FIFA 10

Overview

FIFA 10 is the second latest iteration in the FIFA series(the first being 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa), EA Sports' popular football franchise, developed by EA Canada and licensed by the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). As with previous versions of the game, this latest installment features licensed teams from major football leagues throughout the world. It evolves on the gameplay established by its predecessors, using the same engine but building on many of the modes debuted in FIFA 09 and FIFA 08 and refining the gameplay. The biggest change to how the game plays is the introduction of 360 degree dribbling, instead of the eight-way control that has been prominent since the beginning of the FIFA games. It also adds a new Virtual Pro that lets the player import a GameFace that represents a real-life face from the EA Sports Football website.
 
The game was released in European regions on October 2nd and the US on October 20th, 2009. As of December 2009, FIFA 10 has sold more than 4.5 million copies and is the fastest selling sports game ever with 1.7 million copies sold in its first week. It is also the overall top-selling game of 2009 in Europe.
 
Despite the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa taking placing during the months of June and July in 2010, FIFA 10 does not feature the worldwide football tournament. Instead, EA Sports released a separate stand-alone game, 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.

New Features

Many new features and improvements to established features have been put into the game. Some of them are listed below:

• There has been a refinement of the ball physics
• The defensive line will usually be deeper
• The AI's goalkeeping, positioning, and defending have all received tweaks
• 360 degree dribbling gives the player a new sense of control over the ball, and the dribbling is generally more responsive
• Players can import their face from the EA Sports Football website and use it on their created player
  
• Alternatively, they can use the PlayStation Eye or Xbox Vision cameras to put their face inside the game instead
  
• The ability to take quick free kicks has been added
• Referees will also show cards quickly to speed the continuation of the game up
• Players cover spaces left by team mates
• The practice arena has been improved with new options that let players set up practice matches and set pieces
• The ability to change stadium names and assign them to teams has been added

 

Game Modes  

• Quick Match - Quick Match allows the player to get straight into a match straight away without having to go through the menus. By default, the match is between the player's favored team and the team's main rivals.
  
• Exhibition - This mode allows the player to set up a friendly match between two teams.
• Tournament Mode - Custom or preset tournaments and leagues can be set up and played. A lot of individual settings can be tweaked, like the number of substitutes, whether the away goal rule is in effect, and the number of games a player misses through suspension.
  
• Manager Mode - This standard career mode has undergone a few significant changes, notably with transfers and experience points completely revamped. Kit numbers can also be edited at any time, effectively fixing the problem in previous FIFA games where newly bought players were assigned unusual numbers.
  
• Virtual Pro - A new addition to FIFA 10, players can create their own footballer with the ability to add a scan of their face. Completing specific challenges allows players to improve particular stats, and this player carries across to all of the different game modes.
• Be a Pro Seasons - Players choose a single footballer (their Virtual Pro is also an option) and complete a season playing solely as that player. Staying in the primary squad requires the fulfillment of set challenges, which also improves your footballer's stats.
• Lounge Mode - Lounge Mode is a relaxed and more unrealistic way of playing FIFA 10. Players earn points and badges depending on how well they play in a match and meet certain criteria. Badges can be used before a match to give your team an edge or impede your opponent. Examples include ensuring that the offside rule does not affect you and distributing bookings to the opposing team.
  
• Head-to-Head - Head-to-Head is the traditional online mode that pits two players against each other using teams of their choosing.
• League Mode - With this mode, players can start a new league and invite friends to it. Participants play each other at any time, and the standings update according to the results.
• Be a Pro Online - Up to twenty players can take part in one match, with everyone assuming a different single footballer. Only the goalkeepers cannot be controlled.

 

Gameplay Criticisms

 The main criticisms of FIFA 10's gameplay have pointed towards the effectiveness of goalkeepers in certain situations. Goalkeepers are particularly susceptible to chip shots due to advancing far off their goal line and not reacting to the chip.   

Downloadable Content

EA Sports has put more focus on downloadable content compared to previous years. There is an in-game store that lets players purchase and download extras. Real Madrid's stadium, the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, was released as free DLC to coincide with the game's launch date, while temporary stat boosts for Virtual Pros and extra commentary are also available.
 

Live Season 2.0

 
Live Season 2.0 is an updated version of FIFA 09's Adidas Live Season and allows in-game updates to player stats and statuses depending upon their real world performance, injuries, and transfers, among other things. Updates are released every Wednesday, and it is available for 6 leagues within the game: the Premier League, Ligue 1, Serie A, Bundesliga, Liga BBVA, and Primera División. It also allows players to play their chosen team's real-life season with the same line ups, and compare their results and performances alongside reality. Without sponsorship from Adidas this year, it is paid DLC and costs $3.99/400 MS points per individual league or $7.99/800 MS points for all six leagues.
 

FIFA Ultimate Team

 

EA Sports' popular post-release piece of DLC that featured in FIFA 09 returned for FIFA 10, costing $4.99/400 MS points. The mode is based on card collection where players are able to buy card packs with in-game money or via PSN / MSP in order to build and improve their own team. Not only do the cards include individual players but also managers, coaches, physios, stat boosts, kits, balls and stadia. The player's team can then be taken into online or single-player tournaments to earn more money. This time, the mode features regularly updated new challenges, tournaments, and rewards.
 
The other big change is team chemistry, which has been redesigned to play a much bigger part in matches. Each individual player has a chemistry value dependent on a number of factors. A player forms relationships with his teammates, and if his nationality or the league he plays in is the same as those nearby, he receives a boost in chemistry. Likewise, if he is playing in his favoured position, or if the formation is one that he likes, he will find it easier to gel in the team.

Additionally, the add-on provides access to an additional 250 achievement points on Xbox Live.
 

Cover Athlete

Each region's version of FIFA 10 features a different set of players on the cover:

• United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland -  Theo Walcott,  Frank Lampard and  Wayne Rooney
• Australia - Wayne Rooney and  Tim Cahill
• Germany - Bastian Schweinsteiger and Wayne Rooney
  
• Italy -  Ronaldinho and Giorgio Chiellini
  
• France - Steve Mandanda, Karim Benzema, and Guillaume Hoarau
• Spain - Karim Benzema and Xavi
  
• Poland - Wayne Rooney and Robert Lewandowski
• Portugal - Frank Lampard and Simão
• Russia - Sergei Semak
• Hungary - Wayne Rooney and Balázs Dzsudzsák
• North America - Frank Lampard, Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Sacha Kljestan
  

 

Commentators

FIFA 10 provides localised commentary. You will generally only get a few commentary pairs with the game depending on where you live, but the rest can be downloaded from the store. Below are the list of commentators that appear in the game:

• English - Martin Tyler and Andy Gray
• English (Alternate) - Clive Tyldsley and Andy Townsend
  
• French - Herve Mathoux and Franck Sauzée
• Italian - Giuseppe Bergomi and Fabio Caressa
• German - Tom Bayer and Sebastian Hellman
• Spanish (Spain) - Paco González and Manolo Lama
• Spanish (Mexico) - Enrique "el Perro" Bermúdez and Ricardo Peláez
• Dutch - Evert ten Napel and Youri Mulder
• Portuguese (Portugal) - David Carvalho and Hélder Conduto
• Portuguese (Brazil) - Nivaldo Prieto and Paulo Vinícius Coelho
• Hungarian - Richard Faragó and István B. Hajdú
• Russian - Vasiliy Utkin and Vasiliy Solovjov
• Swedish - Glenn Hysén and Henrik Strömblad
• Czech - Jaromír Bosák and Petr Svěcený
• Polish - Włodzimierz Szaranowicz and Dariusz Szpakowski

 

Soundtrack

The FIFA 10 soundtrack features songs from 42 up-and-coming bands from a variety of different countries:

• Adiam Dymott - Miss You
• Afrobots - Favela Rock
• Alex Metric - Head Straight
• Auletta - Meine Stadt
• Balkan Beat Box feat. Tomer Yosef and Saz - Ramallah-Tel Aviv
• BLK JKS - Lakeside
• Bomba Estéreo - Fuego
• The BPA feat. Ashley Beedle - Should I Stay or Should I Blow
• Buraka Som Sistema feat. Pongolove - Kalemba (Wegue - Wegue)
• CasioKids - Fot I Hose
• Children Collide - Skeleton Dance
• Crookers feat. The Very Best, Two Fingers & Marina Gasolina - Birthday Bash
• Cut Off Your Hands - Happy as Can Be
• Dananananaykroyd - Black Wax
• Datarock - Give It Up
• Fabri Fibra - Donna Famosa
• Fidel Nadal - International Love
• Los Fabulosos Cadillacs - La Luz Del Ritmo
• Macaco - Hacen Falta Dos
• Major Lazer - Hold the Line
• Marcio Local - Soul Do Samba
• Matt & Kim - Daylight (Troublemaker Remix feat. de la Soul)
• Metric - Gold Guns Girls
• Mexican Institute of Sound - Alocatel
• Nneka - Kangpe
• Passion Pit - Moth's Wings
• Peter Bjorn and John - Nothing to Worry About
• Pint Shot Riot - Not Thinking Straight
• Playing for Change - War / No More Trouble
• Rocky Dawuni - Download The Revolution
• Royksopp - It's What I Want
• Soshy - Dorothy
• The Answering Machine - It's Over! It's Over! It's Over!
• The Enemy - Be Somebody
• The Temper Trap - Science of Fear
• Tommy Sparks - She's Got Me Dancing
• The Whitest Boy Alive - 1517
• Wyclef Jean - MVP Kompa
• Zap Mama - Vibrations

 

Demo

A demo was released to the public on the Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Network on October 2, 2009. It featured three difficulty levels, the arena (doubling as a loading screen), and the Exhibition mode. Players could choose from six different teams in the demo and play matches of three minutes per half. If both teams were tied after ninety minutes, penalties decided the match. The six teams included:
 

• Olympique Marseille
• Chelsea
• Juventus
• Chicago Fire
• Bayern Munchen
  
• FC Barcelona