FIFA Soccer 10 USA PSN PSP-PLAYASiA ↓

Innovationis a subject that the general gaming public loves to harp on wheneverEA Sports launches one of its yearly sports titles. FIFA Soccer 10 onconsoles such as PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 was home to changes thatwill alter the way other soccer games are judged. On Wii the series tookan interesting turn with a more arcade-style feel. The PSP has likelyseen the smallest number of innovations and changes to the core formula,and while that doesnt dampen the enjoyment of the soccer, I stillwouldve liked to see more effort put into creating newhandheld-specific modes.

With FIFA 09 the big addition to thefeature list was Be A Pro mode which allowed you to select a player anddevelop them into a superstar. FIFA 10s Be A Pro: Club And Countrypresents a similar scenario. You select a current soccer star (or up andcomer) from one of the many clubs of the world and try to develop himinto a worthy addition for your national team. You build attributes bycompleting various tasks on the field. Earning experience points unlocksnew abilities on the field like calling for a thru ball or a cross.

Theon-field action in Be A Pro performs well and has nice touches todifferentiate it from standard gameplay. The ball is highlighted inyellow and players you should mark have red circles under them. My onebig complaint with the user interface is that the field radar sits onthe right side of the screen and can occasionally obstruct your playerfrom view. Be A Pro also suffers from the shaky cam problem that plaguedthe PC version of FIFA. Whenever you get close to the goal with theball, the camera lowers and starts to shake making it tough to make aneffective cross if youre streaking up one side of the field. It isntquite as debilitating as on PC, but the fact that its there at all isdisappointing.

Aside from the meaty Be A Pro mode youll alsofind the traditional Manager Mode, a new, slightly more casual SeasonMode and Challenge Mode. Season Mode is much like Manager Mode butwithout the crazy amount of depth. You just hop in, check out a fewstats and then take to the pitch without worrying about the finer pointsof your club. Challenge Mode is a wonderful offering of “ you guessedit “ challenges that charge you with altering the course of history andwinning games by a certain margin. Some are easier than others but its agreat opportunity to play as clubs that you wouldnt select on yourown. Even better, the challenges are short and fun; perfect for a carride with those annoying parents.

When you venture online thelist of modes is slightly less appealing than it was in last yearsgame. The online leagues have been completely removed and have beenreplaced by standard infrastructure and ad-hoc play. Both work fairlywell with infrastructure suffering from a bit more lag than I found onother versions. I also had a crash bug force me to power down my systemon one occasion.

When youre actually on the pitch everythingfeels very similar to last years effort. Players are still confined toeight directions of movement and the same passing inaccuracies that Ihad trouble with in FIFA 09 are present here. For whatever reason everyso often a standard pass wont go to the intended target and thru ballswont be at the right distance.

Physical interactions are a bitmore prevalent in FIFA 10 than they have been in past years. Youll seecool moments like players realistically toppling over after a slidetackle, theyll occasionally hop over passes that arent intended forthem and players will jostle with one another as they fight for anerrant ball. Obviously none are as intricate as whats seen on consoles,but theyre cool nonetheless.

One notable addition to thegameplay is scouting reports. Before a game youll get a quick breakdownof how your opponents are going to attack your weaknesses and its funto see if their play follows the predictions. Theres also a practicearena for the hardcore who feel they really need to tune their game foran all-important matchup.

Visually the soccer hasnt changed allthat much from last year. Player models look relatively crisp onclose-ups but details arent very apparent from the standard gameplaycamera. There are slight framerate hitches here and there “ especiallyonline “ but thankfully they usually stay contained to instant replays.

Onthe sound side FIFA 10 on PSP does an admirable job of dealing with thelimitations of a UMD. The commentary is quick and insightful for themost part, only faltering every so often when the game jumps to dealwith a quick load time. The soundtrack is also solid, though doesntdeviate from standards set by past EA Sports efforts.
CLOSING COMMENTS
FIFA10 is a solid game of soccer on PSP, even if it doesnt reinvent thewheel in the same way as its console brethren. The gameplay is solid andthere are enough fun little distractions (Soccer IQ and Challenge Mode)to keep things fresh for quite some time. Im a little disappointedthat they werent able to switch up the core modes and gameplay all thatmuch, but the small additions here and there are still appreciated. Ifyou didnt pick up FIFA 09, you owe it to your handheld to fork over thecash for FIFA 10.



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