Have been looking forward to this for a long time.
First thoughts?
Movement is incredibly slick. Basically 360 degrees, a lot more responsive and quicker.
Passing is greatly improved. Quicker on the trigger and much sleeker to pass the ball around.
Through balls - Improved. Not vastly, but noticeably. If you played FIFA09, you would have noticed that when the player calls for it, it's best to give a straight pass instead of a through ball, not anymore. It works better with through balls.
Crossing -
Fucking hell does this work now. I've scored most of my goals with crosses. It's fantastic, really. One example:
Henry passes it to the center, about 20 yards outside of the box, to Ibrahimovic, who gives a slightly overrun through ball to Messi, but, Messi reaches it JUST before it goes out for a corner and lets go a one touch cross. It floats over the goalkeeper, curling outwards, straight to Ibrahimovic, who towers over the defender and nails it into the goal. Fantastic shit.
Shooting -
Now, this is where I am a tad confused. The ball certainly feels more weighted, and the shots more power-aware. But the problem is, it's fucking hard to score. If you don't hit it when the guy is on his other foot so he can gain a bit of balance whilst sprinting, the ball is going to end up in the stands or well past the goal. It's frustrating, but I think I am starting to get the hang of it. You can now really score low and powerful goals, which is fantastic. You can even toe poke it in (yeah, really. Del Piero was running onto the ball but was not reaching it in time, so he toe poked it into the bottom corner). I must admit, once you score an outside of the foot shot with Ibrahimovic, it feels fantastic, even if you're a bit frustrated.
Graphics -
The tweaks are quite noticeable. Players have a thinner build in general, running is now varied, stands look better than ever, the nets have small improvements. Looking real good.
Defending -
Now, FIFA 09 had a problem. It was too easy to defend. Not anymore. It takes effort, timing and a strong defender to take hold of the ball. It actually requires skill now because players are so much more mobile in the game.
New features
Blocking -
Now, this is easily the best feature added to FIFA 10. Defending gets so much more grittier now with blocking. A goo defender will throw whatever they can at the ball to block it from being crossed or shot. For example, a curling cross was coming in and Puyol miss timed it so he had to chest it, but it wasn't a clean chest, and so he dove for the ball and headed it away. If he hadn't, then the striker would have easily put it in the back of the net.
Flow of the game -
This is quite nice, if not very noticeable. Quick freekicks can be taken now, referees show the cards during the game etc. It's quite nice.
Heading -
This is fucking awesome. So realistic now. With defensive headers and attacking headers very different, with different players being able to find a player with a header or not. Power comes into play and body strength. Puyol, for example, won it from big Ibrahimovic because of his strength and timing. One thing about it to note is that it's not a question of just hitting X to header it, if you have to seriously consider how the player is placed and how early you want to header it.
Goalkeepers -
Fucking hell. The improvements are drastic in this area. The clearing of corners with punches, the peddling back to save a chip, the long distance saves and 1 on 1s, it's really something quite incredible, if a bit annoying when trying to score.
I coud write a lot more about it, but I frankly want to get on and play it. It's fantastic. The best yet.
One niggle, that is completely EAs fault. Their ignorance for player ratings is still there. For example:
Iniesta is 86 (he should easily be 88)
Xavi is 87 (what?)
Bojan is 77 (wtf)
Ribery is 85 in the defaults position (um....)
Marquez is better than Pique.
Ashley Cole is faster than Messi
Messi is still only 90.
A bit annoying considering those players are certainly better. I am sure Live Season will fix all that.
I am definitely looking forward to the release of this.
First thoughts?
Movement is incredibly slick. Basically 360 degrees, a lot more responsive and quicker.
Passing is greatly improved. Quicker on the trigger and much sleeker to pass the ball around.
Through balls - Improved. Not vastly, but noticeably. If you played FIFA09, you would have noticed that when the player calls for it, it's best to give a straight pass instead of a through ball, not anymore. It works better with through balls.
Crossing -
Fucking hell does this work now. I've scored most of my goals with crosses. It's fantastic, really. One example:
Henry passes it to the center, about 20 yards outside of the box, to Ibrahimovic, who gives a slightly overrun through ball to Messi, but, Messi reaches it JUST before it goes out for a corner and lets go a one touch cross. It floats over the goalkeeper, curling outwards, straight to Ibrahimovic, who towers over the defender and nails it into the goal. Fantastic shit.
Shooting -
Now, this is where I am a tad confused. The ball certainly feels more weighted, and the shots more power-aware. But the problem is, it's fucking hard to score. If you don't hit it when the guy is on his other foot so he can gain a bit of balance whilst sprinting, the ball is going to end up in the stands or well past the goal. It's frustrating, but I think I am starting to get the hang of it. You can now really score low and powerful goals, which is fantastic. You can even toe poke it in (yeah, really. Del Piero was running onto the ball but was not reaching it in time, so he toe poked it into the bottom corner). I must admit, once you score an outside of the foot shot with Ibrahimovic, it feels fantastic, even if you're a bit frustrated.
Graphics -
The tweaks are quite noticeable. Players have a thinner build in general, running is now varied, stands look better than ever, the nets have small improvements. Looking real good.
Defending -
Now, FIFA 09 had a problem. It was too easy to defend. Not anymore. It takes effort, timing and a strong defender to take hold of the ball. It actually requires skill now because players are so much more mobile in the game.
New features
Blocking -
Now, this is easily the best feature added to FIFA 10. Defending gets so much more grittier now with blocking. A goo defender will throw whatever they can at the ball to block it from being crossed or shot. For example, a curling cross was coming in and Puyol miss timed it so he had to chest it, but it wasn't a clean chest, and so he dove for the ball and headed it away. If he hadn't, then the striker would have easily put it in the back of the net.
Flow of the game -
This is quite nice, if not very noticeable. Quick freekicks can be taken now, referees show the cards during the game etc. It's quite nice.
Heading -
This is fucking awesome. So realistic now. With defensive headers and attacking headers very different, with different players being able to find a player with a header or not. Power comes into play and body strength. Puyol, for example, won it from big Ibrahimovic because of his strength and timing. One thing about it to note is that it's not a question of just hitting X to header it, if you have to seriously consider how the player is placed and how early you want to header it.
Goalkeepers -
Fucking hell. The improvements are drastic in this area. The clearing of corners with punches, the peddling back to save a chip, the long distance saves and 1 on 1s, it's really something quite incredible, if a bit annoying when trying to score.
I coud write a lot more about it, but I frankly want to get on and play it. It's fantastic. The best yet.
One niggle, that is completely EAs fault. Their ignorance for player ratings is still there. For example:
Iniesta is 86 (he should easily be 88)
Xavi is 87 (what?)
Bojan is 77 (wtf)
Ribery is 85 in the defaults position (um....)
Marquez is better than Pique.
Ashley Cole is faster than Messi
Messi is still only 90.
A bit annoying considering those players are certainly better. I am sure Live Season will fix all that.
I am definitely looking forward to the release of this.
