Review by: Brendon Lindsey

Years ago, if you were a real soccer fan, you'd scoff at anyone who picked the FIFA franchise over Pro Evolution Soccer. Pro Evo just had it, and year in, year out, it was the most authentic way to experience playing a game of soccer from the comfort of your couch. Then, this generation of consoles, things started to change. Slowly, FIFA began to gain ground, becoming a very respectable series itself. In FIFA 08 and 09, people could even begin making a case for liking FIFA more than Pro Evo – and be taken seriously.

With the release of FIFA 10, what was once the unthinkable has happened: FIFA is now unquestionably the best soccer franchise on the market.

The biggest addition is 360-degree ball control. It seems like an odd constraint in this day and age, but in soccer games up to FIFA 10, you couldn't move your dribbler in any direction you wanted – only an eight-point axis. With 360-degree control, player movement when dribbling feels and looks much more realistic. You'll accidentally dribble to the side when you're on a breakaway and kick it out of bounds, you'll be able to approach with new angles, and you'll be able to tell that the game just feels better.

Of course, 360-degree control isn't the only change in FIFA 10 that makes it feel more authentic. Ball angles behave more realistically, and computer AI (attacking and defending) is much improved. Defenders will fall back into the best trapping positions, they'll take predictive angles, and they'll be able to thwart your attacks in very lifelike manners. Alternatively, computer players will push the attack more often than they did in FIFA 09, and if you use the strategy of running after the guy with the ball and trying to slide tackle him constantly, you're going to get burned—and give up a lot of free kicks.

Thanks to these behind-the-scene tweaks, no longer will you feel like you're the best player on the pitch no matter who you control and what you do; now the CPU opponents will truly challenge you, and you'll be forced to utilize much more strategy to get the W.