FIFA 10 Demo – First Impressions

While EA dropped the demo for FIFA 10 last week in Asia and the U.K., it hits North American XBOX Live and Playstation Network services today. Needless to say, we’ve been waiting in heady anticipation for this day since October 14, 2008 (the day FIFA 09 was released).

Every year, we look forward to the next installment of the series and the last two years have not disappointed. Until we got our hands on the demo for FIFA 10, we believed last year’s iteration was the finest version of video soccer (football/futbol) to date. However, today may mark the next-generation of realism for soccer gaming, only to be found in FIFA 10.

Our impressions are based on close to four hours of gameplay and numerous games played against the computer on each level of difficult. This demo version of FIFA 10 limits players to six teams: Barcelona, Chelsea, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Marseille and the Chicago Fire. It only offers a single game mode of exhibition play with 3 minute halves; but hey, there’s always injury time.

Now, let’s dive into a number of factors that affect the game and how they stack up compared to last year’s extremely successful FIFA 2009:

Graphics: As good as ever. The graphics look very familiar with the identical arena area for practice mode. This is an area we’ve spent a lot of time screwing around with in between games in 09, but we expect a few more arenas and weather/time-of-day for the final version. A few of the best graphical additions we’ve noticed in the game are the cutscenes around fouls and carding. The game does not immediately zoom in on the standard ref going for the card and the players arguing. In fact, there were times where the player who was hurt would have the ref lean down to check on him, then go straight to his back pocket and run up in my player’s face and strongly present the card. There were other times where the official would reach for his card, then not pull one out, almost as a warning.

The FIFA series already had stunning graphics and they only look to be getting better. In fact, EA will likely step up the graphics and presentation before the official release, specifically when including the uploadable in-game faces through EA Sports World.

Presentation: When loading FIFA 10, players are welcomed by a short intro video of Wayne Rooney juking out Chelsea defenders and driving a shot towards the net. This leads players to the opening menu where players will note a new load screen and background graphics. Our copies of FIFA 09 have received so much playing time, that we sometimes see the menus in our sleep. Much to our pleasure, the loading screens and menus have been spruced up with some nice new graphics and cutscenes – certainly a welcome relief. As this is just a demo, gamers are limited to playing the Exhibition Game Mode, but can also peruse different menu options for brief descriptions of added features to modes like Be-A-Pro, Manager Mode, Tournament Mode, Lounge Mode, Virtual Pro, and Live Season 2.0. As mentioned earlier, not a lot of change has come into effect with the arena mode, or at least from what we can tell. The game does not currently feature the option to Create-A-Set play in the demo, but it will be in the final version of the game.  We’ve also heard that the Practice Arena will allow for multiplayer play over XBOX Live, but we will believe it when we see it.

We’d like to call out two tweaks to the on-the-pitch presentation as well.  One thing we noticed and appreciated was how FIFA 10 signifies a player who has recieved a yellow card.  While in 09 a players name would be highlighted yellow, this has been changed to incorporate a yellow card option floating above the player – definitely an easier way to identify who is sitting on a card.  The second is the way in which strikers interact with the keeper once he’s collected the ball and the strikers are returning to their positions down the field.  As they run by, strikers will wave their hands in front of the goalie in an attempt to distract him.  This may be a purely aesthetic addition without any real consequence on gameplay, we think it’s a nice touch.

Gameplay: The biggest change since FIFA 09 has to be the actual gameplay, where numerous additions to game physics and actual quality of play have come into effect. As we’ll touch on shortly, the 360° dribbling (and running) makes players feel like they are truly playing a real game of soccer. The runs the players make in this game are like night and day with past versions.  Runs made off the ball by AI teammates have improved immensely; you feel as if at any point yourself or the computer are capable of springing an incredible counter, keeping you on your toes to hopefully not get caught flat-footed. We were burnt numerous times after corners that were cleared quickly and also had a few plays build from collisions at midfield when a defender slipped or collided with another player, opening a path for a cheeky through ball to a streaking Messi or Drogba (/puke).

Player mechanics and speed seem to be tweaked perfectly this year where play feels much faster, even on the normal speed setting. Even the Chicago Fire players with lower ratings performed admirably, as their defenders are able to keep up without getting burnt too badly.  Granted, Messi can beat nearly any player to the ball with his speed and change of pace, but Brian McBride and Cuahtemoc Blanco were capable of making runs and getting shots on net, even against John Terry. This is a welcome site, as we’re used to the lower rated teams in FIFA 2009 being at a severe disadvantage when facing a team 1 or 2 stars higher. Co-editor Andrew can agree when we both suffered sluggishly slow games in our online battles between Korean League heavyweights the Pohang Steelers and Seongham Ilwa.  (Those games, while epic, were painfully slow.  Remember kids, never sleep on the Pohang. – Andrew)

Our only gripe is that EA tweaked goalkeepers to have more of a mind of their own in FIFA 10, sometimes causing them to be out of position and give up chip shot goals more often than should be possible. This may have been due to Dustin’s mediocre defense tactics since anyone who’s played him knows he goes 3-4-3 (Since I’m not a lame-ass who sits back on defense – Dustin). This is an extremely slim complaint considering it is likely our own fault and not so much the CPU’s fault. However, we did notice one very welcome change to the keeper’s AI – no longer can strikers interfere with the keeper as he’s attempting to punt the ball.  The keeper will simply turn back a few steps to create space for the punt if an outfield player is trying to block it.

Sound: To be perfectly honest with you, we didn’t notice that much different from last year’s version. The sound effects of the fans, ball effects, on-field action and whistles were as authentic as you’d expect. The announcing between Martin Tyler and Andy Gray featured similar quips and quotes from previous years with a number of new additions. Sound has never been a selling factor for me in sports games, as we’re typically playing online and chatting it up with my opponent and focusing less on in-game sounds. However, we’d still have to rate FIFA 10 as a better experience audibly than the PES series and previous FIFAs.

Controls: This is where FIFA 10 really shines compared to previous versions. The 360-degree dribbling is an extremely well received addition, in our opinion. We love it and are already sold on it.  You can take players off the ball and run around defenders instead of trying to make your way to the net only to lose the ball, which typically happens in 09. Too often in FIFA 09 can a CPU-controlled defender easily catch up to to the ball carrier and muscle them off the ball in an almost routine fashion.  In this demo, however, the number of times we’ve successfully side stepped, cut back, or pulled some other slick move that has left the defender scratching his head or even forced him to slip and fall has been impressive. You feel in control of the players, not at the mercy of the game to limit your options on the pitch. When playing FIFA 09, seeing a striker systematically break down a defender 1-on-1 and get a good look at goal is a bit rare.  But with the demo of FIFA 10, strikers have the ability to really impress and deliver jaw-dropping finesse.

Passing has been improved drastically in the demo. Through balls work. Crosses work. You can deliver as much curve on the ball as you like with after kick stick controls. This has been present in previous years, but you can really notice the bend and dip depending on what direction you hold. Passing leads to building up a play and you don’t just rely on lucky chance attacks working this year. You can play smart, Aresenal-like short passes to develop an offense, or you can play the long ball effectively with a well timed pass that can open up a striker’s chance.

Fouls have taken on a more prominent role in FIFA 10, perhaps a byproduct of the increase in control one has over their player.  Mistiming an attempted steal, or even being too aggressive when jostling for position, results in realistic looking collisions.  When your tackle misses the ball and you take out the body, collision detection makes it much more realistic, meaning no more lame body checks by CPU players that go uncalled by the referee. We were amazed that fouls were called perfectly and we rarely questioned the referee’s decisions.  Another incredible feature is the addition of quick resets after fouls, a welcome addition that should have come sooner. Real fans will know that a quick reset can oftentimes lead to a quick goal or potent counter-attack.

Conclusion: FIFA10 us, please! For our fellow Stateside footy fans, October 20 cannot get here soon enough. We have already spent hours playing the demo and our biggest gripe is only that we can’t play online demo games with friends. This is a small complaint, considering we’ve already enjoyed more with this year’s demo than we have with Rock Band Beatles… and we’ll be spending many more hours getting to know the demo this week and leading up to release date. EA Sports has stepped their virtual game up and we’re excited to get our hands on a release copy. With the eventual addition of features like My Live Season, Virtual Pro, 360-degree dribbling, improved Manager Mode and the ability to create set-plays, FIFA10 is poised to take the title of Best Soccer Game Period.

What about you?  Have you downloaded your copy yet? Go get it and let’s get chatting about what you like/dislike. Let us know what you think!

MMOMFG Editors Andrew and Justin also contributed to this report.

*Images courtesy of EA Sports

Got a news tip? Send it to press@mmomfg.com and we'll shower you with love!