FIFA 10 Preview [PS3]

15 Jul 2009 at 10:34:47 by Andy Alderson

Having seen an early build of FIFA 10 only a few months ago, we didn’t expect to be invited to see the game again so soon. Things have moved on pretty quickly, line producer David Rutter tells us confirming this new build is now 75% complete and around three and a half months from completion.  From our time with the new build we got to see just what Rutter was talking about when he said the game would be 70% refinement and 30% innovation.

Starting with the gameplay tweaks, the most obvious is undoubtedly the introduction of full 360 degree dribbling, “as far as we know, for the first time in a football game ever” says Rutter. No longer hamstrung by eight way movement, dribbling in FIFA 10 is a much more enjoyable and effective experience and you no longer feel you have to rely on skill moves to beat opposition players. It seems bizarre that it’s taken till now for 360 degree dribbling to be introduced to the big football titles but it’s more than welcome, as is the new skilled dribbling system. Holding the skill button while moving will now allow your player to make sharp lateral movements, making it easier to beat players.

Another major revision to the gameplay is the trapping system. Rutter explains that fans and the development team alike were unhappy with the unrealistic ball trapping in the last game, with players able to pull off almost impossible traps with apparent ease.  With the removal of mis-traps and impossible traps, the team has created a more realistic and responsive system. Players are now able to perform reflex traps (by sticking out a leg to catch an errant pass) and can avoid intercepting a ball meant for a teammate. From our hands on time, there also seems to have been a general increase in player urgency. In FIFA 10 it feels like players trap and release the ball much more quickly, allowing you to create some quick, fluid passing movements.

Rutter tells us that other tweaks have come as a response to fan frustrations with FIFA ’09. For example, he explains that the lofted through ball will not be as unfailingly accurate in FIFA 10, with a greater margin of error.  Defensive AI behaviour has also been overhauled, something which is clear from our hands on time. Defenders no longer seem to push so far forward, meaning they are less susceptible to being caught out by lofted through balls and counter attacks.  Rutter says that general keeper behaviour and exploits were also fan concerns with FIFA ’09 and both have been addressed in the new game. We see a few new keeper animations during our hands on, including one spectacular double save which suggests it won’t be so easy to score following a parried save. It’s clear from both presentation and the game itself that engaging with the FIFA community is central to the development of FIFA 10 and this is none more evident than in the new Manager Mode.

According to Rutter, FIFA ‘09’s Manager Mode was “marred by a number of authenticity issues” and as a result it didn’t feel like a believable football world. This will apparently not be the case in FIFA 10. Authenticity is the key, he explains, so we can expect to see more realistic player development and less of the ridiculous transfers we saw in FIFA ’09 (Rooney to Sunderland on a free transfer?). Moreover, the development team has listened to the community’s complaints about the FIFA ‘09’s Manager Mode, most notably that it didn’t feel like you were participating in a football world, so much as running your club in a football microclimate. While we don’t see the Manager Mode in action, Rutter is convincing in his assertion that there will be a greater sense of context in FIFA 10.

EA Sports is still keeping many of FIFA 10’s rumoured innovations under wraps, but we do get to have a hands-on with the new set piece creator. Having scored around three free kicks in hundreds and hundreds of games of FIFA ’09, I wholeheartedly welcome the creator. The good news is that EA has crafted a wonderfully intuitive creation system which is perfectly accessible to players of all skill levels. Creating a set piece is simply a matter of selecting the area of the pitch to take the free kick from and then selecting an individual player with the right stick. Next, you hit the record button and manually move the selected player, pressing again to end the recording. Then select another player and do it again. You can even preview your move by selecting the test feature and, if you’re happy, assign it to a spot on the D-Pad and try it out in a real match.

This second build of FIFA 10 certainly packs more of a punch than the last one we saw and EA appears to have struck a deft balance between gameplay tweaks and innovation. The new set piece creator is a great addition but, to be honest, it was the subtle differences in gameplay that impressed the most and, at this stage, it looks as if FIFA 10 might just meet Peter Moore’s review expectations. 

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