For better or worse, I am a gamer.
There I said it. In fact, video games will probably outgrow me -- maybe a cerebral implant -- before I outgrow them.
The following is going to be my thoughts on the latest EA soccer release, "FIFA 10." Maybe you don't game, but I'll go out on a limb and say that "FIFA" has been as important as spreading soccer and ingraining it into Americans sports fans brains as anything else. Before we had access to seemingly every game in every league each and every weekend, there was "FIFA."
To this day, my buddy Suppe still loathes Borussia Dortmund due to Jan Koller and the dreaded "Dubra FIFA" experience.
Anyways, before delving into "FIFA 10" (on XBox 360) let me give this post a bit of context.
Like millions and millions of gamers, I was among the people that would follow the flock and purchase "Madden NFL Football" each and every year. Didn't matter if the changes from the previous edition weren't all that much more than changing rosters and adding a gimmick here or there. I'd but it...until last year, when I said thanks but no thanks.
So when numerous friends raved about this year's "Madden" I was a little leery. My complaints -- the same plays work/don't work year-to-year, the boring A.I., etc. -- were going to be hard to change.
Then I watched Suppe play one game on a big screen t.v. and I immediately went out and rented it...and kept it until about this week when "FIFA" came out and paid a personal record late fee. (Note kids, believe it or not at one point in the history of mankind people actually rented actual physical tapes, cartridges, etc. from stores and would have to pay fines if they were late. In fact, late fees were a good sitcom trope for much of the 1990s, in fact. )
"Madden 10" blew me away with its presentation. It felt like the NFL. Gone were the generic blank stares of the players, replaced actual graphical representations of stars like Kurt Warner and Peyton Manning. The collision detail was amazing. The controls were crisp, tight and benefited from the analogue sticks.
For a guy that played "Madden" all the way back in 1992 when the ambulance would run over players on the field, "Madden 10" felt like perfection, even if the namesake of the game himself wasn't around to say that a guy, "got up looking out his earhole."
With that in mind, here's my biggest issue/concern/conclusion on "FIFA 10." It is an amazing fun game to play, at least against another human being, but is lacking a little bit of soul.
I'll address this all in the 'Pros & Cons' list I've amassed, but here's the gist of it. Obviously "FIFA" is a huge seller around the globe. Huge. The company obviously wants to sell as many copies as possible, hence the inclusion of leagues from the Czech Republic, Poland, South Korea, etc. that 99 percent of gamers will never, ever use.
In this day and age, with the Xbox 360 and PS3, these extra leagues ought to be offered as downloadable content. Yes, this might piss off a few Poles, but it would also give the game developers more space on the disc to create a slightly more detailed and nuanced presentation.
Granted the differences between the NFL, with 30 teams and "FIFA" with literally thousands across the globe are two different animals. A match experience in England isn't the same as Australia or Spain or Italy or wherever.
Now, "FIFA" doesn't need to go the "PES" route in terms of teams available, but compare the "FIFA" list to the "PES" list. Assuming EA kept all the Premier League teams licensed, you could probably get away with it, though. Would you lose the business of diehard fans of of Clermont Foot, Germinal Beerschot, Bohemians 1905 AND Bohemians Praha? Probably, but even then many of these fans would still buy the game.
Basically in summation, EA has created an amazingly fun game to play that is both challenging and rewarding if you practice, yes, practice. It's just a shame that to appeal to the most possible consumers it looks very generic about 90 percent of the time.
Keep in mind, I'm the kind of borderline obsessive, who gets upset when he sees Roman Pavlychenko wearing the captain's armband at Spurs in the game.
Pros
* Ronaldinho is finally not featured on the box, or the in-game art.
* This year you have the option in an online match to a) play extra time only b) extra time & penalties c) end as a draw. This is a huge addition since penalty kicks suck even in video games. The online games also conclude with a detailed account of how many points you've earned or lost, which is a good touch, too.
* This year the keepers don't have magnets on their hands, and will not catch every cross/high ball in their direction. They will punch it away -- sometimes with the force of a 1987 Mike Tyson right hook. Unfortunately, a field player will never win a header if the goalie is near him.
* Options. "FIFA 10" has almost an overwhelming amount of options on the disc. Exhibitions, Manager Mode, Online 1 v. 1 games, Be A Pro (which I haven't played yet), Club Team matches, Live Season, etc. You can find a mode you like.
* Here's the biggest pro working in "FIFA's" favor, it plays amazing against another person online. The subtle touches in gameplay, including free range dribbling make it almost a whole-new game. Last night I played an insanely entertaining game where I was Ecuador and won 4-3 in overtime against a guy using the USMNT. Jay DeMerit even got sent off with a red card, so there's a dash of realism.
Cons
(There might seem like a lot, but this are minor complaints I personally have.)
* I'd like to see the details turned up, like the right kind of captain's armband for Premier League teams. A few more actual faces, instead of the generic ones. Little things. How about actual goalkeeper shirts, instead of something that looks like a paintball player would wear.
* The player models are ugly. Sorry. As I read on another site, Luka Modric looks like the "Scream" mask.
* For a game with so many licenses, to not have major clubs like Napoli and Palermo, to name a few, is hard to swallow.
* Sometimes the keepers are just too good, that or the goal itself seems too small.
* The defenders are a little too fast. Put it this way, I know Rio Ferdinand is good, but he's not catching up with Jermain Defoe on a full sprint, even with his burly strength.
* With all the leagues and teams in the game, online play is 90 percent of the time going to come down to your opponent picking: Real Madrid, Manchester United, Liverpool, Barcelona, Chelsea or Inter. It gets a little old, really fast. Luckily you can tweak the search for "three/four star teams."
* The free kick system remains a guessing game. Either you know how to do it, or you don't. In an older "FIFA" iteration you saw the ball on the screen and could apply curve/english on the ball before kicking it. Now it's just a lot of trial and error. That said, I played a game online and a dude scored from about 50 yards out on a dead ball from Steven Gerrard. It was incredible.
* A lack of actual stadiums, meaning basically nothing new since it moved to the next gen is annoying.
* The "Rest of the World" teams are lacking. EA must want to either impress Sepp Blatter or make a killing in Switzerland, because why are teams like Servette FC and FC Lugano included, while clubs teams from Romania, for example, are completely missing?
* The Manager Mode still can't figure itself out.
* Here's the biggest issue. One-player mode vs. the computer absolutely blows. It's boring and repetitive. You could be playing Real Madrid or Grimsby, it'll essentially be the same match over and over and over again. It seems the only tactic that the A.I. can figure out is crossing the ball. This almost would kill the game, if online wasn't so much better and fun.
* Oh yeah, Sacha Kljestan is prominently featured in the menus. Maybe EA would like a do-over.
In the end, for all my complaints, "FIFA 10" is a whole lot of fun. Maybe a lot of its generic aspects can be attributed to the fact its developed in the soccer hotbed of Vancouver, British Columbia.
If you stick solely to the top-tier teams, you'll get a somewhat unique experience with different stadiums, personalized faces, etc. But outside of those teams, you might as well be playing with the same clubs, albeit with different colored shirts.
It plays amazingly, too bad it feels mostly soulless and doesn't capture the spirit and passion of soccer, despite what the marketing blitz might try to portray.
There I said it. In fact, video games will probably outgrow me -- maybe a cerebral implant -- before I outgrow them.
The following is going to be my thoughts on the latest EA soccer release, "FIFA 10." Maybe you don't game, but I'll go out on a limb and say that "FIFA" has been as important as spreading soccer and ingraining it into Americans sports fans brains as anything else. Before we had access to seemingly every game in every league each and every weekend, there was "FIFA."
To this day, my buddy Suppe still loathes Borussia Dortmund due to Jan Koller and the dreaded "Dubra FIFA" experience.
Anyways, before delving into "FIFA 10" (on XBox 360) let me give this post a bit of context.
Like millions and millions of gamers, I was among the people that would follow the flock and purchase "Madden NFL Football" each and every year. Didn't matter if the changes from the previous edition weren't all that much more than changing rosters and adding a gimmick here or there. I'd but it...until last year, when I said thanks but no thanks.
So when numerous friends raved about this year's "Madden" I was a little leery. My complaints -- the same plays work/don't work year-to-year, the boring A.I., etc. -- were going to be hard to change.
Then I watched Suppe play one game on a big screen t.v. and I immediately went out and rented it...and kept it until about this week when "FIFA" came out and paid a personal record late fee. (Note kids, believe it or not at one point in the history of mankind people actually rented actual physical tapes, cartridges, etc. from stores and would have to pay fines if they were late. In fact, late fees were a good sitcom trope for much of the 1990s, in fact. )
"Madden 10" blew me away with its presentation. It felt like the NFL. Gone were the generic blank stares of the players, replaced actual graphical representations of stars like Kurt Warner and Peyton Manning. The collision detail was amazing. The controls were crisp, tight and benefited from the analogue sticks.
For a guy that played "Madden" all the way back in 1992 when the ambulance would run over players on the field, "Madden 10" felt like perfection, even if the namesake of the game himself wasn't around to say that a guy, "got up looking out his earhole."
With that in mind, here's my biggest issue/concern/conclusion on "FIFA 10." It is an amazing fun game to play, at least against another human being, but is lacking a little bit of soul.
I'll address this all in the 'Pros & Cons' list I've amassed, but here's the gist of it. Obviously "FIFA" is a huge seller around the globe. Huge. The company obviously wants to sell as many copies as possible, hence the inclusion of leagues from the Czech Republic, Poland, South Korea, etc. that 99 percent of gamers will never, ever use.
In this day and age, with the Xbox 360 and PS3, these extra leagues ought to be offered as downloadable content. Yes, this might piss off a few Poles, but it would also give the game developers more space on the disc to create a slightly more detailed and nuanced presentation.
Granted the differences between the NFL, with 30 teams and "FIFA" with literally thousands across the globe are two different animals. A match experience in England isn't the same as Australia or Spain or Italy or wherever.
Now, "FIFA" doesn't need to go the "PES" route in terms of teams available, but compare the "FIFA" list to the "PES" list. Assuming EA kept all the Premier League teams licensed, you could probably get away with it, though. Would you lose the business of diehard fans of of Clermont Foot, Germinal Beerschot, Bohemians 1905 AND Bohemians Praha? Probably, but even then many of these fans would still buy the game.
Basically in summation, EA has created an amazingly fun game to play that is both challenging and rewarding if you practice, yes, practice. It's just a shame that to appeal to the most possible consumers it looks very generic about 90 percent of the time.
Keep in mind, I'm the kind of borderline obsessive, who gets upset when he sees Roman Pavlychenko wearing the captain's armband at Spurs in the game.
Pros
* Ronaldinho is finally not featured on the box, or the in-game art.
* This year you have the option in an online match to a) play extra time only b) extra time & penalties c) end as a draw. This is a huge addition since penalty kicks suck even in video games. The online games also conclude with a detailed account of how many points you've earned or lost, which is a good touch, too.
* This year the keepers don't have magnets on their hands, and will not catch every cross/high ball in their direction. They will punch it away -- sometimes with the force of a 1987 Mike Tyson right hook. Unfortunately, a field player will never win a header if the goalie is near him.
* Options. "FIFA 10" has almost an overwhelming amount of options on the disc. Exhibitions, Manager Mode, Online 1 v. 1 games, Be A Pro (which I haven't played yet), Club Team matches, Live Season, etc. You can find a mode you like.
* Here's the biggest pro working in "FIFA's" favor, it plays amazing against another person online. The subtle touches in gameplay, including free range dribbling make it almost a whole-new game. Last night I played an insanely entertaining game where I was Ecuador and won 4-3 in overtime against a guy using the USMNT. Jay DeMerit even got sent off with a red card, so there's a dash of realism.
Cons
(There might seem like a lot, but this are minor complaints I personally have.)
* I'd like to see the details turned up, like the right kind of captain's armband for Premier League teams. A few more actual faces, instead of the generic ones. Little things. How about actual goalkeeper shirts, instead of something that looks like a paintball player would wear.
* The player models are ugly. Sorry. As I read on another site, Luka Modric looks like the "Scream" mask.
* For a game with so many licenses, to not have major clubs like Napoli and Palermo, to name a few, is hard to swallow.
* Sometimes the keepers are just too good, that or the goal itself seems too small.
* The defenders are a little too fast. Put it this way, I know Rio Ferdinand is good, but he's not catching up with Jermain Defoe on a full sprint, even with his burly strength.
* With all the leagues and teams in the game, online play is 90 percent of the time going to come down to your opponent picking: Real Madrid, Manchester United, Liverpool, Barcelona, Chelsea or Inter. It gets a little old, really fast. Luckily you can tweak the search for "three/four star teams."
* The free kick system remains a guessing game. Either you know how to do it, or you don't. In an older "FIFA" iteration you saw the ball on the screen and could apply curve/english on the ball before kicking it. Now it's just a lot of trial and error. That said, I played a game online and a dude scored from about 50 yards out on a dead ball from Steven Gerrard. It was incredible.
* A lack of actual stadiums, meaning basically nothing new since it moved to the next gen is annoying.
* The "Rest of the World" teams are lacking. EA must want to either impress Sepp Blatter or make a killing in Switzerland, because why are teams like Servette FC and FC Lugano included, while clubs teams from Romania, for example, are completely missing?
* The Manager Mode still can't figure itself out.
* Here's the biggest issue. One-player mode vs. the computer absolutely blows. It's boring and repetitive. You could be playing Real Madrid or Grimsby, it'll essentially be the same match over and over and over again. It seems the only tactic that the A.I. can figure out is crossing the ball. This almost would kill the game, if online wasn't so much better and fun.
* Oh yeah, Sacha Kljestan is prominently featured in the menus. Maybe EA would like a do-over.
In the end, for all my complaints, "FIFA 10" is a whole lot of fun. Maybe a lot of its generic aspects can be attributed to the fact its developed in the soccer hotbed of Vancouver, British Columbia.
If you stick solely to the top-tier teams, you'll get a somewhat unique experience with different stadiums, personalized faces, etc. But outside of those teams, you might as well be playing with the same clubs, albeit with different colored shirts.
It plays amazingly, too bad it feels mostly soulless and doesn't capture the spirit and passion of soccer, despite what the marketing blitz might try to portray.
Labels: fifa 10, Soccer, video games
If I get the game, can we have a match?
completely off topic, sorry, but I am watching the Barnsley - Man U carling cup match. Barnsley's entrance music is the Fox NFL football stuff. Weird.
"Here's the biggest issue. One-player mode vs. the computer absolutely blows. It's boring and repetitive. You could be playing Real Madrid or Grimsby, it'll essentially be the same match over and over and over again. It seems the only tactic that the A.I. can figure out is crossing the ball. This almost would kill the game, if online wasn't so much better and fun. "
Sweet jesus, yes, yes, yes, Abso-freaking-lutely yes. The game's single-player is nearly worthless because you're never playing a "team", you're playing a difficulty level. Also, given how many tricks and flicks they put in the game, it's more than a little off-putting to up against C.Ronaldo/Quaresma/Nani or any other number of tricky wingers, and see them try exactly NONE of said moves.
Thank god it's fun online though, although i'd note that, like most games, it matters who you're playing with. Especially "Be A Pro" mode online, which seems to have attracted the tactically inept.
what is your gamer tag.
My biggest problem online is team selection as you mentioned. I tried to search by lower-star teams but never get an opponent. I'm tired of facing the same teams and as a result of competitiveness, playing with the same teams.
Hey guys. I'm a long time reader of the blog and I'm really into fifa 10. You need to check out the be a pro section. Make yourself and join a club. Its a blast. I am currently on the #1 club in North America (fifa kush pro, http://tinyurl.com/yb6v6k) and we are top 10 in the world rankings. Can't recommend this highly enough.
GT: haze meyer
I myself have long been a Winning Eleven/Pro Evo fan, but I've been thinking of making the switch to Fifa 10. Is it worth it? Is it better than 09? What do you think of this year's Pro Evo?
Kev...yes, definitely make the plunge. It's worth it. The only thing that might work in PES favor this year is the player graphics.
For anyone else that wants a game against me, send me an email and I'll give you my gamer tag.
--Mike
I jsut got the gamea few days ago and
here is a major con I have found when playing online (which is the only way I play): Out of the last 7 games where I was winning, 6 idiots playing me quit the game so they wouldnt lose points. It's really annoying, I never do that, so I get a crappy rating, and never get to finish games. Is there anything that can be done about it? It's really ruining the game for me, everytime I start winning, chances are sthe person quits on me. Now I'm even avoiding scoring more than 2 goals so the person doesnt quit, and even then sometimes they quit.
Can we compalin to EA and maybe they can add some sort of penalty for quitting?
Good post!
I don't know if anyone plays "aggressively" like I do, but I think referee decisions tend to be very inconsistent. Eg. player does a shoulder charge tackle and gets away with it, but another time it'd be a booking.
Players getting injured for the simplest tackles (i.e. a standing tackle) but not for the crunching sliding tackles that send players crashing to the ground.
The advantage rule is also inconsistent. Granted it's nothing like real life, and EA did a pretty good job applying these rules but sometimes lack of consistency can be really irritating.