FIFA 2009 10 v 10 Online Play

Every year when games such as FIFA get updated the usual things get an overhaul, the physics gets updated, the graphics are more detailed and the list of players and clubs are increased and represented more accurately. Its not every addition however that brings brings out a new game mode that gets us exited. The 10 v 10 online play does however spark our interest. Not simply because it involves massive human player involvement of 20 players for the first time on a football simulation but the fact that it will work just like a real football team. By that I mean that there will be a manager another human player, picking a team from a squad of human players and making the calls on what tactics to play and who and when to make a substitutions. Lets take a more in depth look at what you can do when playing in this new online 10 v 10.

FIFA's 10 v 10 play seems like an idea that should have been implemented before. Its an idea that it seems could of been used in many editions of the game, but why hasn't it been seen before. A spokesman from EA had a simple explanation for this. While the idea has been there for a while, the consoles themselves have not been up to the task. The Xbox and the Playstation 2 were not powerful enough to handle a full 10 on 10 human player game. And while the Xbox 360 and PS3 have been around since before FIFA 08, their network infrastructure was deemed not mature enough to handle this task effectively without causing problems in the gameplay. EA feel that now the time is right to launch FIFA 2009 clubs.

What people will find when playing FIFA 09 Clubs is that you will be without the ball for a significant amount of time throughout the game. This creates a situation where you team must keep its discipline. Your left back for example might only touch the ball a few times in the first half of a tightly fought game. But if they go searching for the ball and leave there position exposed then the team could easily be caught out. Not only would this potentially lose you team the game and vital league points but could leave the manager no choice but to drop whoever is playing at left back at the time. Each player needs to play like a real footballer battling for a new contract or they could be without a club.

The league system will be a little different from what you might expect in a normal league. EA have set up 15 divisions each with 100 available club slots. Giving scope for 1500 teams to be involved in this massive promotion and relegation battle. While teams do earn points for winning games, its not in the usual manner. Winning teams will receive league points but the amount depends on how well the individual players perform. Each player is awarded a score and the combination of the players score goes towards the teams total. Similarly the losing teams lose points and that total is dependant on how badly or otherwise they played. With this system playing more games doesn't mean you get more chances to get more league points and ultimately promotion. Playing lots of games and winning those games will put you at the top but you also need to play well and not fluke results. The aim of this system is to see which club can collect the best players and play as a team throughout the season.

In order for a club to exist it requires a manager. The manager of each club in the league is responsible for for who is in the squad and the tactics that the team plays. They are not responsible for what position each human player is given in the team (i.e. forward or defender) though they can suggest positions to the players. Each club can have a maximum of 50 players on its books at any one time. This means that the club can play many games as only 10 players can obviously play at a time. What FIFA 09 Clubs does allow however is more than one game to played at once by a single club providing enough players are online and available to play. For clubs that are just starting out a minimum of 3 players is allowed to play a match and the CPU will control the remaining players for you.

Its obvious to see that manager plays a very important role in the success of any club in FIFA 09 Clubs, not least the real life relationship within the player involved in that club. The manager has to have the confidence in the team he or she selects and they also have to know that the team will listen to instructions from the manager just like in real football. Don't follow what the manager is telling you and face exclusion from the team.

Those big FIFA fans out there may already have one very interesting question. How will the player stats work for the different clubs? The answer is that all the teams will have equal player stats for the simple fact that EA wanted this particular mode to be about the quality of the team play and the quality of the individual who controls the players on the pitch, not about who happens to be using Barcelona. All teams will be able to beat all other teams on an equal level. FIFA 09 Clubs really is about the skill of the gamer.

FIFA Clubs is designed to be played on next generation consoles with the network infrastructure capable of sustaining it. For this reason FIFA clubs is only available on the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3.

FIFA 09 with FIFA clubs is available to buy now. Get the best deal buy comparing prices