– Rain effects are impressive.

After wide spread reports that PES 2010 had failed to live up to expectations I chose to buy FIFA 10 instead for the second year in a row. Initially FIFA 10 does not feel different from 09 at all but upon a further inspection it is much better.

The biggest disappointment about FIFA 10 though, surprisingly, is the lack of licences. FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association, So why are there so little international teams in the game? Want to re-live Honduras dramatic qualification to the World Cup? Well your shit out of luck as they’re not in the game, not even the qualification for the tournament is. Want to play the African Nations which takes place this January? Can’t do that either. Ok so I thought this is a club game I’ll just play the recent Manchester United v Lokomotiv Moscow, but alas no Russian clubs are even present in the game. Even Adrian Mutu is under a fake name which baffles me when both his country and club teammates are licensed and you are unable to edit his name.

These small omissions would seem trivial in a PES game which has always lacked licenses but when you buy FIFA you expect it to have them all, at least Netherlands are included this year. My main gripe with this though is that you know EA will just release a World Cup edition next summer which will be a full price title but won’t feature any league clubs and you’ll end up paying double for what should be in one game. May I put forward a suggestion to make it downloadable content instead of a full priced title, would save on disc swapping?

Fortunately, on the pitch is where FIFA 10 shines, the 360º really does work especially with passing the ball as well as dribbling and new animations help to make this the most realistic football game out there. Sure PES 2010 might look great in a screenshot but to watch them run like robots with a hunchback just wastes all of konami’s good work. Watch FIFA 10 and you can notice players moving with realistic freedom and physically reacting to each other (although its still not perfect).

There are no new modes to speak of  but some are vastly improved, Manager Mode has been completely redone with an intuitive interface that allows for easy navigation and is more realistic in terms of other teams’ performance and transfers. The biggest change though is Virtual Pro in that you now earn skill points for completing various accomplishments e.g. scoring a penalty or travelling a certain distance in a match. This works really well and also includes the ability to upload a photo of your face so your player finally looks like you.

– My Be A Pro making his debut.

Playing online is as great as ever; 10v10 still works well but now with the added bonus of being able to take your pro online and continue levelling up. You can also jump straight into head to head matches, create a league with your friends or even enter into the FIWC for a shot at international glory.

Licence limitations and other minor quibbles aside FIFA 10 is a fantastic football game and if you’re only buying one title this year I more than recommend it. Thanks to its fantastic gameplay, up-to-date squads and robust online modes means FIFA 10 is top of the table. Well until the World Cup edition comes out…

This review is based on a retail copy of the PS3 version of FIFA 10 provided by EA.