The best yet but still not the beautiful game...
Soundwise the game still lacks real atmosphere as the fans never really feel they are reacting to the match and commentary still sounds quite dull at times. The commentary still suffers from bugs which is just a complete joke as before FIFA 2008, this was so rare to find in the FIFA games. The soundtrack is also one of the least impressive in recent years and tends to play the same small number of song too often instead of using its full collection built into the game.
Gameplay has always been a mixed bag and I feel despite some improvements, the 360 engine fails to translate power & pace giving the game a slow clumsy feel to it at times.
* PASSING - feels underpowered at times, which can affect the direction of the ball or lead it to be simply cut out easily by the AI. Through balls are a gamble due to player runs, which still need tweaking. Crossing is pretty much useless as well due to the ball spends more time hanging in the air than actually moving forward and the power/direction of the cross is rarely where your aiming.
* SHOOTING - has been improved in the 1 on 1 area though the finesse button inside the box makes it too easy and you will score 9 times out of 10. The game also suffers from the lack of a low shot because any power will make the ball rise as EA seem to think you cannot hit a ball hard and low, so a double tap feature needs to be placed in the game where the 2nd tap will keep the ball low as possible. Another flaw with the shooting engine is that the finesse shot outside the box feels so watered down its pretty much useless and heading towards goal feels vastly underpowered.
* DEFENDING - is a mixed bag with the AI allowed to get away with plenty of fouls mainly pushing and poor slide tackles but you will get punished often and the referee will book for anything in FIFA 09. Another major flaw is the AI can tackle you right back after you tackle it but you cannot do the same with your players because they end up on the floor more than not or being shrugged away easily. Defensive heading is better than any of the previous games but can suffer from poor distance and will drop right back to the AI in the box. Dead ball and 50/50 plays are a joke as the AI will win far more than you simply because your players are slow to react.
The AI is much better than any previous versions but the gameplay can feel unbalanced at times because the computer will find space too easy compared to yours and can skip challenges or shield the ball easily compared to you. The midfielder still feels slow to join the attack and players will just fail to keep up with the attack or just turn around and run backwards. The AI tackling skills are a joke at times with them being able to run around fast as hell closing you down but never tire and will win the ball easily. Keepers are much better though one on ones are far to easy to score past. Simple fact is your own team AI is far less smarter than the team you will play against 90% of the time which is not the correct way to make a game harder.
The game does not warrants the £40 price tag but then thats true of so many 360 games. I have not played online but have seen it and this seems one of the strongest points in the game for the 360 version anyway due to X BOX LIVE. The game still suffers from too many bugs and unbalanced gameplay but the manager mode despite despite some flaws like the lack of a pre-season to keep the transfer market open longer and online play gives the game a decent half-life to keep people playing till the next version though its far from being truly faithful to the beautiful game.