FIFA 10 only falls short of perfection on account of a few niggling faults and a large number of bugs.
Many critics and fans agreed that FIFA 09 played like a real game of football, and the same is true of FIFA 10. However, there are some notable changes to the engine this year, the biggest of all being the new 360-degree movement. In every previous football game, both within the FIFA series and others, players were restricted to moving in 8 directions. This year EA Canada changed this and the results are very pleasing. Movement changes are always fairly minor ones so you'll most likely won't notice too much of a difference when you first play FIFA 10 aside from slightly more freedom. However, should you return to last year's FIFA, as I did, you'll suddenly notice how restricted you are. In essence, it's a great improvement but one that you won't always notice. That's true for many of the game's improvements - generally the game has been streamlined. Player A.I. is now sharper as attackers time their runs better whilst defenders are quicker to cover any gaps left in the back line. Goalkeepers have also been corrected - toned down I should say. A big complaint last year was just how unstoppable keepers were in a one-on-one situation, often clearing out your player and collecting the ball. Thankfully this has now been fixed; not only is easier to round the keeper for an easy tap-in, should a keeper take your player out trying to get to the ball, he'll concede a penalty. It all makes for a more enjoyable game, and you'll feel slightly less like you're being conned by a bias referee.
Sadly, not all the bias has been corrected. The computer still finds it all too easy to push you off the ball, particularly on higher difficulties. The other problem with higher difficulties is that computer controlled players have their stats boosted to increase the challenge. The problem is that it can result in some unrealistic situations. Suddenly Messi has the strength of an ox, and John Terry can outrun dear old Cristiano. It's just laziness of the part on the developer and disrupts the sense of realism that EA Canada have worked so hard to create.
In terms of game modes, it's more of the same, the major addition coming in the form of Virtual Pro, which lets you create your own pro and then play with him through all of FIFA 10's modes – previously you could only use your created pro in a handful of modes. The other change to the Pro mode is that the experience system has been replaced by a list of Accomplishments. They're much like Achievements or Trophies, each requiring you to perform a certain task and rewarding your Pro with a stat upgrade. All in there's 216 to collect so you'll be at it for a while if you want to see your Pro reach his full potential. Manager Mode has also seen a few improvements. Players make far more intelligent transfer decisions so no more Messi signing for Malaga. Other minor additions include the ability to edit your squad numbers (a feature than many fans demanded) and the introduction of pre-season friendlies. The results are a Manager Mode that feels closer to the real thing than ever before.
However it's during the Manager Mode that FIFA 10's biggest problem rears its head most often - bugs. Considering the complexity of developing a title, it's little wonder that a few bugs can appear in the final build, but FIFA 10 is crawling with the little things! They come in all forms, from simple stat errors on player profiles to in-game bugs that can cause players and the ball, itself, to break from an animation and began another one with no transition. Truth be told, none of the bugs come close to breaking the game but with so many, the effect is certainly noticeable and really takes the shine off of the game. There are even some audio based bugs which are rather entertaining. During one match I lost the sound of the fans as well as the commentators, and whilst annoying, it was a unique moment to play with nothing but the sound of your player's shouts and the ball effects.
And one area that is always been a strong point for an EA game is the soundtrack. FIFA 10 boosts an impressive collection of songs once more though many of them may well be unknown to you. I must admit that very few are to my taste which may explain my lack of knowledge regarding the artists who wrote them. What I never tire of is the sound of Andy Gray and Clive Tyldesley commenting on every single passage of play. Not only are their comments relative to the action but Gray, in particular, sounds genuine, as though he's commentating on an actual game. It's but another small element of FIFA 10 that adds to the overall value of the game.
This is further improved upon by the game's glorious visuals. From the grass to the fans in the stadium, FIFA 10 looks fantastic and each game plays out with no frame rate issues whatsoever, meaning you can enjoy the seamless animations during each match. Sadly the player models are still a little off, whilst the top name players look quite good, every other player in the game looks nothing like their real-life counterpart. There's also still something odd about the player's faces, even the likes of Lampard. You won't spend much time looking at the faces though, but when you do, you tend to notice how bad they look. Speaking off faces, another of EA's major new additions to FIFA 10 is the Game Face system which allows you to create a virtual face for your Pro based on a picture of yourself. Shortly after the release of the game, EA suspended the service as there were too many users accessing it all at once, and with the US launch a day away I can't see the problem subsiding for a while. However, I've seen the faces created by the lucky few who had a chance to use the system and the results are pretty impressive. For the most part, the face looks great though the colour of the eyes seems to be a problem. Ultimately it's a quick way to get your face on your Pro and really feel like you're in the game.
The online is as great to play as in previous versions and I've experience next to no lag even though I have a very basic broadband connection, and with a large community that's growing daily, you're never far away from a game. Adding to this the Virtual Pro mode as well as Manager Mode, FIFA 10 has plenty to offer football fans and you can expect to spend a lot of time playing the game. Cynics may argue that the game is still largely the same as FIFA 09, and doesn't justify its price tag. Whilst this is true to an extent, each of the minor additions to FIFA 10 come together to push the game beyond the level of its predecessor, making it a worthwhile purchase for any fan of the sport.
In short FIFA 10 only falls short of perfection on account of a few niggling faults and a large number of bugs. But as sporting games go, you won't find a better reflection of a sport in any game this year. Quite simply FIFA 10 is a football game, and each match features all of the incidents you will likely see on a Saturday afternoon. But what really stands out in regards to FIFA 10 is the amount of effort that EA Canada have put into the series, not just this year but in previous years and this year's outing is the culmination of all that work. It's not just that the individuals behind FIFA 10 know their football, they love it. Had just a little bit of extra time been put it to correct the bugs and errors, and this would have been as close to flawless as a sporting title can get.
Pros:
+ As realistic a football game as there's ever been
+ Fantastic visuals
+ Virtual Pro is far in a way an improvement over Be A Pro Mode
Cons:
- A large amount of bugs take the shine off of the game
- Player faces still look off, especially for the less known ones