 million then you know something has gone wrong. Also, upon trying to sign an striker for my squad I was told that he was hesitant to join because he 'felt he wouldn't be first choice striker'. I had no option to tell him otherwise, I could not assure the player that he had the wrong end of the stick, the deal broke down on that point alone. Football Manager gets it right by making you feel like a bundle of stats and numbers is an actual person you can develop as part of your team. FIFA10's Manager Mode still has you number crunching. The menus are also a bit slow and awkward in this section of the game and it can feel a bit like ploughing through everything to finally get where you want to be. Essentially, Manager Mode still feels a little bit bolted on.
There's also the return of Be A Pro mode in which you take control of a single player on the pitch and carve out a career with your custom avatar. I haven't done that bit yet as the sight of me on a football pitch brings back horrible memories of school PE lesson. Honestly, I can almost smell the Lynx Alaska from here.
So FIFA is a great football sim and, unlike 5 years ago when they'd be happy to churn out another edition with an engine that was better at simulating pinball than footie, they've put a lot of work into it to get it right and build on a solid 09 showing. For the second year running it's become BFF's football game of choice and I really can't give it higher praise than that.
That's the mention of the opposition out of the way. Any other review you may already have read of FIFA10 has probably mentioned EA's main rival to the title in the first paragraph anyway. Nobody seems sure about when exactly FIFA went from being a symbol of gaming's lack of invention to being the best football sim on the market but it has and then some. Konami's series, judging by last year's critical response, had scored a massive own goal. Let's ignore PES for now and concentrate of this year's offering from EA Canada.
Firstly 2010 sees the introduction of 360 degree passing and dribbling. Now this might seem like something to slap on the back of the box and let that be that but it does give FIFA10 a noticable upgrade from last year. No longer are players confined to 16 preset directions, the ability to dribble in the exact direction you're holding the stick does give games a much more flowing feel. It makes matches feel much more like a football simulation rather than the arcade style kickabout of the past.
Another slight tweak to the engine is the fact that the ball is never 100% under control by any player. It is, as it should be, it's own entity. The days of the ball sticking to a player's feet have long gone it would seen. Both of these tweaks work to raise the game engine that little bit more. Basically, they might seem like minor changes on the surface but the more you play the more you'll find how much it alters things.
EA have tried to give you a complete footballing package right from the off and part of this is the return of Live Season downloads. Chuck EA Sports some of your MS Points and the game will download updated squad lists every week with stats being adjusted to player's current form in real life. Some have panned such features as a rip off, as an example of EA being up to their old tricks again. The old days would have seen you sitting their with the football pages of the newspaper updating everything by hand, at least this way you can let the game do it for you. Put simply, even if an Estonian left back moves from a German 2nd division team to one in the Russian Premier it'll happen in game.
FIFA10 has fantastic atmosphere for it's match days. The English commentary, provided once more by Andy Gray and Martin Tyler, is brilliant. They do what most other football game commentary teams do in describing the shots on goal but you'll also hear them talk about the fact Manchester City have spent £100 million on players this past summer, the fact Christiano Ronaldo has moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid and the fact that Liverpool are still trying to win the league for the first time in 19 years. The flow of their conversations sound natural and as a result draw you into the presentation of each match. Graphically it's also spot on as extra animation means that a defenders trying to tackle a running winger to gain possession has weight and power.
So FIFA plays a lovely game of football, everything on the field is pretty much as it should be. Something about FIFA's backroom staff is a bit lacking though. I went into Manager Mode with gusto as this was the main thing that was said to have improved from last year's effort. The head developers of the FIFA series right now apparently started in manager games so they've been eager to get this aspect of the game sorted. I'm probably going to come across like a raging PC gamer when I say I've been raised on a diet of Championship/Football Manager for the last 15 years and nothing on a console has come close. The same could be said of FIFA10's mode.
Playing as my Italian managerial alter ego Julio Mascarpone I have taken charge of Newcastle United FC in an attempt to get them back into the English Premier League after last season's relegation. The first thing I've noticed is that all the player prices are way over the mark. Fine having Kaka rated at £30 million but when Glasgow Rangers are unwilling to part with Kris Boyd for less than £12 million then you know something has gone wrong. Also, upon trying to sign an striker for my squad I was told that he was hesitant to join because he 'felt he wouldn't be first choice striker'. I had no option to tell him otherwise, I could not assure the player that he had the wrong end of the stick, the deal broke down on that point alone. Football Manager gets it right by making you feel like a bundle of stats and numbers is an actual person you can develop as part of your team. FIFA10's Manager Mode still has you number crunching. The menus are also a bit slow and awkward in this section of the game and it can feel a bit like ploughing through everything to finally get where you want to be. Essentially, Manager Mode still feels a little bit bolted on.
There's also the return of Be A Pro mode in which you take control of a single player on the pitch and carve out a career with your custom avatar. I haven't done that bit yet as the sight of me on a football pitch brings back horrible memories of school PE lesson. Honestly, I can almost smell the Lynx Alaska from here.
So FIFA is a great football sim and, unlike 5 years ago when they'd be happy to churn out another edition with an engine that was better at simulating pinball than footie, they've put a lot of work into it to get it right and build on a solid 09 showing. For the second year running it's become BFF's football game of choice and I really can't give it higher praise than that.