It's the perfect World Cup package to fill the close-season void and prepare you for the main event.
If you played or owned EA's Euro 2008 offering you will know what to expect from WC2010:SA.
On offer are several playing modes, Story of the World Cup, which challenges you to recreate matches during the qualifying campaign. For instance, take a Denmark team from 2-1 down in the 88th minute against Portugal to 3-2 up to unlock achievements.
For the second tournament release Captain your Country features, with subtle improvements. Either playing solo or with a friend, you can create a player from any nation and turn him from a B team prospect to a World Cup winning captain, from the start of World Cup qualifying campaign to the Final at Soccer City.
Gameplay wise, there are some additional player animations included which makes players look more natural in possesion of the ball.
A new penalty system has been adopted to seperate the believers from the bottlers from the spot. The penalty system now consists of controlling a pressure gauge, which moves horizontally at the bottom of the screen. In order to take a more composed penalty you will need to control the bar to stop in the green area of the gauge. The more handy players are from the spot, the slower the pressure bar moves and the larger the green 'shoot on target' area appears.
True to EA and FIFA style the presentation is official and of a very high standard. All the real life stadia, players and sponsors are all part of the package as you come to expect from the FIFA series. Player likeness is hit and miss as always with some players looking spitting images of their real life counterparts....and others not so much.
The one downside (if you can call it that) with a title like WC2010:SA is that it's valued as a full game by the higher powers at EA, which translates to forty hard earned pounds being removed from your bank balance for what is essentailly a FIFA 10 add on or expansion pack. This will not act as much of a deterant for the hardcore FIFA and football fans out there, but for those hard of cash or with issues with morality, will see WC2010:SA easily cast aside until FIFA11 rears it head in the fall.
Graphics
EA are renowned for their brilliance in capturing the presentation and likeness of the Worlds biggest tournaments and they continue to raise the bar with WC2010:SA giving it an extra coat of gloss.
Gameplay
If you're a FIFA 10 owner then you're going to see more of the same in terms of gameplay and the enjoyment and smoothness that comes hand in hand with the FIFA series nowadays is there for all to see.
Sound
Rich African-style sountrack creates a feeling of carnival authenticy and as always EA has hand picked the best commentary team for the occasion, who bring the occasion to life.
Lastability
Play it before the World Cup arrives and right up until the release of EA's next instalment in FIFA11. It's fair to say that WC2010:SA has some staying power, with several modes including Captain your Country and the welcome addition of recreating results from the qualifying rounds in Story of the World Cup. A feature that will be updated online as the tournament takes place for those who have Xbox live.
Overall
Official tournament releases in the FIFA series tend to be met with mixed reception from FIFA purists, who tend to ask the following: is it better than FIFA10? Probably not, it's very much the same in terms of gameplay, but WC2010:SA encapsultes the World Cup buzz perfectly. So, if you want to be a part of the World Cup without sheelling for the real experience in South Africa, WC2010:SA on the console format of your ownership is as close as your going to get to the real thing.