2010 FIFA World Cup Updated Hands-On

It was fitting that today in San Francisco we got beaten by USA when playing as England in 2010 FIFA World Cup. While that was a particularly humiliating blow, the event allowed us to find out a whole load more information about the official World Cup game, including penalty shoot-outs, online modes, and the plans for postrelease downloadable content.

As we mentioned in our first hands-on with the game, 2010 FIFA World Cup is much more vibrant than the usual FIFA, which reflects the carnival atmosphere of the tournament itself. However, the development team at EA Sports in Canada has incorporated plenty of gameplay tweaks, as well as new game modes. These are the focus of this GDC preview, so if you're new to the game, check out our previous coverage.

One new improvement is the penalty kick system, which has radically changed since the last FIFA. Each penalty kick will change in terms of difficulty depending on the events surrounding it. For example, a penalty against Fiji when you're 5-0 up will be relatively easy; while the decisive penalty in the World Cup final against Brazil will be much tougher.

The new system is based on a compsure meter that goes back and forth, moving between red in the extremities and green in the center. The idea is to hold the shoot button when the marker is in the green area and then perform a similar maneuver to determine the power. Meanwhile, a blue marker will appear on the screen allowing you to direct the shot, with a small marker allowing pinpoint accuracy if you landed in the green portion of the bar. The position marker appears only in the training mode though; in the real game, you have to make a judgement on how much to tweak the aim of the ball.

With the penalty taker getting more options, it's only fair that the keeper does as well, so thankfully EA Sports has improved this area as well. Keepers now do more to stop the ball than before, automatically moving their arms and legs to knock the ball if they're heading in the right direction. You can also move the keeper up and down the line and perform various taunts, moving your body to try to put the penalty taker off his shot.

While the World Cup mode will allow you to take your favourite team to win the coveted trophy, there's plenty of other stuff to sink your teeth into. The Captain Your Country mode will allow you to work your way up from your nation's B-team, playing as either a famous player or a virtual pro just like in FIFA 10. You'll be able to compete against friends locally in four-player, and as it takes covers qualifiers to the World Cup final itself, this will be the longest mode in the game.

Online will be a massive part of the 2010 FIFA World Cup package, and we got to speak to producer Matt Prior about what to expect. Battle of the Nations will allow each country to see who has the best FIFA players by tracking each individual player online. A points system will award wins, and more points will be awarded for those who play with lower-ranked teams. Hopefully this will avoid the frequent Manchester United vs. Barcelona matches that clogged up FIFA 10 online and help to keep things interesting overall.

There will also be postrelease downloadable content for 2010 FIFA World Cup, although EA Sports wouldn't reveal what it will be or when it will arrive, other than sometime after the launch. The game also introduces a new two-button control system, which should allow novices to get into the game. Pass and shoot will be mapped to A + B, with secondary actions such as run being controlled by the AI.

2010 FIFA World Cup may well be coming out five short months after the last FIFA game, but EA Sports has certainly added a lot to the game. The build we played was feature-complete and was a noticeable improvement over the first version that we played back in London. The game is being released on April 27, so we won't have long to wait to get into the World Cup spirit.