The Player: FIFA 10 cont.

So, I’ve created several different “tournaments” but, really, they’re just leagues. I’m running through a season of the MLS (as Toronto FC, natch) and a season of the Barclay’s Premiere League (the English league, for you soccer/football uninitiated) and am playing as Liverpool FC. I’m an Arsenal supporter but they’re rated at 4.5 stars and I wanted to play a 5 star club. (On a side note: It sometimes seems arbitrary how they come up with these ratings. Like, no offense to any fans, but I can't really see how Liverpool is a 5 and the Gunners are a 4.5, you know? Or how Roma is a 4.5 and Inter is a 5. I kinda feel that maybe Liverpool has scarier fans than Arsenal and that maybe the designers don't watch Italian clubs, so that's sort of how it's all decided. The MLS is even crazier. Everyone is pretty much a 2 or 2.5, with some 1.5s in there, too. You got to feel pretty lame if you're one of those 1.5s, I would imagine. Still, Toronto is a 2, and they're 3-0-1 or something like that in one of my leagues.)

I also created a Champions League style table that has teams from all over the world – which I’m using Liverpool for as well.

I haven’t even bothered to try the “Be a Pro” stuff yet. You know, where you play as one dude for a whole season? You can even create a player – yourself, if you’d like – and download a pic of your face and import it. It’s tempting, but we’ll see.

So far, things are going well as Liverpool. In my crazy Champions League, I’m 2-0-1, with wins against Ajax Amsterdam (2-0) and Sporting Lisbon (1-0) and a hard-fought scoreless draw with the always formidable Bayern Munich. Got a big game against Celtic of Glasgow coming up and then Real Madrid after that one. Yeesh. I’ll probably start up my run at the Premiership tonight with my first fixture against Aston Villa first, though. Sweet.

With Toronto, as you can imagine, not so much. I think I have a draw and a loss. Or maybe just a loss. Not sure. And, also, Dwayne “Dee Ro” DeRosario got a red card in the last match, so he’s not around for our next game. Bummer.

I have to say, I’m really enjoying 10 versus 09. It’s hard to put my finger on where it’s better just yet but I just feel it. I yell much less at the TV when playing, that’s a good start. With every version of the game, it feels more and more like a sim rather than a game. I love that I can slow the play down and I don’t have guys swarming me because, you know what? That’s not what happens in a real game.

And it’s really, REALLY hard to score. Even with an empty net things go horribly wrong. Crossbars and posts are hit. Tears are shed. If you look at those results, they’re like a real game. The TFC games were the same. I haven’t been involved in a match where anyone has scored more than two goals. It keeps things real feeling and I like that.

This weekend, I figure some more league play and then on to the “Be a Pro” stuff. Sweet.