What more can you say about the FIFA series other than “WOW”.  Never before has a game series shown such continual improvements year after year.  FIFA 10 is no exception to this rule.  With its intense game play and its variety of game modes, it is sure to be a continual player to your collection.  For those who love soccer, look no further: This is your game.

Of course soccer fans know what to expect in a soccer game.  I don’t have to list some of the things you will experience when you crank up the game and await playing that first match.  What I want to focus on is some of the improvements made to the game so that you know what you can look forward to. 

Here is a quick overview of what you get that is new or improved in FIFA 10:

• 360 degree payer control
• New Virtual Pro feature
• Improved animation
• Upgraded Manager Mode
• Live Season 2.0
• 30 leagues represented, with over 500 clubs from 24 countries along with 41 international teams

360 Degree Control
In addition to the basic controls we have all come to know and love in the FIFA series, EA introduced its 360 degree controls to bring to the game a new level of comprehensiveness.  This new feature serves to add fluidity and a new level of realism to player controls.  360 degree controls allow you to make subtle tricks and additions to your attacks make sure you can maintain your competitive advantage.  Everything from new flicks, rolls and scoops help you to look and feel like a soccer pro ready to hit the field.

Virtual Pro
Have you ever wanted to put yourself in a soccer game?  Well, here is your chance.  With Virtual Pro you can create a player and build your reputation and skills from the ground up.  All you have to do is set up your starting attributes for the player, give him a Game Face that you create at www.easport.com and download to your console and then you can use him in many of the game modes available for playing, even in online play.

Manager Mode
What has seemed to change significantly in this version of FIFA is the manager mode.  Not only is it upgraded, it was given a new life.  The realism is astounding and you will get a sense of the difficulties and challenges that await a sports team manager.  In this, you must manage your money, players, sponsors, stadium and everything that comes with managing a soccer team.   This is not for the faint of heart!  It gets pretty intense and trading players can be a challenge if you choose to play on a team that is not too highly regarded.   In addition, player growth is difficult because it is based on how you use your players on the field and how they play in the game as a whole.  If you don’t play up to standards, your players will not advance and grow up to standards!  Put all this together and FIFA 10 becomes difficult to manage for those who don’t want realism and just want to play some soccer.  If you just want to play, stay away from the Manager mode.  If you want complete control of everything that happens over a number of seasons, this is it!

Just remember, in this mode you have to think ahead and always be planning how to improve your team as a whole.  If you don’t work on the whole team, then your team will become unbalanced and will suffer as a result!

Live Season 2.0
Are you a junky for detail?  If you are, then this is really going to be your cup of tea.  Live Season 2.0 allows you to download up to date statistics and game records of your team into the game.  So if you want to make sure that you are always playing with real-time stats, all you have to do is get online and use this mode to make sure that as the seasons progresses, so do your players!

It's all in the Look
Well, what can you say about graphics in a soccer game?  There is a bunch of little people on the field and they all do their thing according to your controls and the AI.  This is all self explanatory.  However, what is improved in FIFA 10 is some of the player movements and realism.  The realism of the players and graphics in the game is astounding.  Sometimes the game leaves you with a sense that you were actually just at a game and saw your two teams play (only your hands hurt because you were just gripping the controller too hard in the intense sequences).  That being said, it is not that much of an improvement graphics wise over other versions of FIFA.  Other than the fluidity and sense of realism, I don’t see much to write home about. 

One problem I did notice is that the cut scenes can tend to be a little choppy at times.  You would figure they would have that worked out by now!  However, this is only a small concern and doesn’t have any impact at all on the game play.

FIFA 10 is a great all around game for any soccer fan.  Of course, if you aren’t a soccer fan you won’t find much of any interest here.  Anyone with an interest in team sports games is likely to find the realism and action they are looking for with FIFA 10.  As far as I can see, there is no real downfall to the game.  The AI is good, the game play is good and the action is amazing.  The best thing about the FIFA series is the playability.  You can never get enough replays out of this kind of game.  You could easily play this every day until the next FIFA comes out and never have the same match twice! 

Although I didn’t talk about all the game modes in the review because this information is readily available on the EA website, rest assured that you will find enough online play, quick play, season play and various combinations of the above to make sure that you remain a fan of FIFA 10. 

Gameplay:10, Graphics:8.5, Sound:8.5, Innovation:9.0, Mojo:9.0 Final: 9.0 / 10

Reviewed by The Jive Turkey | 11.02.09