by Jonathan Greengrass

Created on: July 21, 2011

The latest installment of EA Sports' hugely popular series, FIFA 11 is exactly what you'd expect if you've played a game in the FIFA dynasty before. Visually pleasing, with hundreds of fully licensed teams and thousands of players, FIFA 11 is certainly the most realistic football simulator on the market today. But often the series has been accused of not offering up something wholly new in each new incarnation, and some games have simply been a regurgitated version of a previous edition. In the latest version there are certainly some aspects of this, but a lot of the content in the game is new and refreshing.

The biggest changes from the previous edition come in the form of a far more expansive online mode. Players are now able to take to the online world in huge 10 v 10 matches where each player takes control of an individual player. The 'Clubs' online mode allows players to join regional leagues and play for competitive rankings. The online mode is certainly more entertaining and rewarding than previous editions of the game, and gamers can spend many hours taking on players from all over the globe in either ranked or unranked matches.

In terms of offline play, the expansion of the virtual pro mode is noticeable with an increased number of traits available to created players as their skills improve. It seems the developers have put a lot of effort into trying to improve the passing options for the game in order to make it more realistic and entertaining, and this has certainly been accomplished. The swerve pass addition is one that is well done and was clamoured for by the FIFA series' fans in previous incarnations. Another nice touch to the virtual pro system is the affect that the player's physical make-up has on his attributes. Create a tall heavy player and he'll be strong and impervious in the air, but sluggish running on the ground. Similarly, a small player will sprint like lightning but be easily jostled off of the ball.

In terms of playability, this game does have some longevity, due to the amount of time it takes to upgrade a virtual pro to his full potential; However, the game leaves something to be desired in some of its other game modes. Whilst the career mode provides some entertaining moments, it does also prove to be a bit repetitive and needs to be spiced up somewhat in future editions in order to enhance the offline experience. That alludes to one of the problems of the game as a whole. Online play simply offers far more longevity than offline play. Like games such as the Modern Warfare series, it is a game that you would buy primarily because of its online features, rather than the offline offerings. This is no problem on the PS3 with its free online experience, but for the Xbox 360 this game may not be worth the £45 without an existing Xbox live membership.

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