FIFA 10

having now played both demos, i feel FIFA will be the main football game for years to come unless Konami get a brand new team in or someone like codemasters or even microsoft start making them. FIFA has always been my favourite game but i have always bought Pro Evo because of the fact i always think it couldnt possibly be any worse than last year, read my Pro Evo review to read about that.
Anyway football games are not about making you feel like your playing football its about making you feel like your playing a televised match and this is why people who love watching any match (regardless of what team it is) love FIFA because its a football lovers game.
the commentry is sublime there are no random shouting the players names or saying things a hundred times a match. there are intricate details about the team you are playing or playing against and this year about the stadiums as well.
When you are playing i often forget that i am controlling a player and when drogba… more »

having now played both demos, i feel FIFA will be the main football game for years to come unless Konami get a brand new team in or someone like codemasters or even microsoft start making them. FIFA has always been my favourite game but i have always bought Pro Evo because of the fact i always think it couldnt possibly be any worse than last year, read my Pro Evo review to read about that.
Anyway football games are not about making you feel like your playing football its about making you feel like your playing a televised match and this is why people who love watching any match (regardless of what team it is) love FIFA because its a football lovers game.
the commentry is sublime there are no random shouting the players names or saying things a hundred times a match. there are intricate details about the team you are playing or playing against and this year about the stadiums as well.
When you are playing i often forget that i am controlling a player and when drogba misses from 6 yards out i always shout at him or laugh because its something i would do if i were watching on tv, it creates that illusion.
the players have charachter, when they miss you feel there anguish and sometimes embarrassment, the goalkeepers also have personality petr cech seems to willingly risk life and limb trying to stop the ball, you can feel the urgency in the defenders and the strikers when you are attacking. the goalkeepers also have more realistic reaction time and are moreintelligent by jumping at the ball rather than the general direction to where the ball is going. they want to keep that ball out.
the shooting as well, you get the feeling that the players actually want to score, not just kicking the ball in the direction of the goal, the running off the ball is superb, if a player gets through the defence witha through ball several defenders will go hell for leather in trying to get back and so will the rest of the team. it will be interesting playin as man utd to see if wayne rooney gets back to defend after having a shot.
players take up more intelligent positions based on the strikers which i havent seen before but it has been promised and never put into frusion.
finally the graphics and gameplay are what you expect of FIFA these days. players posture when they change speed and angling themselves for a shot or re-positioning for a header, moving away from markers at corners and jossiling for better position. the physics on shoulder barges is brilliant and the strength of a player actually matters.
FIFA deffinately gets a 5 out of 5 for me. thanks for reading.

EA promised that Fifa 10 would blow people away, and it has, 10 million copies shifted in its first week, and continued chart/sales dominance over it's nearing sporting game rivals.

Like many, I was an avid Pro Evolution fan up until Fifa 09, when the two developers switched sides, with EA bringing realism and Konami subjecting us to arcade stylings.

Fifa 09 was one of the biggest and best games of the 360 era, and EA knew they had some big boots to fill with their next installment.

On the face of it, Fifa 10 is a worthy successor.

The football has been tweaked just enough for noticeable changes, and the game has more licenses and depth than anyone could possibly ask for.
As is the way with these football games, their defining features are the single player career mode and multiplayer/online.
On the surface, Manager mode seems like its had a terrific overhaul for the new year. Lots more options, stats, search functions and player information.… more »

EA promised that Fifa 10 would blow people away, and it has, 10 million copies shifted in its first week, and continued chart/sales dominance over it's nearing sporting game rivals.

Like many, I was an avid Pro Evolution fan up until Fifa 09, when the two developers switched sides, with EA bringing realism and Konami subjecting us to arcade stylings.

Fifa 09 was one of the biggest and best games of the 360 era, and EA knew they had some big boots to fill with their next installment.

On the face of it, Fifa 10 is a worthy successor.

The football has been tweaked just enough for noticeable changes, and the game has more licenses and depth than anyone could possibly ask for.
As is the way with these football games, their defining features are the single player career mode and multiplayer/online.
On the surface, Manager mode seems like its had a terrific overhaul for the new year. Lots more options, stats, search functions and player information.
However, the staggering number of bugs and glitches that litter EAs flagship mode swiftly and violently casts this new look and feel aside.
To name a few, ridiculous weather conditions (more than 3 quarters of my matches were played in the rain/snow, including use of a near invisible white ball in the snow), a random form system which can see a star striker score 4 in one match and suddenly have his finishing, speed and strength stats drop exponentially, players in lower leagues becoming unrealistically unfit after one game (just because your Chesterfield team hasnt got the 9million required to have a 10 star fitness coach).

I could go on and on about the bugs, some forums and sites have counted 70 to date.

Needless to say, diehards (like myself) will ignore these and play on in the hope that somewhere along their promised 15 year career, there will be a brighter dawn.

The abrupt answer, is no.

4 seasons in, and my premier league has two Newcastle Uniteds (both of which inhabit the relegation zone, some realism does rear it's head occasionally) , I have beaten Wolves in the 3rd, 4th and 5th rounds of the F.A cup, and on becoming bored with english football and moving abroad to take the Real Madrid vacancy (with a promised 120m transfer kitty, and 200k a week wage budget) I was then informed that i was now 2bn in debt and minus 500k a week in wages, thus crippling the game.

Like i said, invisible footballs and bad form is one thing..having a bug which cripples progress in a game is unforgivable.

But, never fear, EA have released an astounding TWO patches, which have supposedly fixed all these and more.

Of the 70 glitches and bugs, 6 bugs have been fixed (which people have listed as minor), and yet more have been found.

Online multiplayer doesn't bring any more good news, with lacking servers at the best of times and glitchy games resulting in Pes2008 levels of frustration.

Fifa 10 is still the best selling football game in the world right now, but more and more people are tossing their copy aside in disgust at the sheer number of unforgivable bugs, which can cripple the game at any point.

Bugs and glitches are common, it is up to developers to sort them out, which is what the patch system and 24/7 internet is supposed to counter in this modern age.
The fact is that EA have not made any statements re-assuring the community that a fix is coming, you have bought (or about to buy) the game and therefore their job is done.

Regardless of the above, the likelihood is that you are going to buy this game, all i ask is that you wait until it drops in price, or until EA decide to fix the game, although given their track record when it comes to customer support, you'd be better off just waiting for Fifa 11.

After many month's playing this title i am only left with questions and all of them begin with why? or how come.Why is this laughingly called a game when it is blatantly obvious it is nothing more than a series of senario's.How Come you can play a match over and over ,changing players, formations and levels of attack and defence and get the same result over and over again.Why when tackling an opponent does the ball run on to the next opponent in the line every time .How come when you use the clearance button and power it well over half way does the ball go 10 feet .How come when your attacking does the game automatically pass the ball to the furthest player forward all the time every time .How come when you alter your teams attacking level to defence are your team still holding an aggressive line on half way.Why do is there no defending built into to this game other than your button pressing and stick movement. Why do referees ignore blantant fouls on you yet you are pulled every… more »

After many month's playing this title i am only left with questions and all of them begin with why? or how come.Why is this laughingly called a game when it is blatantly obvious it is nothing more than a series of senario's.How Come you can play a match over and over ,changing players, formations and levels of attack and defence and get the same result over and over again.Why when tackling an opponent does the ball run on to the next opponent in the line every time .How come when you use the clearance button and power it well over half way does the ball go 10 feet .How come when your attacking does the game automatically pass the ball to the furthest player forward all the time every time .How come when you alter your teams attacking level to defence are your team still holding an aggressive line on half way.Why do is there no defending built into to this game other than your button pressing and stick movement. Why do referees ignore blantant fouls on you yet you are pulled every time you touch an opponent.How come you can put umpteen crosses in during a game and not get your head on one yet your opponent gets one cross in and,you guessed it, scores ,also why do all your strikers make the same near post runs all the time .Why does the com defend in lines yet your defensive line is non exsistant .How come there are times when you feel you are just not on the pitch and the commands you execute just mean nothing.Over all this is a very frustrating scripted disc and to say this is close to the real thing is laughable,it's about as credible as england's chance in the next european championships.

Well EA have really dropped a clanger with this one. Fifa 09 was a slick polished game which admitedly needed a slight tweak but with 10 they have ruined it by over tinkering the gameplay and scrimping on the other bits. The commentary for example is highly flawed with them often both babbling on about nothing to do with the particular game. Also the fouls have been completely confused. You can be completely hacked down and get nothing then you perform a little tap tackle and you get booked!
Also the online clubs has been altered to the extent that you have to use your pro now instead of just choosing a club. For those who have the time to develop their pro then fine, but for casuals then its a case of suck online.
Another bad addition for this year is the introduction of a Fifa Store, basically things you got free last year like celebrations etc you now have to buy, along with that you can now basically 'cheat' online by buying a stat boost for your pro which bumps his… more »

Well EA have really dropped a clanger with this one. Fifa 09 was a slick polished game which admitedly needed a slight tweak but with 10 they have ruined it by over tinkering the gameplay and scrimping on the other bits. The commentary for example is highly flawed with them often both babbling on about nothing to do with the particular game. Also the fouls have been completely confused. You can be completely hacked down and get nothing then you perform a little tap tackle and you get booked!
Also the online clubs has been altered to the extent that you have to use your pro now instead of just choosing a club. For those who have the time to develop their pro then fine, but for casuals then its a case of suck online.
Another bad addition for this year is the introduction of a Fifa Store, basically things you got free last year like celebrations etc you now have to buy, along with that you can now basically 'cheat' online by buying a stat boost for your pro which bumps his stats up for a certain amount of matches. Bad idea! It would appear to the masses that if you are willing to pay for cheats or 'enhancements' then EA is more than willing to provide them.
Overall it appears that it has been over-egineered in one area and completely ignored in others.
A massive disappointment in more ways than one. I will be trading in my copy asap.