FIFA 2010 World Cup Game - Review

Our policy for reviews is to where possible play the game for 2 weeks and then write a review, the main reason for doing this is because often first impressions of a game can be misleading, it is only after playing a game solidly for a couple of weeks that allows you to form a solid opinion about the game. We are not in a position at the moment which allows us to receive review copies before release of a game so unfortunately for the time-being reviews will be normally 2 weeks after the release of the game, however what you will get is our honest opinion of the game and one that has not been tainted by PR departments of Publishers.

So onto FIFA 2010 World Cup which has been developed by EA and builds upon the FIFA 10. The game features International Teams and has a wide variety of game modes, including an offline World Cup, Online World Cup, Captain Your Country Mode and offline mode which allows you to play an entire World Cup Campaign from Qualifiers right through to the final (should you make it that far). There is also a scenario's mode where you put in certain situations and you have to change the outcome, EA have promised that more scenario's will be added during the world cup.

Inevitably this game is compared to FIFA 10 and people ask why wasn't DLC released instead of a full price game, to some extent those arguments are true but then it is also true that this game does build upon the FIFA 10 match engine and has enough new modes to warrant a full release, in the end it comes down to individual choice.

What about the game itself. Graphically the game looks superb, the stadiums have been done really well, player faces are a lot better and the addition of showing cut scenes of the managers is also a positive, the other positive is that the sound in the game is superb, you can clearer hear chants, the atmosphere within the stadiums is very realistic, this combined with the visual advances help to re-create the world cup atmosphere accurately.

Gameplay wise players will notice that it is a touch faster than FIFA 10, this makes matches at times very frantic and end to end, which may appeal to casual players but not to the hardcore. The shooting has been improved, as have headers, unlike FIFA 10 it is now possible to score headers on a more regular basis. The penalty taking system has also been revamped, when stepping up to take a penalty a power bar appears at the bottom of the screen, you have to use your skill to stop it in the "green zone" and the use the left stick to place the shot, if say you are involved in a penalty shootout in the world cup final then the green zone is a lot smaller, this is superb as it ratchets up the pressure!

Despite these advances there is one huge problem with this game and that is the AI, which to be frank is extremely poor. After a couple of days of playing it becomes obvious that the AI is fundamentally broken, particularly defensive AI. When playing against the AI you are pressured all over the field, which is fine but the problem is that the computer controlled team does not get tired and will do this for 120 minutes if needs be, however when you do get into the opposition half and attack the defence you will see defenders behaving in a very erratic manner, they will lose their shape, run in the opposite direction or just stop and let your striker run through, this results in high scoring games and far to many situations where you are one on one with the goalkeeper. These defensive problems also affect your team, as you can only control one player at a time, when you are defending the defenders you are not controlling again behave in a very erratic manner, this not only ruins the offline experience but also the online experience because again to many chances are created, far to many one on one situations and very high scoring games. We even tried very defensive formation (eg 4-5-1 and 5-4-1) and adjusted tactics to be very defensive in order to try and make it more difficult for the opposition to score but could not manage it due to the AI problems.

The other niggle is that this game like FIFA 10 lacks individuality. When you look at the player statistics the better players have better statistics for factors such a passing, shooting etc, However once you get them onto the field they all behave the same way, so Keith Andrews can pass the ball as effectively as Xavi or a San Marino striker can shoot as effectively as Fernando Torres, again for hardcore fans this ruins the experience because it offer no real challenge and star players do not stand out.

FIFA 2010 World Cup does have some excellent features, the improvements graphically and to the sound are very welcome. However, it falls down in the gameplay department. If you are a casual fan and want a "pick up and play game" which is fun then you should do ahead and purchase this. Hardcore fans will not like this game, initially it is playable but the more you play the game the more the AI issues will start to grate, particularly if you play online a lot as games will be high scoring and it becomes frustrating not being able to defend properly.

EA have made huge strides over the last few years but with FIFA 10 and the World Cup game they have made games which have potential but are badly let down by AI problems and bugs which should have been picked up during the testing process. It is hoped that this is just a blip and they return to form with FIFA 2011.

Overall Score: 6.5/10.