Sports gamers must be wondering what kind of crazy parallel universe they are living in, right now. For the third successive season football’s historic status quo is set to remain upended, leaving journalists like us in the unfamiliar position of having to criticise Pro Evolution Soccer for remaining unchanged while lavishing praise on FIFA’s boundless ambition. If you’d have told our 12-year-old selves of EA’s critical success we’d have said: ‘yeah, and Sonic will be shooting clay pigeons at the Olympics with Mario, will he?’ Oh, how a little cash changes everything.

Our second paragraph might usually concentrate on the wealth of incidental animations brought in to cloud how rigid proceedings really are, but this year there’s really no need. Producer David Rutter claims his team wishes to offer gamers multiple ways to consume FIFA, evidenced by experiences such as Be A Pro and Ultimate Team last time around. Behind this slightly uncomfortable corporate language, though, lies something altogether more tangible, and unprecedented – 360-degree control. Such a level of ambition is clearly to be applauded, however, quickly thoughts of Sensible Soccer’s Velcro-lined boots come to mind. You see, FIFA 10 will offer a culmination of four years’ work on the same engine, each change being held in check by a pre-existing gameplay element that now comfortably slots into place. Take dribbling, for example. You might be forgiven for thinking players can now turn on a sixpence, deceiving all but the Patrice Evras of this world. Not so, for at breakneck speed momentum limitations kick in, so much so that you can almost feel players’ muscles straining to lug their stacked, overpaid torsos around. Rather than becoming a method by which skilled players can humiliate all around them, the enhanced dribbling system will offer more considered play at close to walking pace. Whether it’s a majestic dribble between a prospective defender sandwich or a timely change of feet to deceive the opposition, there’s no sense in which the change isn’t welcome.

What’s more, its introduction has a number of knock-on effects that serve to tie up a few loose ends. Take clearances down the touchlines that sail harmlessly into touch, for example. Previously an irritation you couldn’t control, they’re now a direct result of failing to concentrate on your body shape. Long balls over the top, too, the bane of many an intricate online player, will have error built into them based upon the obvious difficulty in playing such a pass. Finally, the general pace of play will slow a little, as Rutter explains: “If you’re running in one direction with the ball, you shouldn’t be able to pass it in certain directions because it’s simply not possible… some of the criticism levelled at FIFA being unresponsive in recent years were part and parcel of the work we were starting to do in this area.” What this means on the field is a higher level of concentration – more time before defensive headers can be chalked off as done, one extra touch in midfield before spraying the ball to wingers, an ever-so-slightly-thinner knife-edge on which to walk so far as possession’s concerned. As an added bonus, this lethargy means your players don’t spend half the match jogging to the touchline for oxygen, which is nice. While much of the above sounds like an insult scattered with icing sugar, that’s about as far from the truth as can be