In my experience, each FIFA game has had at least one major defensive gap: between 06 and 08, crosses and set pieces were the easiest ways to score in 09 beating the offsides trap almost always resulted in a one-on-one with the goalie in 10, a slow build-up and a few passes at the top of the box were, ahem, super effective. It might be the first time in recent FIFA installments that dribbling is a viable option for the average player. World Cup also adds a slew of stupidly complex dribbling moves - fake shots and dummy passes, for example - but that doesn’t keep your basic step-overs and drag-backs from being more effective than ever. Passing sensitivity has been jacked up across the board, leading to more 50-50 balls, and more jostling. World Cup’s improved dribbling, pass assistance, and collision detection, coupled with balanced defensive AI, result in a faster-paced, more fluid, and more creative game than the comparatively stiff FIFA 10.

To be honest, I expected EA to slap some new character models on FIFA 10’s engine, add 199 national teams to the mix, and call it a day, but 2010 FIFA World Cup might be, in barebones terms, my favorite installment to date. In a move that somewhat mitigates Electronic Arts’ (successful) attempt to cash in on the World Cup, EA Canada made a few (equally successful) improvements to the core game. In an ideal world, this review would be titled “ World Cup, or how I Learned to Quit Bitching and Love Iterative Design,” but iteration don’t come cheap at 60 bones a pop. Just kidding! 2010 FIFA World Cup - World Cup from here on out - is actually pretty good. There’s something rotten in the state of Denmark, it seems.Ģ010 FIFA World Cup South Africa (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation Portable, iPhone) I don’t know why EA decided I should be able to kick Daniel Agger in the face but prevented me from martyring myself for The Cause - in this case, the dreadful state of Albanian soccer. He hit an invisible wall just outside the touch line on his way there and bounced back onto the pitch, simultaneously saving him, surely, from painful dismemberment and slightly lessening 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa’s entertainment value.

In the midst of his celebrations, I held down the left bumper on my controller and toggled the right stick back and forth, prompting Salihi into a series of - for lack of a better word - jump kicks, the last of which hit defender Daniel Agger in the face.Īfter scoring a second goal, I tried to make Salihi backflip his way into the crowd of screaming, rabid Danes. After receiving a quick pass at the top of the box in a qualifying match against Denmark, Albanian striker Hamdi Salihi fired a neat ball across keeper Thomas Sørensen into the bottom corner of the goal.

Fifa world cup 2010