E3: FIFA 10 Comments by Martin Korda

w00t! I love you FIFA :)

360 degree dribbling! Fuck yeah.

More on the wanted list.

360 degree dribbling? Check.

Better long passing? Check.

Goalkeepers that don't move off their line like they're running through tar? Check.

Less naff bugs like the halfway line shots? Check.

Seems like they're on course to do a good job of eradicating every flaw that 09 suffers from. And considering just what a good game 09 is even with those flaws, that's quite exciting indeed.

Sounds very VERY promising. Hopefully PES will raise their game too, and we'll have two really good footy titles to choose from this year.

I hope to god they fix the god damn ref, the amount of times i've been through on goal and then hacked and just cause the defender wasn't last man back he wasn't sent off, dear god that boils me bones!

Hopefully PES will raise it's game too, I want two awesome football games!

Looks good. Now speed up the player responsiveness and I'm there. Bought both FIFA and PES this year, but go back to PES rather than FIFA as I get annoyed that its too unresponsive to do what I tell it.

Mr Rutter, can you please allow captains to boot people from pre-game lobbies rather than having to wait until the match starts? Maybe allow player voting for bootage too, for the times when the captain is the problem?

Srew expanding the manager mode experience! pls givf:
1) Online co-op vs cpu
2) Online user hostable custom competitions e.g. 6 player mini-leagues

Nice to see they're sorting out Manager Mode. I play this the most.
The AI does "improve" its squads (buys players), it just never changes its starting line up.
Sort out the UEFA Cup/Europa League qualification in England. Teams finishing first & second in the Championship DON'T qualify for the competition!
When you win a trophy, have the presentation (PES has always done this well) rather than just your players jumping around.
The ability to change squad numbers within your side(Manager Mode) & an overall decent player editor would be nice too for geeks like me who want the players to look right & not just the big names.

Apart from that....sounding pretty good.

Couldn't care less about manager mode - that's what games like FM and their own FIFA MANAGER are for. FIFA's own management mode is lacklustre and silly even in comparison to PES. You can't even just watch the CPU players run around on their own, you have to play, which makes it rather pointless as a sim.

However, glad to see they are focused on improving the core game. They worked hard over the past few years to get to what the game was like in FIFA 09, no point starting from scratch with a deluge of new features.

Personally I play Be A Pro most of all, so I hope that gets a bit of a working over. It's a great idea but it's marred a little by how identikit the matches are, and how it's the same season on season. Also the whole 'four years then a world cup' thing which is bizarre.

360 movement ftw! gameplay is going to be way more intricate! ~(c:

Couldn't care less about manager mode - that's what games like FM and their own FIFA MANAGER are for

Umm no, some of us don't actually want to play a statistical management game, some of us want the experience of being a manager whilst still playing the matches, I'm 100% all about the manager mode in Fifa as I can't stand playing online so I'm delighted we're finally seeing a little love after next gen Fifa08/Fifa09 which still have a manager mode from Fifa06 on PS2.

Having Lionel "Face of Pro Evo" Messi as the picture for this article is a bit cheeky!

I wonder if they'll allow you to change squad numbers in Manager Mode now. Yes, its a small petty request, but there's something about a player wearing #78 at RB and #1 up front, that just doesn't sit right.

Thye need to have a manual section where you can play manual ranked matches and unranked matches, with a separate manual leaderboard.

Also slow the gameplay down, the acceleration and sprint speed of the players, and the passing speed.

The ball physics need to be more wieghted instead of being like a balloon rising too easily.

Halving the time to switch the play across the field? Won't that be too quick then?

can they brighten the menu screen a bit? it's all dark and miserable :( i liked the EURO08 one, it was nice and bright :) LOL :P

The only thing that irritated me about 09 is when players would try and stop the ball running out when they would get a goal kick or throw in from letting it go.

What Placebo said. And: Ability to pick time of match and weather, please. Tired of playing every match in sunny daylight.

Do love the ritual of talking up the upcoming game by slagging off their own effort of last year.

After witnessing this for 14 years, I think I'll just fast forward a year and read this article as "our new game will have big problems and could be radically improved!"

The only thing that irritated me about 09 is when players would try and stop the ball running out when they would get a goal kick or throw in from letting it go.

You are right. It's always funny to watch an AI defender slam the ball across the sideline when he might as well have let it run over the base line instead for a goal kick. Guess AI-scripting isn't at that point yet. I've also noticed that in several hundred matches I have played so far the com has not once passed the ball back to the keeper yet.

I have to say the thing Rutter said about your defensive midfielders hanging back on corners is also a much welcome fix. I actually hate (having) corners in 09 since 9 out of 10 times the CPU will clear it to one of their own and launch a one-pass-counter attack down deserted midfield. I made a habit of hacking down their receiving player just for the sake of this annoying AI-tilt (which usually resulted in a red card and even more frustration).

@Eraysor

You can actually stop that by using the super cancel thingy. I think it's L2 + R2 at the same time if your on PS3, not sure about Xbox.

This is looking good, sounds like they're making all the right decisions.

I'd like to see playing as a goalkeeper introduced to the on- and offline Be A Pro. Scope for a very different experience there, and a worthy one.

Some good news - I only play Manager Mode but I probably play it the most out of any console game I own.

Like someone else said, there was a problem with defenders hacking you down and not getting punished, especially on harder difficulties. The thing that annoys me most though is the cheating AI, Mario Kart style.... you can play a through ball and it can be Cristiano Ronaldo vs. some biff from Blackpool and they'll sprint at exactly the same speed. The best players in the game aren't powerful enough imo.

I'd also like to see (this is a short list)

- an overhaul of the skills thing, it's useless.

- camera angles in replays and stuff which are similar to TV to make it more realistic - have the camera in the stands shake up and down and fans jump about when someone scores to win 4-3 in the 90th minute.

- oh yeah, the fans, they still look utterly shite - the EA NBA games have decent crowds, can't you just borrow their code?

- too much reliance on fatigue in manager mode - when you start you have 1/10 in the training of fitness or whatever and after a few games you're players are like Roy Chubby Brown all over the place wheezing and it makes it hard to win. Similar sort of problem against the opposition - when you get to 10/10 mid season you'll find the opposition slobbering and crawling their way around the pitch. I don't mind the stat but let the more professional teams have 10/10 from the start and the lower division teams have low fitness (but always start each game above 80%).

- why is Michael Carrick always rated so shitly.

- an accurate rating for Ronaldinho :P oh and while I'm on it sort out transfer values - why is 32 year old worth 30m+. Once they get over 30 (i.e. possible their last contract) the price should plummet.

I don't ask for much, come on guys!

@ harmonica, Yes you can just watch your team. In the controller select you just deselect your side :)

The biggest thing I didn't Like about FIFA 09 was how your own team's A.I wouldn't alway track runners.

Fe. An opposition CM player looks for his full-back to run forward, passes the ball in a northerly direction( for the left-back), my right-winger just stands there stuck in that damn sidestep motion letting the fullback run by him and onto the ball, once the fullback has gotten the ball i'm then allowed to properly control the right-winger. It happened way too much in FIFA09.

There should'nt be that 'cheat' to accomadate the A.I team's passing.

New dribbling I like. Never experienced the halfway line bug. I hope the Manager Mode is more realistic too. Champion's League games at night pls. And changeable weather/pitch patterns in MM also.

Make the editor or 'Creation Zone' more user friendly. Should be able to scroll through players on the fly to edit. Not pick 1- edit- save- go back to pick player...ugh just let us use L1 and R1 or w/e .

really looking forward to this i to am well chuffed with the improvments to manager mode as i didnt play on online once on fifa 09 but fifa 10 i will try more to !!!!

im with placebo on this manager mode is great and will be better i just hope they also fix the weather to realistic style such as like league 1 ( oldham athletic here) which happens alot so i'd like say.

evening games - Night
Cup games - some at night or dusk
Odd League Game and night or dusk.

And for it to take effect during the winter months as the sun goes down much earlyer !!!

oh other stuff id like to see maybe new commentary and statistics posted as you play so say during a cut scene for a corner you get possession,shot on target,shots total,red/yellow card issued 1 box at a time though at random cut scenes

oh and to keep the team line up during the opening atch cut scene and the sub cut scene aswell hahaha

How about improving the UGLY players? Pro shits on Fifa in this regard. Improve the editing and facial models and you'll have my vote! Oh, and the menus are shite

Good news, good news. Please make the pace a bit less superb too. I don't mind fast players, but the top speed should at least come at the expense at a slightly worse ball control. I am so tired of C. Ronaldo oversprinting my defence, where I stand almost no chance of keeping up. The worst part of that not being that he's quick, but that there's no payoff that balances the pace against something else.

I'm also playing manager mode a lot, and I'm definitely looking forward to more of a challenge. Once I've got 90+ skillset players, my opposition have almost not improved and are still playing players that appear stuck in their 80's. Furthermore, when I sell a great player (Like Eto'o), he's not bought by a strong team, but by small time shit like Almeria, who must have a fantastic economy being able to pay insane transfer fees.

If they manage to get rid of that stupid control delay which drives me nuts everytime I play the game, I'd be satisfied.
Oh yeah, also they should fix the stupid referees, I hate it when they letya play advantage and then suddenly blow the friggin whistle.

Also I experienced some major bugs, like when i passed the ball back to my keeper and he just stood there, 1 meter before the ball, doing nothing.

Will they allow you to watch other matches without having to particapte in it?

Halving the cross field balls does a bit too much.

Nice to hear they are making counter attacks less effecitve. In fifa 2009 its sometimes good to give away a corner.

Make club games possible with two players, that will be awesome.

Make heading from crosses from open play a bit more effective. To many times people just cut in as you know you will lose out in the air.

Give more points to people who play ranked matches anmd win with weaker teams against stronger oppositions

more atmospheric game. The home club should be making a bit more noise when they have chances.

revamp the commentary. Fifa 2009 seems to be a repetition of FIfa 2008.

Make pacy players less effective. People like Ronaldo and Torres are way too good. Harder to keep the ball under control with them

Graphics needs an update.

Waiting in the BAP is annoying, give the player the free roaming area to play while waiting.

I've found Manager Mode (or any game against the AI) to be very disappointing explicitly down to the opposition AI.

None of the more skillful players attempt any tricks to beat my players and more frustrating is that I've never even conceded a goal from outside the 18 yard area, regardless of difficulty level.

/me looks at his old PES...

Leaves it on the shelf with all its other recent clones.

EA Sports. I'm back baby!

Personally I'm over the moon that they are devoting 70% of their time to improvements and only 30% to innovation. FIFA 09 already has us spoilt for features; the problems with the game were little niggly things that have already been mentioned. Boy am I relieved to see that they're going to address the flaw in the game that lets players score from the half-way line. I lost count of how many goals I conceded online due to that cheap trick!

And 360 degree dribbling?! Was not expecting that. Can't wait.

The main thing I want is to be able to play co-op with friends against the CPU, either in a league or one off game.

Bring back being able to slide tackle the goalie, utter hilarity =D

None of the more skillful players attempt any tricks to beat my players and more frustrating is that I've never even conceded a goal from outside the 18 yard area, regardless of difficulty level.

So true. It seems the AI can't for the feck of it score a normal, decent goal that doesn't rely on one of your players or your goalie misshandle the ball before. I don't know how often I've thrown the controller around my room because the computer scored from YET ANOTHER dodgy deflected ball. The other day I was playing against Comp-Italy and both goals they scored where exactly the same: some guy shoots, my keeper deflects it onto the crossbar and Toni heads in the rebound. The worst part is that you can actually feel how the CPU tinkers with your players in those moments and there is nothing you can do about it. I hope they will address this issue in some way or another.

On the upside, they've obviously made the refs more lenient and toned down on the offside-inflation. At least according to this

"Give more points to people who play ranked matches anmd win with weaker teams against stronger oppositions "

This is such an easy thing to implement and would stop the Barcelona Vs Man Utd games that you constantly encounter. Really hope it is taken on board.

One thing I'd also like is for players like Messi, Ronaldo etc(when controlled by the A.I) to actually dribble with the ball, maybe do some tricks but really take on defenders. PES has it with the 'Dribble' special ability but it's very lacking in FIFA. Players just all do the same things on the ball basically. I've never seen the A.I ever throw a feint.

Also A.I teams never ever score from outside the box, I find that very strange. They also rarely use the 'finesse' shot.

edit: other people said the same, cool.

Really pleased by the proposed changes and additions.

They also need to make the AI harder. Legendary is too easy, doing the same old things over and over again. They never try anything new, and it's very easy to beat them.

Also, they need to sort out harsher punishment for the 'quitters'. I've played (looks at stats) 171 games online, PS3 and XBOX360 combined, and I've managed to complete 47 of them. Forty fucking seven. As soon as they concede a second or third goal, or it's after 75 minutes, they just quit out. There needs to be more punishment against that (if I had my way, less than 95% completion ratio, don't allow them online to play it).

thank u EA ... manager mode improvements !!! :-)

its all i play too ... gave up on online... there's not much reason to keep going back to it for me. The opposition are repetitive and i get sick of one-off games very quick.

Manager mode has an ongoing appeal that keeps me coming back. Winning titles, building a squad, promotion battles etc... thats what keeps me playing.

Fix the advantage rule for goodness sake!

I was once a hardcore PES fan and realised that Fifa09 was the greatest football(not soccer) game ever made.

Fix the following to make Fifa10 immense:

"This game session is no longer available"I HAVE WASTED HOURS OF MY LIFE LOOKING AT THIS MESSAGE
Demichelis is not a great player BUT he is STRONG and GOOD in the AIR(HEADING ABILITIES)
Cristiano Ronaldo is not that FAST(ACCELERATION)
Every shot Cristiano Ronaldo hits does not go on target
Although strength is an important aspect of the game being able to brush aside someone with ease is rare
Robben has quite possibly THE GREATEST FIRST TOUCH AND CLOSE CONTROL IN WORLD FOOTBALL
GOAL KEEPERS DON'T KICK ALL THEIR SHORT PASSES TO THE OPPOSITION
STRIKERS NEVER CHASE DOWN SHORT PASSES STRAIGHT AWAY FROM THE KEEPER AND SCORE "WANKER GOALS"
Whe playing in BAP YOUR TEAM PLAYERS SHOULDN'T ALWAYS HAVE THE PASSING ABILITY OF CARRICK, ANDERSON AND GIGGS WHEN UP AGAINST INIESTA AND XAVI
Referees DON'T PLAY THE ADVANTAGE RULE FOR 5-15 MINUTES
Get some fucking European influence on the game!
IF A PLAYER SLIDES IN AFTER A SHOT IS TAKEN IN THE PENALTY BOX IT IS NOT A FUCKING PENALTY YOU STUPID CUNTS!!!!!!!!!
UNLESS YOU WANT ARSENAL TO REGISTER AT LEAST ONE IN A UCL SEMI FINAL!!!!!!!!
IT IS ONLY IF THE SHOT IS HINDERED ILLEGALY!!!!!!!!


SHOOT ANDY GRAY!!!

With these changes Fifa10 will be unbeatable.
WINNING A GAME OUTSIDE OF FIWC SHOULD COUNT IN YOUR STATS

Since this hands-on is no doubt for the Xbox 360/PS3 version, yet it's up on the PC section here on Eurogamer as well, does that mean the PC version is the same as the console ones this year?

Somehow I doubt that...

Well its great to know they are making it super easy to take on and beat players. Just hope they are paying the same attention to the defensive side of the game.

"Yes you can just watch your team. In the controller select you just deselect your side :) "

@jimbo118: I specifically tried doing this the first and only time I gave manager mode a try and it wouldn't let me do it. So unless they patched it in later...

I played a bit of a season and found the whole experience utterly anaemic, as well as completely unrealistic. I realise it's just a casual management mode for casual gamers, but there's not much point to it if it's in total fantasy land. I hear a lot of talk about them sharpening it up, but when it's clearly not going to be a proper management game (because it's just one part of the whole of FIFA), it makes it somewhat trivial.

As for FM being a 'stats driven game' and FIFA being something else entirely - well what do you think FIFA uses to judge the players in the game? If it wants to be a better management mode, then it'll need plenty of accurate stats.

Referees DON'T PLAY THE ADVANTAGE RULE FOR 5-15 MINUTES
Get some fucking European influence on the game!
IF A PLAYER SLIDES IN AFTER A SHOT IS TAKEN IN THE PENALTY BOX IT IS NOT A FUCKING PENALTY YOU STUPID CUNTS!!!!!!!!!
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My only real problem with the game is as this guy mentioned - the refs are absolutely shocking. People getting sent off and booked for attempted block tackles after the shot has been taken. It doesnt happen in real football. The refs need a complete overhaul and it will be 100% better game

Well the refs handing out yellow cards AFTER the advantage has been played is fine - it's just that the game suddenly cuts to those stupid cut scenes showing him handing out about 3 yellow cards in a row.

Also I've been through on goal and scored, and then the ref has pulled the game back for a free kick that happened about 3 seconds before, which we didn't score from.

So yeah the advantage rule is really badly implemented.

Also could we have some offside decisions actually be 'wrong' as in real life.

I'm guessing it is not going to be FIFA 2010: Road to the World Cup. Was hoping they would expand the international teams. No Ivory Coast wtf.

EA Canada has lost their touch with the real football. Canada doesn't even play footabll , they play Hockey and what not, that's why fifa 09 and 08 is filled with so many flaws and more, inexperinced developers. the AI is simple put - DUMPED, anyone who plays football with their actual foot and not hands will instantly realize that, where the heck is he going, i'm going the other way.
even the computer opponents get predictable with certain passes. Seriously, Ea Fifa needs to actually take thier developer to a actual soccer/football/futbol/greatest sport real real game. gOOD PLAYER ANIMATION, I MUST ADMIT, but no football head insight...... Don't be fooled by the opening cinematics this year people plz!!!!