Review: FIFA 10

Even though fans of football (or as we Americans call it, soccer) are usually everywhere else in the world but here, Americans still have huge attraction to Soccer video games. Over the past few years it’s always been about Pro Evolution Soccer stealing the market away from EA Sports, but last year FIFA 09 brought out the big guns and took the crown away from Konami. This year FIFA 10 aims to remain atop the soccer world with robust online features, an excellent new Virtual Pro feature, a great franchise mode, and the re-emergence of the Live Season. With so many added features to go along with the improved controls and gameplay, it is very clear that FIFA 10 has done everything it can do remain the fan favorite that it was last year.

FIFA 10 isn’t a huge leap forward in terms of genre-changing features, but EA Canada has tweaked the game in so many places that it has become a brand new soccer experience. The overall gameplay remains pretty much the same. How can I complain when FIFA 09 had the best gameplay out of any soccer title? This year FIFA introduced the 360-degree controls. This allows you to move your player in any direction instead of just 8 different directions, which was how it’s always been. The ability to move in any direction makes the game flow a lot better and the movements on the field look more realistic. Making small adjustments while trying to get open or when handling the ball is a big deal in soccer and being able to do that in the game changes the way you play in FIFA 10.

Among other gameplay adjustments are new animations and improved AI. The animations are smoother this year which means the players will react more realistically to contact and moving with or without the ball. One of the big additions to the animations is the players actually fighting for the ball. If there is a loose ball and two players are going after it the faster player might not always get to it. Even when the players aren’t fighting for the ball they use their physicality to stop them from moving into a position to receive a pass. Big players play like big men, they aren’t fast but they will push you off the ball. Smaller players will also play to their strengths as they will try to use their speed to get by you. Physical play like this has never been more apparent in a FIFA title.

The improvements to AI are more subtle than the additions of the physical play and the new controls. Offensively and defensively the AI has improved. Players are much better at getting into positions to make a play or stop the ball. The more noticeable improvement is how they play the ball. If the ball is in the air they won’t always wait for it to drop to their feet, they will chest it down or head it to a player that is close by. The defensive AI, when the ball is in the air, has been turned down this year so players actually have a chance to fight for the ball, unlike last year. The AI improvements to both sides of the ball are great though they are more apparent on harder difficulties. The only issue I have had with the AI is a lot of times the defenders will try to go up the field with the ball as soon as they take it away from the attacker. So many times this will lead to a turnover and a goal. Goalie AI has also seen some new animations and improvement on how they react to the ball, however there are still some issues. At times the goalie won’t come out for a ball that is loose in front of the net or will come off the line too soon. Sometimes it works but when playing online, gamers know exactly how to exploit that. As frustrating as the goalie still is, it is nowhere near as bad as it has been.

Scoring this year might not be as easy, some of that having to do with some goal exploits removed, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. It’s more realistic this year, which means you really have to work the angles instead of blasting it from outside the box. There are still some exploits but not as many as there were last year. Free kicks are the only areas where I felt were unrealistic. Scoring from free kicks in real life is very difficult but in the game, goalies seem to have a very hard time with free kicks, which I hope will be improved next year.

EA Canada has found the time to improve the AI and gameplay, and has also added some great new features. Manager mode has always been a big part of the EA series and this year it’s still a mode that will draw in the hardcore fans. The mode offers a lot of in-depth detail on what is going on with your club. The amount of information given to you can be overwhelming but for me it’s perfect. You can still make trades (transfers), scout players, upgrade the staff with money earned and control ticket sales. You will have to use everything in your power to meet expectations of the club’s board members if you want to keep your job or get a higher budget to hire new talent. As good as this mode is, the new Virtual Pro mode is the best part of the game. Much like Be a Pro, Virtual Pro allows you to create a player but you get to use him in almost all the modes in the game. Your Virtual Pro will start at a basic rating and can be improved by completing accomplishments in any game mode like Be a Pro season, quick play, online pro games and even in the practice arena. The accomplishments range from scoring goals to completing certain number of passes or being man of the match a certain number of times. Each of the hundreds of accomplishments can be tracked and will increase a particular attribute. You can even use EA’s Photo Game Face, take a picture of yourself and put it on your Virtual Pro. Though this hasn’t worked as well as I had hoped, once you get it working it’s a lot of fun to see yourself in the game.

Virtual Pro is made even better with the Pro Club Championship mode. In this mode you can create your own club and face other player created clubs online. You use your Virtual Pro and with up to 9 other friends, you can see how you Pro matches up with others. The fact that this year it’s a monthly league gives every team of any skill level a chance at winning the league. I absolutely love this mode but the only issue it had with it is it seemed to be matching my club (a newly formed and very low ranked club) against high ranking clubs with highly skilled players. This led to a lot of lopsided victories for the other team. If that is ever worked out I think this mode can be the highlight of the series for years to come. All the online modes in FIFA 10 work seamlessly with little to no lag at all. Even in Online Team Play with 10 user controlled players to a side, the game ran very smoothly. Framerate issues that hampered the online clubs and offline Be a Pro seasons seemed to have been worked out which just makes Virtual Pro even better.

Practice mode is finally back this year and with so many new moves I can’t be happier. The main reason it’s back is the addition of the create set pieces feature. This allows you to create a piece for free kicks. It’s really easy to use and it’s a lot of fun too. There are some exploits with it but you can’t use it in online ranked games so I’m not bothered by those. Here’s a nifty video that shows how to use the create a set piece feature and what you can do with it.

EA SPORTS FIFA 10

Aside from the goalie AI issues, the AI in the Pro Club Championship mode also desperately needs improvement but it doesn’t take anything away from the mode. The Be a Pro season is starting to show it’s age especially when compared to games like NHL 10 and MLB 09 but gamers will still play it a lot this year because of the Virtual Pro feature. Live Season is back this year but it’s still something that gamers have to pay for. I love being able to play a season in which player ratings, transfers and injuries are kept up to date but gamers shouldn’t have to pay for it. Presentation wise, the graphics look almost the same with obviously more detail added to players but there isn’t anything drastically different from the pre-game and post-game presentation, something they need to change. The commentary is as good as always with Andy Gray and Clive Tilsley providing realistic commentary. At times they will say something that is obviously wrong but more often than not the commentary is accurate at calling the plays. The music is ok and features music from all over the world, I just wish I had the ability to import my own songs.

Overall FIFA 10 provides a soccer experience that can not be matched. The gameplay is superb and the amount of game modes will satisfy any fan of the game. The addition of Virtual Pro creates a huge incentive to use your character in every mode possible and because there are so many accomplishments you don’t have to always score goals to make your player better. Everything from the 360 dribbling to the physicality to the improved AI all comes together to create a realistic and very fun soccer game. With FIFA 10 EA Sports has once again shown their commitment to creating a great soccer game and to remain the only choice for any fan of the sport.