WORLD CUP 2010 - MY VIEW
Firstly, I must point out that this view is based on 1player V’s CPU only. I’ve only had the game for 1 night and as of yet have not tried out ‘online’ or multiplayer.
My game settings are
Semi passing
Semi shooting
Assisted crossing
Manual through passes
Assisted lob pass
I’ve been gagging to get my hands on this full release since downloading the infuriatingly short halved demo. So my expectations have been very high. And ive not been disappointed.
From load up I love how the menus look. A nice warm African art style look to it. I even like the EA trax that accompany the game. A nice new feature is where you can save your settings that will transfer over to future Fifa games. Should save a few minutes when Fifa11 comes to town.
I set up a friendly between England and Scotland just to get my toes wet. So immediately im impressed that they have given Wembley a make over and it looks stunning with the new pitch textures. Packed full too so im glad they seem to have done away with half full stadium for friendlys or when your team is not doing so well in Manager Mode. In my opinion it was never implemented correctly. When have you ever seen the Emirates half full for a game between Arsenal and Spurs for example. Anyway, back on track. Now ive seen pics on various forums of the England players but actually seeing them on my tv screen was jaw dropping. The work EA have put into the faces this year is to be commended. My favourite England player has to be Rio Ferdinand. The way he looks in game is incredible. I still think the actual player models need some work for Fifa11 but I cant knock the faces. We all know the kits are still sub par when compared to the competition but they are still good enough IMO.
The atmosphere is one of the first things that hits you. It really is a big step up from Fifa10 and the Euro2008 game which was good in its day. The whistling, chanting, drums etc are just perfect and it really does add to the game. You feel more involved. I love that they have Managers now in the game (as in euro2008). It seems toned down slightly to how regular the cut scenes interrupt to show them from the demo but I feel maybe a little more toning is required. Still the X button is there to skip so not really a big issue.
Anyway to the game play. It took me just 3 minutes to score my first goal. A lovely finesse finish from Rooney into the postage stamp from the edge of the box. It looked wonderful and the way the ball travelled and how the keeper stretched for it just seemed more ‘realistic’ then in previous titles. That’s how this game just plays for me now. Everything, from passing, tackling, crossing just seems more ‘realistic’. Ive noticed that deflections are much better. I’m seeing really cool deflections happen and it makes the game just seem more free and un scripted.
Anyway I won the friendly 2 nil. Nice win over the sweatys.
So next I entered the World Cup campaign with England. The full qualifying stage. I went the true life route so had Croatia, Ukraine and the mighty Andorra in my group. 6 minute halves by the way. So I have played every team in my group at least once (have a couple of qualifiers remaining, it was 3am and I had to get too bed). What I was dreading was that every team plays the same way. I’ve read quite a few posts saying that this is still a problem EA has not addressed. Well I can see a lot of difference. Its not perfect and there is much more scope to improve for future Fifas but it’s the best to date of any Fifa game. I had a mixed bag of results. Drawing 1-1 at Wembley to Kazakhstan didn’t go down to well with the English faithful for example. Belarus caused me problems. I drew 1-1 with them away.. A nice touch was Townsend mentioning A.Hleb being a danger man and how good he was at Arsenal, then 20 minutes into the game he popped up with a goal for Belarus. A nice dribble and finish. Also I saw him pulling off tricks against me. No rainbows of sorts but he was doing flicks and stepovers. Player individuality is evident in this game. No other Belarusian was doing this and he really stood out as a danger man for me. Andorra were stubborn at their home. I won 4-1 in the end but it was only 2-1 going into the 90th minute. At home I smashed them 7-0 and it could have been 20. It just seemed really true to real life. Croatia away was my toughest match. I lost 3-1. They were strong and played a lot of high cross balls into my full backs and they couldn’t cope. Had chances in the game but was a deserved loser. So basically, with a couple of games to go I find myself second in the group, 1 pt behind Croatia. Everything is playing out as it should. Andorra are rooted at the bottom with a goals against record Burnley would be proud of.
Not sure if I like the friendlys that are arranged for you. I don’t know if these can be hand picked when creating a custom tournament but I played Spain, Germany and Holland and Bulgaria. Only beat the Germans 1-0 and lost the rest. Spain were, quite rightly my toughest opponents to date and I was hanging on for dear life for 90 minutes.
Another thing I love is the way that you are updated with other relevant scores during your match. It was nice to see that Belarus was giving Croatia a slapping and gave me extra incentive to get a result in a game that I was struggling with.
Match rating and stats at the end of the match are much more visually cleaner with a formation style line-up of the players and with a menu on the left you can cycle through which stats you want displayed. For example, shots on goal, match rating. Pass completion % etc etc. Ive also noticed on most, not all occasions that the Man Of The Match awards go to correct players. And not just the player who scores the most goals. I had a game where Rooney had scored a hat trick but little Theo had a blinder and assisted in 2 goals and scored a belter himself and generally all round was superb. I was expecting Rooney to get the MOM but it was awarded to Theo. Excellent! Its little things like this that are showing the more you play. These are the details EA normally mess up but this production team seems to, in my opinion, ‘get’ football more than the annually released Fifa team.
So off to bed I went with eyes stinging and sore. I did not want to stop playing this game. I love it. The AI is better, not perfect but better. They still do that thing where you just cant get the ball off them. Like there is an invisible force field around them. Its not as bad as previous games but its there and I hate it. Feels scripted when it happens.
So my pluses are
Visuals - stunning pitches, and good variant between stadiums.
Faces - wow, for the top teams they are top notch - even lesser teams generic ones look good
Game play - its amazing how all the tweaks come together. Been left open mouthed at times
AI - improved, still need work of course but a step in the right direction and 1p is now playable.
Team Variants - Spain play like Spain - Andorra play like Andorra and Croatia are strong - how it should be. A definite improvement on Fifa10 although in all honesty I havnt played any teams from other continents yet so it will be interesting to see if they play in the correct style suited to their nation.
Player Individualism - a real sticky point with Fifa. I can see it in this game. Like the Hleb incident I spoke of earlier. It still needs work though but its on the right path.
Penalty system - fantastic. Ive heard a lot of moans and groans about this which I just don’t get. Its so much better than the hit and hope system of the past.
Physicality - been toned down a bit and you can really feel it. Not sure if it needs more tweaking though.
Commentary - I like the Townsend and Tyldesly combi. Still hear the odd mistake but overall I think its really well done. Maybe after several sessions I will hear more errors etc but initially I think its really well put together.
What I would like to see for future titles;
Dynamic weather - like in tiger woods. Connected to the weather channel so that when its rainy in London in real life so it is in the game. Except when playing scenario, dated fixtures of course.
Dynamic pitches - lets see some wear and tear on the pitch during gameplay
Better player models
Pes quality kits, at least for the top leagues/divisions.
So hats off to the team who produced this game. Rutter, I hope you are taking note.
9/10 from me