Fifa 10 Review

Fifa 10 is EA`s latest offering and I wondered whether it would be worth buying but decided to buy it anyway.

Fifa 10 is the best football game to date in my opinion and is definitely the best Fifa out there so far. I used to love Pro Evolution Soccer but the last two games have been pretty poor and after hearing great things about Fifa 09 decided to go back to Fifa.

What is great about this game is the amount of different types of options you have to play in. You can play quick matches, control just one player in a team or play manager mode which is better than some stand alone manager games which sell for £40 on their own!

As always this is not a totally new game but does offer a few new clever features and better graphics etc. The main new feature is 360 degree dribbling which allows you to have a lot more freedom in movement whereas before you could only move in 8 directions. There are many little improvements which you may not even notice like better goalkeepers and the quick free kick has been changed a little.

You can now customise your set pieces which is a brilliant idea so you can get your perfect corner or free kick. This is good fun but I don`t think I have made a decent set piece out of lots of attempts!

My favourite new addition though is Virtual Pro which is like an extension of Be a Pro mode where you can play as yourself and improve through completing various tasks called accomplishments. You can play in manager mode, be a pro, in friendly matches and basically every other mode except for standard online matches. There is even a mode where you can join a club and compete with your virtual pro online!

The online matches are good fun and you can play with people across the world with Xbox Live. There are many different modes to play online and all of them are great fun! The online matches are fun but people sometimes quite e.t.c which is annoying! You can also play with your friends in nearly any offline game mode which is also good fun and better than playing online!

The game play is excellent and feels quite fluid and fast. The computer has improved and it just feels better. Features like 360 degree dribbling make a small difference but combined make it a lot better. There also seems to be a focus on strong players this year where you can often just knock weaker players off the ball!

Manager mode has been improved so much and now is nearly as good as standalone manager games! The transfer system has been improved and is now also more realistic. So a League 1 side is not going to sign Ronaldo! I think this is my favourite mode as it has so much more to do and lasts longer.

The other thing about the Fifa games is that they have the official licenses and kits which makes it a lot better than Pro Evolution where you have to get used to Man Red which is not a major thing but is annoying and means you have to spend hours manually fixing these details. For the first time this year the Dutch national team is fully licensed. I also like the fact you can play as League 1 and 2 teams meaning you can be your local team! There also lots of official stadiums like Old Trafford and the Bernabeu is available as a free download.

You can buy a mode called Live Season which lets you play for your favourite club and features updates in the real world so you have to play with your current team. So Man United would have to currently play without Ferdinand, Wes Brown e.t.c as they are injured and the same would apply if for example someone is suspended. A new downloadable mode called Ultimate Team is coming soon where you try and build your dream team as well!

The graphics have been improved as with every new game in the series. The top players really do look like their real life versions. Not so lucky for Rooney! However players in the lower leagues look a bit generic but still look realistic. The graphics for things like the pitch look excellent as well and overall are great.

The commentary is a lot worse and you soon hear the same phrases over and over again! The commentators are Andy Gray and Martin Tyler. In the match however you do hear sounds from the crowd like "Shoot" and "Man on" which is a nice touch and makes it more realistic. On the menus there is also often pop music which is decent enough.

Overall this is a great new Fifa game. Fifa has so many different game modes to play so it never gets boring, new features like Virtual Pro, fantastic graphics, great gameplay, a fun multiplayer and many updates to keep it fun and interesting you have to buy it if you are a video game and football fan!

I bought this game from Amazon for £25 a few months ago which is brilliant value but it can now be bought there for just £20!