FIFA 10 (Xbox 360)

For the hardcore football fan, there used to be only one choice; despite Konami's "Pro Evolution Soccer" game having very few licences - and therefore very few real player names - its gameplay was considered light years beyond that of the more arcade-like EA Sports "FIFA". Oh, how times have changed.

Finally seeking to understand why gamers felt this way, FIFA 09 saw drastic change. Keeping the licences which made it so attractive, it brought PES-like gameplay to FIFA, and thus the best of both worlds. With a substandard PES in 2009, FIFA almost killed off the Konami game in one fell swoop.

FIFA 10 promised to take the action even further forward, and also jumped the gun on PES by releasing the game three weeks before its rival. But while the answer seemed logical, one wondered if FIFA 09 was a metaphorical Cristiano Ronaldo stepover, or whether this was the shape of all FIFA games to come. Thankfully, FIFA 10 is another step forward for this series.

Upon playing, there are immediate noticeable improvements to the game. It's a slightly slower, more realistic pace, which is nowhere near as reliant on player speed as it previously had been. Although it is still possible, of course, the days of the 6-1-3 counter-attack formation are largely gone, as the game encourages you to play flowing football (think Arsenal or Barcelona) to open up the space in which to score. Also adding to that realism is 360-degree player movement, which causes a little confusion when your full-back initially runs into touch, but soon allows you more control over your player than you've ever had.

Shooting is also tougher than in FIFA 09, meaning that there will be less 5-4 games than in the previous incarnation. That's a good thing on the "realism" side, though it will frustrate those who see several one-on-ones with the goalkeeper thwarted.

Those main changes in gameplay have an effect across the entire game, no matter which you choose to play. Online play - another huge advantage of FIFA 09 over PES 09 - remains excellent, with perhaps the best addition not in the actual head-to-head play itself, but in the addition of a latency warning if the connection between you and your opponent is likely to lag. As long as you don't ignore your warning, lag is virtually non-existant.

The much-loved Manager Mode also makes a return, although several serious issues arose during gameplay. The worst of these caused the game to crash, and your console to lock up, while there are several other smaller issues, including players you've signed appearing for different teams, and assists being credited to the goalkeeper no matter who actually made them. EA are aware of the issues, and a patch is forthcoming.

Virtual Pro is an extension of Be A Pro, where you create your own footballer, and start him at the bottom of the squad, hoping for his chance in a big game. In this mode, you control just the one player, and hope to contribute enough to your team to improve, and get in the team on a regular basis. Similar to Virtual Pro, you can also join in on Online Team Play, controlling one player from a team as you are joined by other members of the online community.

There's a further mode in My Live Season, which not only affords the player updates based on real-life footballers' achievements, but allows the player to take any match from the current real-life season, and replay it to achieve a more favourable result. Unfortunately, this part of the game incurs an extra cost (paid via Microsoft Points), and even more worringly, updates to players can be used advantageously in Head-To-Head gaming, giving the person who paid extra a significant advantage in Ranked leaderboard matches.

Overall, FIFA 10 takes the rein from its predecessor, and makes some fine improvements to gameplay - certainly enough to consider upgrading your game to the newest version. Manager Mode is disappointing at this stage due to the aforementioned issues, but if they can be cleared up, FIFA 10 can proudly consider itself the best football game ever made.