When it comes to Football games I can proudly say that I’m something of a mercenary as I’ve never felt the need to declare an allegiance to either FIFA or Pro Evo over the years. I have fond memories of playing the early FIFA titles on my Megadrive and experiencing the thrill of scoring those 40 yard screamers. Then along came the Playstation followed by a copy of the first “Pro Evo” title and it instantly felt more natural to me. Since that time I preferred Konami’s vision of Football over the offerings from EA but in recent years I have noticed the gap closing. The division was pretty simple, turn to FIFA for great graphics and turn to Pro Evo for great football, but in recent years FIFA has made a huge effort to be more than just a pretty face.

The back of the box asks us to consider four aspects which the developers are proud of: Custom Team Tactics, True Football Simulation, Adidas Live Season, and Be A Pro: Season Mode, and this is exactly what I’ll do just now.

Custom Team Tactics – Become a first team coach with the power to tune and balance 140 attacking and 40 defending options. This sounds far more impressive and detailed than it is in reality. This is hardly Football Manager we’re talking about here but it does offer you something different so its inclusion is welcomed once more.

True Football Simulation – More responsive first-time shooting, passing and one-touches, plus more controlled dribbling. There’s certainly something about this outing which feels better than any FIFA I’ve played before. I can’t seem to put my finger on the main reason why but this is nothing new as at one point I had trouble describing how Pro Evo made me feel the exact same way. Everything seems to be more balanced than in previous games and minor tweaks here and there have improved the overall feel of the game.

Adidas Live Season – Receive weekly player form updates based on real-world data through the adidas Live Season service. I downright hate this feature as I see it as little more than a money-making scheme and as far as I’m concerned it’s by far the biggest negative aspect of this game. Those who know about the sport and are thinking straight will avoid this addition as they’ll understand that only a handful of players are likely to have a substantial change in form from one season to the next. Further more, if anyone has an issue with some of the player statistics in the game I have no idea why they’d think that those in charge of the form updates would do any better.

Be A Pro: Seasons Mode – Playing as your favourite superstar or creating a player of your own, master a single position during a four-year campaign. This is a great addition overall but there are a few problems which really need to be changed as soon as possible. The objectives for each match, which will gain you more experience by completing them, can sometimes be absolutely ridiculous. An example of this is my most recent match, Arsenal at home to Newcastle and I’m playing for the Gunners, I was asked to win the match by 5 clear goals and get a perfect 10.0 for my match rating so my otherwise impressive 3-0 victory and 9.4 average failed to gain me extra points. Another major issue with this mode is that the in-match rating isn’t based on reality as it expects you to run around the pitch quicker than the ball can be hit and this is simply impossible. I also can’t understand why a player is penalised for getting into great positions and putting fantastic crosses into the box just because no-one in your team makes a run to get on the end of it.

Despite the issues I’ve pointed out this really is the best Football title available just now and it manages to tick all the right boxes with its focus on a realistic game of Football above all else. FIFA has at long last replaced Pro Evo and now sits in top spot in my estimations despite still having some frustrating factors which I hope will be ironed out in time for FIFA 2010 (what the hell will they call it if not that? FIFA 10? that would be silly!) and the world of Football will be a happier place.

8.5/10

Other TTB Posts Like This One

• Review: 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa (PS3/Xbox 360)
• Review: Guitar Hero Metallica Solus (Xbox 360)
• Review: The Sims 3 (PC)
• Review: Dead Space (Xbox 360)
• Review: Fable 2 (Xbox 360)