FIFA 09 (Nintendo DS) - Review by Chris

Introduction

With the amount of working being put into it each year, Electronic Art's FIFA franchise is slowly becoming the best football game on any console. While Konami and their Pro Evolution Soccer games may have something to say about that, you can't deny the vast improvements that can be seen with EA's game. FIFA 09 represents the fourth proper iteration into the franchise on the DS (there have also been the two FIFA Street games but the less said about them the better) and goes a long way in showing just how much EA has come to terms with the hardware available and how they can get the most out of the DS' cartridges.

Gameplay

As already stated, FIFA 09 is the fourth iteration of the franchise on the DS and it is by far the biggest. While many gamers may begrudge the fact that the series has become nothing more than an annual filler for EA with the hopes of propping up sales figures as the year closes out, this year's title doesn't stray too far from the mould but has seen a significant increase in the amount of content that on content alone, it is by far the biggest and best of the FIFA games on the DS. The biggest new inclusion mode wise to this entry is the Be A Pro mode where you can play through single matches or a season or even a tournament by taking complete control of one player. That's right, one player. The game will control all other players on your team but during play, you'll be tasked with controlling the player you choose from your team and have to make them run into space and call for the ball or pass a through ball for a team mate to have a scoring chance. It's a simple idea, and something you'd have thought that EA would have included before now but it adds to the level of immersion of the title. Whereas before you had to handle all 11 players, here, by focusing on one, the game pulls you in and brings you into the mindset of being that player so that you move him where you think he should go and do what you think he should do. It's a great inclusion but does suffer somewhat from camera issues as the game is always focused on you and not scrolling or panning out to keep up with the action. It's a small deviation from an otherwise solid mode.

Complimentary to this, there are of course all the other modes you'd expect to find in any of the modern FIFA games: a robust season, tournament modes, a management mode, basically the game will cater to your every footballing want. It's made that bit better by the fact that there are over 25 leagues included in the game, with all the respective teams and their kit, as well as the many international teams so you'll have every ability to play as your favourite national or international teams as well as trying out and scouting talent from the relatively unheard of leagues from the likes of Switzerland or Turkey or many other countries. EA have also brought the online mode again and it works well, with leaderboards charting your win and loss progress with the thousands or other players from around the world. You can set up matches with friends or play against random opponents, which can be done either on a regional or worldwide setting. The overall experience doesn't change much when going online as all options available off are available online, and you can even use your own teams complete with transfers from your season mode which is a very nice touch. There is the occasional problem with lag but it doesn't happen too often and when it does, it doesn't really hamper the overall experience. There are also a slew of other multiplayer options for local play, should you wish not to take to the online world with the game supporting both single and multi-cart play, which is superb and works seamlessly. There really is enough content to keep you going for a considerable amount of time.

Controls

The FIFA games have always worked well on the home consoles, well most of the time, and bringing the franchise to the DS was always going to mean certain controls would be left out due to the smaller amount of buttons. The overall setup is as good as you can get on the console and does work well, using the face buttons for everything but also making use of the touch screen for more tactical decisions such as wall placement and even for goalkeeping in the unfortunate event you concede a penalty. Controlling the players does feel sluggish though and at times, they won't respond to your input or the game won't select the player you want to change to. It can be frustrating as it'll leave you having to chase the action because of these small problems.

Graphics

EA have built a good engine for their FIFA games on the DS and little has changed really since the first title. The engine has clearly been improved and polished as the action runs at a smooth pace and never drops in frame rate. The character models and the stadiums have seen a slight polish but apart from minor improvements, there hasn't been any significant changes and there isn't much in the way of variety in terms of the actual players' looks and the stadia, but this isn't a huge problem as the game is less about the players and their looks and more about the actual sport. It would seem EA have hit the roof in terms of pushing the DS' hardware graphically but it does look good with the only real issue coming from some tearing of the grand stands at times.

Sound

Again, as with other titles, commentary is provided by Clive Tyldesley and it sounds great and authentic. The sounds of the crowd are likewise done to a high standard as is the licensed sound track that EA have employed. The sound didn't need much improving over previous iterations but then it was always of a good standard and continues that here.

Dual screen

The menus are all placed on the touch screen and so you can choose to use that for selecting but it's simpler to use the face buttons. In game, the action takes place on the top screen while the touch screen sports an overhead view of the pitch showing where players are. It's a minimal use for the touch screen in this instance but it is helpful for playing long balls and for goal kicks. The game also makes use of the touch screen for positioning of the wall in free kicks or for goal keeping in penalties and as a result, it does make good use of what is available, even if the touch screen bits do feel slightly tacked on.

Final comments

Football fans looking for their next slice of action on the DS should immediately be happy with what EA has done. FIFA 09 is the most robust version of the game to hit the DS and is the one that brings it as close as it could possibly get to being like the home console versions. With such a substantial amount of content and modes available on the cartridge, this is going to keep football fans happy for a long time. And with only minor issues, one wonders how EA will best this effort with the next game.

Pro: Huge amount of content, presentation is good, plays well and the online is good
Con: Controls do feel sluggish, online does suffer from lag
Final score: 8.4

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