FIFA Soccer 10
Review
EA scoring goals with their latest FIFA title
by William Thompson
reviewed on NDS
Cashing in
If ever there was a series that kept a game company in business forever, it would be the FIFA series. EA has been able to cash in on the world’s most popular sport with annual releases of their football (soccer to Americans) title. And so with the 2009/10 seasons of real life football in progress, the latest incarnation of the FIFA series on Nintendo DS has hit the shelves in the hope that wannabe football stars can get their portable footballing fix.
Modes
As well as the traditional standard mode, where gamers play as the whole team, passing and shooting as all the players in the typical side scrolling view, there are a number of other game styles to play. Firstly, there is a multiplayer mode, where you can play in game with your friends. There is also the Nintendo WiFi mode which means you can play with other players as well as your friends.
Another mode is the Manager mode. This plays out much the same as standard game but with set goals for the manager. The manager will be given goals and then the gamer will take to the pitch as in the regular game and try and achieve those goals in-game. These goals could be ensuring that the opposition remains goalless, or making sure there is a positive result in the game (rather than simply tying the game and scoring a championship point. There is also a tournament style game where you will get knocked out of the tournament should you happen to lose the game.
You can be the star
But my favourite mode is definitely is the ‘Be a Pro’ mode. This game style lets you play as one player – either as an existing player or as one created by yourself. In this mode, you only have control over just the one player. Sure, you can demand the ball from your team mates, and most of the time they will honour your call for the ball, but when they have it you have no control over where it goes. The game is played in the down-the pitch view. At times this will mean that you won’t be able to see the ball if it has gone behind you (as in between you and the goal you are defending). You’ll still be able to see the play in the mini-map though.
The main aim of ‘Be a Pro’ is to help your club win the championship, whilst scoring enough points to enable you to make the national team. Each championship game (or national game for that matter) comes with a requirement for the player to achieve. It may be anything from scoring a goal to a clean sheet (for goal keepers) or maintaining your in-match score above a certain level. Completing the objective will result in bonus points to your pro, whilst an uncompleted objective could result in a competitor taking your spot in the national line-up. This mode is certainly a lot of fun, and is different from the usual game style.
7.0
fun score
Pros
Be A Pro - where you can star for your club and country
Cons
Commentary is limited and becomes repetitious very quickly
