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FIFA World Cup 2010 Review
It's coming home.
Written by Jon Denton, 23 April 2010
It's almost impossible to talk about an EA Sports' World Cup tie-in without mentioning the words 'cash' and 'in', so we won't even bother. Here we go... there's no way that 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa should be considered a cash-in. In fact, it should be held aloft as the finest accompaniment to any major sports tournament ever. And probably the best football game ever made.
Let's get the negativity out of the way first. It's only international teams. That's it. There isn't as much content in here as yearly FIFA update, but that matters not when you get out onto the pitch and realsie that this splitner team at EA Sports has fixed almost every niggle in FIFA 10 while simultaneously improving the visuals, audio and even the menus.
Name a problem that FIFA 10 has, and this has cleaned it up. Headers? They're now almost-perfect. Glancing misses from cornes, thunderous bullet headers from pixel-perfect Beckham crosses... all present and corret. Shooting? Again, sorted out. There were myriad angles in FIFA 10 where you knew the ball would never find the back of the net, even though they often would in real life. Just try those shots agin in World Cup 2010 and watch the onion bag ripple.
Overall, there are some 100 improvements to the match engine, and it shows. The game moves a little quicker, but that's countered by adjustments to the passing system that require players to use more forethought and awareness than before. No longer can you just one-touch the ball from defense to strikers, you have to methodically break teams down with sensible passing.
360Zine Issue 42
For our latest World Cup coverage, click here to download 360Zine Issue 42 for free.Off the pitch, World Cup 2010 is actually a fairly decent package. Along with the exhibitions and online head-to-heads you'd expect, you've got a full World Cup qualifying system to play through, an online World Cup and a heap of scenarios sponsored by a popular sugar-free beverage. It's more than enough to keep you happy until the tournament kicks off in June.
In truth though, it's the offline muliplayer kicks that make World Cup 2010 vital for those who folow digital football. Finally the unpredictability or Pro Evolution Soccer has permeated FIFA's engine, so the slickest passing, full 360 degrees player movement and the strongest presentation on the market are married with the drama and passion that makes footballl the most watched and loved sport on the planet.
And that's what makes the multiplayer so infectious. That incredible save, that lighting bolt from 40 yards, that scrambled last-minute equaliser... World Cup 2010 manages to capture it all.
If FIFA 11 can take all of this and build upon it, including all the elements and teams that makes FIFA so enormous, then it really is all over. And there's not even a need to think about it.
SCORE: 90
World Cup coverage available in 360Zine Issue 42 - click here to download it for free!
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