FABULOUS FOOTBALL IN FIFA 10!
Fine, enough with comparing football games to war. Thought it would be a rather interesting comparison, but not so. Anyway back to the subject, the FIFA vs PES debate as been raging for years now and while Konami were once proud and noble kings of the virtual football kingdom, things have changed to some degree over these past few years. While many a football fan will point towards the simply brilliant FIFA 09 as the turning point where EA's financially successful franchise took the crown from Konami, it in fact started back in FIFA 07. FIFA's fall from fame is best explained by my history of purchasing the franchise, for you see the last FIFA game I had bought until I picked up FIFA 08. Was FIFA 2000, since then I was all about the Japanese developed soccer simulation, at the time by far the best out there despite the true lack of licenses and much presentation overall.
That was eight years of not buying a FIFA game again, despite the lack of me giving money to EA. The franchise still amazingly did well and often sold more then the Pro Evolution Soccer franchise, why this happened is still debatable but I'd put some of it down to FIFA having licenses for many of the Worlds biggest and most popular football leagues. Something the Konami franchise still lacks to this day, though it's nowhere near as bad as it once was. The folks at EA Canada have done a stunning job with the past few FIFA games and the latest looks to be the best football game ever. In fact they've done such a stunning job that I won't even be considering a purchasing of PES 2010, of which I was not impressed by the demo at all. As much as I once loved that franchise, it's gone downhill fast since appearing on the current generation of gaming consoles.
It should be noted that I spent a scary amount of time playing FIFA 09 both single player and online with it's superb modes. So hearing that Manager Mode as been somewhat improved scares me, considering my love for that mode previously I totally expect to drain even more hours with this newest version. Of course things will never be perfect and the development team have already been speaking about ways they hope to continue improving the game in years to come. It's clear that no one within the team are resting on the satisfaction of being the current kings of the footy virtual scene. Whose the winners overall? Well Electronic Arts for one, but also us gamers who follow the sport and have a great passion for it. We benefit greatly from the determination to make a better game each year with new modes and gameplay.
There are a number of other new features worthy of a quick mention in this blog, for one the new virtual pro mode feels like it could be a wise development of the Be A Pro formula. How well the game face feature will work is yet to be seen, I have yet to even try that popular EA Sports function for myself. But the ideas found within how you develop your pro sounds like they could offer some reward for those who put in the hours. My Live Season looks to have also received some neat new additions and a lot more player involvement. One cannot forget the many gameplay improvements, to many to discuss in this blog which as already gone on a little to long. Still there's a lot for fans to get excited about, and if the online is as good as it's been in FIFA 09 then we are in for one hell of a treat. If there is one concern with the FIFA franchise I have, it's the possibility of creating a game that can't truly get better in this current generation. A virtual representation that can only go one way, that being downwards. But I have confidence in the development team to not allow that to happen and to keep creating a football game for us all to love.
What new feature are you most excited for in FIFA 10?
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