There are gaming moments designed to be unforgettable: the third Scarecrow psyche-out in Batman: Arkham Asylum; the strider battle in Half-Life: Episode 2; taking that sniper shot in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. And then there are those games crafted with such delicacy these moments never cease. A 40-yard rocket that thunders in off the post; a last minute goal line scramble to preserve a stoppage time lead in a season decider; a cheeky free kick slotted underneath a jumping wall and into the side netting; a curling cross from the byline that sneaks its way in under the bar. Few games can promise a year's worth of new sights, night after night. But FIFA 10 can.
FIFA 2010
Official trailer
1:49The first TV trailer
FIFA 2010
Official trailer
1:49The first TV trailer
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The latest revamp is the most competent ball game on the 360. The niggles of last year's update are gone, resulting in a faster, more fluid recreation of footy, where screamers from outside the box are now easily netted, and new dribble options make for unpredictable games.
We would say FIFA always provides a thrilling match of football but that's not exactly true. Pick a Premier League tussle and, yes, two evenly matched players will enjoy end-to-end action with plenty of 'wow' moments to enjoy. A match between Notts County and Torquay, however, is completely different.
Lower ranked players are unable to use the majority of the skill moves, and a battle between weaker teams rarely produces attractive football. Without the skills of a Rooney or a Torres on the field these lower league grinds to victory are hugely satisfying, and while not for everybody they're an impressive change of pace from the main attraction of top-flight footy. Whatever level of football you want to play, FIFA delivers the goods with stunning realism.
Improvements have been squeezed into every position. In the right hands the skill dribble function makes a mockery of defenders, although rushing centre backs are likely to throw any piece of their body in the way of a shot. The animations of these moves are all staggeringly detailed (the only downside is the slight delay of a pass or a shot until the player's finished his move). And a nice little move that's sure to irk all the chippers out there is the y double tap, which keeps goalies rooted to their lines.
Some features have been nabbed straight from PES: yellow markers help identify carded players easier than before, while quick free kicks keep games flowing as much as possible. Of course, anybody who watches football will know that free kicks, even fast ones, break the flow of the game, so it's a relief to see the ref wave advantage at every sensible opportunity.
Commentary's never been a slouch and this year is no exception. One office game in particular had us actually flabbergasted as each of our comments on the play were soon eerily repeated almost word-for-word by Andy Gray. The celebration quips are especially amusing; just try the robot dance as someone other than Peter Crouch and see for yourself...
If there's one thing we've learned about footy games it's that the real game-breaking quirks only ever appear after many months of testing. While last year's PES soon crumbled under the repeated stress of lunchtime kickabouts, FIFA 09 stood the test of time. We're sure FIFA 10 will be similarly steadfast but the bitter pill to swallow is that there's always a chance.
Yet we've ploughed hours and hours into all its modes and aside from a tendency for crosses to go long (easily fixed by changing the settings from 'auto' to 'semi' or 'manual') nothing has cracked. Between Classic, Manager Mode, Be A Pro, Virtual Legend and everything else lots could have gone wrong for EA. For now though, it's all slotted neatly into place. We'll see you on the pitch.
There have been no Pro Evo 10 reviews yet. I had the November edition of OPM delivered yesterday and no review. Won't make a difference to me anyway as I prefer FIFA.
I did only play the demo but from that the commentary was still appalling (not as bad as pes though), the referee allowed tackles which could kill an elephant and the keepers were still crap (albeit I dont think this will ever be fixed in the near future).
I know a demo doesn't represent the full game whatsoever but I rarely see a game tht improves on release as the game has already gone gold or there just isnt time so i do think there are a few downers to be had.
Does anyone know if its actually possible to shoot along the ground now? I find it amazing how its meant to be a sim but you dont have such control of the ball which is kind of a joke (that is unless me and my friends all overlooked smthg and have been doing smthg stupid. )
I think FIFA and PES are both awful games this year(in my opinion). FIFA is getting better and PES is getting worse and now it's pretty hard to find anything in either game that I enjoy. I'm really disappointed with both games.
Nice one CVG for reposting the same review you've done for the past 4 PES and FIFA games. I really appreciate the in depth analysis you gave to the manager mode which was so heavily emphasised in all the developer diaries. When they claimed they made 50 changes to the structure of manager mode, at the end of the day (ha ha, football pun), I was kind of looking forward to finding out what they were, seeing as it is one of the most popular modes in the game.
Ive been a PES fan since the ISS days when FIFA was all license and no gameplay. Over the last few years though FIFA has been getting progressively better where PES has been getting worse and it was last year with PES09 that i just couldnt play it anymore, there were just too many niggles that spoiled my enjoyment.
Thats when i picked up FIFA 09 and although it was far from being much better than PES, i actually enjoyed playing it more. Ive hardly played PES the rest of the year, only having a kick about with it when round at a mates as he still prefers it.
After playing both demos quite a lot it looks like that trend is still the case. IMO FIFA10 has built on last years effort and it feels better with some of the niggles ironed out, although the crossing can still be greatly improved i think.
PES on the other hand doesn't feel any better. It looks fantastic graphically but it feels clumsy and the animations are the worst ive seen for some time.
At the end of the day everyone has there own opinion and taste but I'll be picking up FIFA10 on release this year and will still give PES a go when my mate buys it...
Having downloaded and played demos on both Xbox and PS, and allbeit hardly scientific, I found Fifa considerably better on the Xbox 360, while PES was better on the PS3. This was principally based on how the controls work.
Overall PES was my preferred choice (the PS version), wierdly I didn't like playing PES on Xbox at all, but I will also be buying Fifa for Xbox 360.
Had this review come from CVG themselves I possibly would of believed, but ''Xbox360 magazine'' sounds like one of those mags in the pocket of the people who make the Xbox, that just do not give out negative reviews.
Had this review come from CVG themselves I possibly would of believed, but ''Xbox360 magazine'' sounds like one of those mags in the pocket of the people who make the Xbox, that just do not give out negative reviews.
Judging only off the demo's PES has improved its game alot since last years appalling effort, but I still feel that FIFA delivers the more realistic football sim. I did not feel as in control when playing PES.
Unfortunately alot of the mags continued to give PES high scores even through PES6 and PES2008-2009, and none of them deserved it (at least not the next gen versions)
FIFA is again the best football game this year, if the demo is anything to go by. The PES demo, although it plays reasonably well, it feels stiff and the ball physics are strange. And, when PES said it had 360 degree dribbling, it does, but it's a very basic version of FIFAs masterful 360 dribbling. It's FIFA this year I believe.
A bit more info from the demos. PES looks amazing graphically, all the top players look as you'd expect them to, but the lesser-known players have terrible likenesses. It's the same for FIFA as well, the top players look great, the others not so much. PES has strange ball physics, every pass seems to go in a direct line, and there's hardly any ball bobble either. FIFA has bobbly passes and wayward passes as well, greatly adding to the realism. Shooting in PES is as good as ever, but the goalkeepers are terrible. FIFA has improved the shooting, but most of the goals still come from the penalty area, which is a shame. Just add more power to the shots and make the goalkeepers less Superman-ish. Licences, FIFA leads the way obviously, but as ever, you can't edit anything apart from the players. PES offers huge depth in the Edit mode, but you'll more than likely just download an option file instead of a DIY job.
Nice one CVG for reposting the same review you've done for the past 4 PES and FIFA games. I really appreciate the in depth analysis you gave to the manager mode which was so heavily emphasised in all the developer diaries. When they claimed they made 50 changes to the structure of manager mode, at the end of the day (ha ha, football pun), I was kind of looking forward to finding out what they were, seeing as it is one of the most popular modes in the game.
This review is the same in all futre magazines. lazy
PES looks amazing graphically, all the top players look as you'd expect them to, but the lesser-known players have terrible likenesses.
Whereas in FIFA, even well known players look awful.
Take a butchers at Paul Robinson. On PES 2009, he looked scarily real. On FIFA 10, he's not even recognisable.
FIFA has the worst player models I've ever seen (and I'm saying this as someone who has bought the game). Kolo Toure is another example. So is Robert Green. Simply awful.
On the PS3, there are also terrible framerate issues during the replays. I think this will be the last year I pay attention to the reviews...
I was a big pro evo fan until i got the fifa 09 because i was sick of the lag online in pro.I carnt compare the 2 games tho from last year because i never played the pro evo one but did enjoy fifa.More teams,real team names,no lag but their was something missing.I got fifa 10 straight after release and do have to say what a load off s?@t it is.It then hit me that fifa is so not like real football,theres no realism at all and its so anoying online its untrue.The delayed passes,the delayed shots,the computer picking my players 2 miles away from the ball when the other teams are in my box,the rugby tackles even when my player is in front the smallest of players barges him off FROM BEHIND not the side and i can go on.Dont get me wrong i am a bad loser but am very good at footy games,pro evo 06(2008 version)i got 400th in the world,which i dont thinks bad.All in all its my opinion and other people will love this game but all i know im going back to pro evo back to realism.
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Punchier shooting than ever
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