RSS Feeds NGN on Facebook NGN on Twitter NGN on YouTube
Tuesday March 19, 2024
Header logo
  1. Index
  2. » Articles
  3. » Reviews
  4. » FIFA 10
FIFA 10
Platform: PlayStation 3
82

FIFA 10 Review

For those who love the smell of a fresh pitch in the morning

Posted by on

FIFA 10 is the 18th title in Electronic Arts' FIFA series of football video games. Developed by EA Canada, it was published by Electronic Arts worldwide under the EA Sports label. Being one of EA Sports’ yearly franchises comes with a certain amount of pressure to not only resolve issues from last season, but also introduce new elements so that players do not feel as if they paid for a roster update and a gameplay patch. In that regard, EA Sports seems to have done a better job than with FIFA 09, but still many issues and annoyances were discovered by players just days after release. This was not a very pleasant year for EA Sports division, as mentioned in the NHL 10 review, another yearly sports franchise from the publisher. The new footy title produces enough new content this year to recommend it to those who own FIFA 09, but at the same time new issues have cropped up in this year’s version.

FIFA 10

At its core, FIFA 10 is still the brilliant football game that fans all over the world love. There are 31 leagues and over 500 teams in the game, as well as 41 national teams, including the newly licensed Netherlands national squad. As always, players are free to take any of these squads in the many games modes available. T he game also features 50 stadiums, including most of the larger stadiums from Europe's most prominent leagues, as well as a range of generic stadia and practice arenas. The single player is still centered on Manager Mode, which offers players the chance to select a squad and guide it to championship glory season after season. The player is able to manage various aspects of the club and all its players, though the options are fairly limited in terms of finances, staff and other non-essential club activities. New this year is the assistant manager, who can be turned on to automate the squad selection before each match. Pre-season friendlies have also made their return to the franchise, giving the player a chance to test out his squad and various tactical formations.

Various other improvements also have an impact on your career, such as a fixed simulation AI that ensures top strengths squads actually end up on top of the league with appropriate results, rather than the randomized scores from previous years. The financial goals are simplified down to two budgets – overall amount that is used to purchase players, and the wage amount that dictates how much more salary the club can afford to spend per week. The transfer system has also changed, now adding a more significant personality to players on the market, so that they may choose to go to a higher league club rather than the highest monetary offer. It also takes more time to sign a player if other clubs are also interested; bidding wars can even occur. When selling, the same player can receive multiple offers simultaneously from different clubs, which can all be viewed on the same convenient screen.

The players in your club are your lifeline, and the way they develop has changed with FIFA 10. The manual experience-based growth from previous years has been replaced by a slew of determining factors, ranging from in-game performance, to achievements based on player’s position and expectations from the player. This new system was rather broken at launch, with top players sometimes losing form far too quickly, which resulted in them becoming almost amateurs in the game. This problem was addressed with the launch-day patch, so form and growth changes are much more reasonable and steady.

FIFA 10

Much like NHL 10 however, not everything was taken into account when prioritizing the game’s issues. In manager mode, serious bugs still exist that, for example, allow a player to suddenly disappear from the squad and appear in another continent’s team altogether. Players becoming ultra expensive or very cheap, sudden huge negative financial balances, snow-covered pitches in July and inability to turn off assistant manager are all examples of the many bugs found in Manager and other single player modes. Some of these can be fixed by restarting the game or loading an older save, while others seem to be unavoidable under certain scenarios.

The other notable single player mode is Virtual Pro. This player-created footballer can be used to begin a Be a Pro seasons, or taken directly into Manager Mode or other single player modes and be placed as a part of an existing team. A fun new addition this year is the Game Face, which allows players to upload a photo of themselves online, edit it on EA’s website, and then download it to their game and place it on their Virtual Pro. This creates some very life-like looking faces, but also a few freeky ones. Other than that, Virtual Pro has not seen many changes in terms of gameplay. There are still the various goals listed for you in order to unlock better skills, more points to progress your character and unlock other neat features. The disappointing downside to this mode is a copy from NHL’s Be a Pro. The “Virtual Pro shop” exists in FIFA 10, allowing players to buy skill upgrades for their pro with real cash, rather than earn them in the game. This introduces a rift between players trying to earn their attributes versus those who just buy them, resulting in some very lopsided online Pro matches early in the season. As with NHL 10, this seems to be a rather cheap way to make money off lazy players who want to dominate online without having to put time into their character.

On the pitch, things feel very familiar, which is not a bad thing. The new 360-degree control system really does feel fluid, and the added player awareness factor finally lets defenders clear the ball properly in moments of danger. Players are still able to adjust many different difficulty sliders, customize the controls and adjust the speed of the game, which is actually highly recommended since the default speed feels too fast for a proper match. The commentating team of Martin Tyler and Andy Gray once again provide the English commentary for the game, though most of the lines feel reused from last year. There are also many occasions where the commentary is blatantly wrong, such as announcing that you’ve lost in the first leg of a playoff match whereas you actually won, or announcing that the player defeated this opponent when last met, which is not true. Still though, the commentating is strong and feels very human, with various conversation pieces added to add dynamics to the game calling. One oddity that remains is the extremely poor celebration sequences when your team wins a cup or a domestic final. These are a huge step back from previous generation engine of the series, and spoil the mood quite harshly after a hard fought victory in a final.

FIFA 10

With regards to online play, FIFA 10 has really seemed to struggle this year to keep the servers running smoothly during peak hours. Going online during the late night or middle of the day produced unhindered matches, however as soon as the waves of players hit in early evening, constant disconnects and timeouts became very frequent. This has continued for the few months following release, and only later seemed to be finally resolved, be it with hardware changes on EA’s side, or the interest in the game itself has simply passed its peak.

The overall presentation of FIFA 10 is acceptable, if not original. You are still able to perform custom celebrations after scoring a goal, which add to the excitement. But at the same time, most of the in-game cinematics are recycled from last year, and even the new ones begin repeating themselves after just a few matches into the game. As mentioned earlier, the commentary is still solid, but it too becomes repetitive. As always, the game’s soundtrack is amazingly diverse and original, providing tunes from various artists and styles across the globe, making the game feel truly international. The visuals have not changed much, and the game’s engine is beginning to look a bit dated. High-profile footballers have very good likenesses in the game, but less-known and randomly-generated players can look downright poor. The crowd is still mostly cardboard cut-outs, and the players look cartoony in the game’s menus, but there are all passable issues.

At the heart of FIFA 10, there is arguably the best sports franchise in history. It is hidden away however, behind various annoyances and gameplay issues that EA Sports refuses to acknowledge and address, making it a rather frustrating experience. With a huge database of clubs and professional players, the game continues to impress each year with the sheer amount of information it presents. With the addition of 360 degree ball control and other AI tweaks, this football game plays smoother than ever, if a bit fast on default settings. The Manager Mode is still a fun single player endeavour, though it still includes many bugs and issues that require ironing out. Online hasn’t changed much, and the game had a rather rough launch in terms of server stability. As some may expect, the presentation is solid but begins to be repetitive depending on how much and how often you choose to play some footy. Taken as a whole though, FIFA 10 is a solid title that offers enough new content and revamped core gameplay to recommend it to the owners of the previous year’s version, though be warned that there is a number of existing issues that may or may not get fixed.

Our ratings for FIFA 10 on PlayStation 3 out of 100 (Ratings FAQ)
Presentation
84
Though still appealing, there is need for something fresh for presentation in terms of cinematics and commentary. Victory celebrations in cup finals are abrupt and unimpressive
Gameplay
89
The game is a bit too quick on default settings, but otherwise still still makes an excellent football game, made even better with 360 degree dribbling and player awareness
Single Player
75
The Manager Mode and Virtual Pro see little in the way of new gameplay or fresh ideas, but instead focus on fixing things from last year. This is a step forward and then a step back, since new problems also emerge
Multiplayer
70
Some very problematic server issues and the introduction of paid boosts to Virtual Pro players leave this year's multiplayer feeling cheap and uninspired
Performance
81
The game runs flawlessly, though the engine starts to show its age. The famous players are rendered well, but others can look strange and very generic
Overall
82
FIFA 10 is a good football game that is held back by a batch of new issues that the developer feels reluctant to fix. Worth upgrading from last year, but don't expect miracles
Comments
FIFA 10
FIFA 10 box art Platform:
PlayStation 3
Our Review of FIFA 10
82%
Great
The Verdict:
Game Ranking
FIFA 10 is ranked #345 out of 1953 total reviewed games. It is ranked #29 out of 63 games reviewed in 2009.
345. FIFA 10
Related Games
EA Sports UFC 5 EA Sports UFC 5
Platform: PlayStation 5
Released: October 2023
Developer: EA Vancouver
NHL 24 NHL 24
Platform: PlayStation 5
Released: October 2023
Developer: EA Vancouver
EA Sports FC 24 EA Sports FC 24
Platform: PlayStation 5
Released: September 2023
Developer: EA Vancouver
NHL 23 NHL 23
Platform: PlayStation 5
Released: October 2022
Developer: EA Vancouver
FIFA 23 FIFA 23
Platform: PlayStation 5
Released: September 2022
Developer: EA Vancouver
NHL 22 NHL 22
Platform: PlayStation 5
Released: October 2021
Developer: EA Vancouver
Screenshots

FIFA 10
10 images added May 30, 2010 21:36
Videos
Fifa 10 Trailer
Posted: Aug 20, 2009 10:26
Advertisement ▼
New Game Network NGN Facebook NGN Twitter NGN Youtube NGN RSS