Less than a month after EA Sports released Madden NFL 10 for the iPhone, the company has again turned a successful sports franchise into an app.
Similar to Madden, FIFA 10 doesn’t trump or even compare to its console version. But it does provide iPhone users with a dangerously addictive soccer simulation for $9.99, a reasonable price considering the game’s quality.
Probably the most impressive part of FIFA is the amount of teams and players included. The game has real players from 570 teams across 30 leagues – staggering numbers. The ability to play as your favorite team is a big selling point for many sports gamers, and FIFA scores huge on this front.
There are also multiple game modes to keep you interested. “Manager” mode gives you season objectives (such as winning a specific number of games or reaching the playoffs), while “Be A Pro” mode allows you to guide a custom or existing player through multiple seasons. You can also play tournaments, hone your skills in a training mode or play with friends via Wi-Fi connection.
The app’s graphics are nothing special, but still vastly superior to what iPhone gamers are accustomed to yet well behind their console counterparts. When EA attaches a name like FIFA or Madden to its titles, expectations are raised to unrealistic levels. And though the visuals in this game are good enough, they may disappoint long-time fans of the series.
Likewise, the controls are different from other versions of FIFA. They consist of a virtual analog stick and two buttons, with many of the player movements requiring double tapping or ‘sliding’ off a button. It will take a while to get all these moves down, and even then it’s not easy pulling them off in the heat of battle.
At the same time, the controls are fun and for the most part make sense. The gameplay is also smooth and, like the graphics, far ahead of what we’ve seen in the past from iPhone apps.
The only people who will be disappointed by FIFA 10 are those who are comparing it to the console versions and those who think $10 is too much for an app. Those are valid complaints, but this is a complete game experience with through-the-roof replay value. That’s not something many apps can claim.
This is a 5-star app on every level except for controls, which are a notch below. Not only is FIFA 10 a must-have for soccer fans, but all sports gamers must give this app a try.
