The late 2000s and early 2010s were an extremely important time for EA Sports' FIFA series, which had spent much of the past decade losing out in the gameplay department to Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer. With the arrival of the likes of FIFA 08 and FIFA 09, however, the development team began to craft the perfect formula both on and off the pitch, taking the series to new heights while also introducing new features such as Pro Clubs and Ultimate Team that would become literal game-changers for not only FIFA, but EA Sports as a whole.
The team behind the FIFA franchise was riding a massive high going into 2010, and with the South Africa World Cup taking place that summer, EA Sports delivered a dedicated Xbox 360 game to celebrate the tournament. I've personally been playing FIFA games since all the way back to FIFA 95, and I think 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa might just be my favourite of all time. Yes, it was really that good!
The first thing you notice about 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa is just how much care and attention has gone into making it feel like a unique experience for that specific tournament. The user interface is bright and colourful, the soundtrack is masterfully curated to suit the vibe of the competition, and the game does an incredible job at building immersion through the atmosphere in the stadiums - which includes everything from fireworks, confetti canons and streamers, to the constant noise of Vuvuzelas.
Then, you've got the fact that the game includes not only the 32 teams that competed into the official 2010 World Cup, but nearly every single team that tried to qualify for it as well. Sure, you can just jump into the main tournament with Spain or Brazil if you want to, or you can embark on a gruelling multi-year qualifying campaign with the likes of American Samoa or the Faroe Islands in the hope of somehow finding your way to the big tournament. I almost always chose the latter option back in the day!
2010 FIFA World Cup was also the first game based on the competition to offer a proper Online World Cup mode, and while it obviously doesn't function anymore, it was an incredible experience at the time. Again, this allowed you to pick from one of 199 teams in an attempt to win the World Cup, but unlike FIFA 23's limited knockout-only format, this original version allowed you to play through the group stage as well, racking up points to try and make it through to the Round of 16.
While the 2010 World Cup game didn't include the likes of Pro Clubs or Ultimate Team, it included plenty of unique features that made it stand out from the mainline FIFA titles. Captain your Country was the game's take on "Be a Pro", allowing you to take control of a single player in their country's quest to win the World Cup (it was really good!), while a scenario mode provided players with a variety of challenges to complete, including live challenges based on what was happening in the real 2010 World Cup during that summer.
And as for gameplay? Well, personally I think this was FIFA at its best, adopting the perfect balance between an arcade and simulation style while also adding some improved tactical variation and play styles for AI teams, along with minor new features that actually became franchise staples in the future, such as an overhauled penalty kick system. The FIFA gameplay of the late 2000s and early 2010s had such a fun, realistic and responsive feeling to it, and in my opinion, 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa still plays better than even FIFA 23 to this day.
There's unfortunately a sadness that goes along with this story - the game's Lead Producer, Simon Humber, passed away a few years after this release following a fight with cancer. EA Sports went on to include the stadium of Portsmouth FC in FIFA 16 as a tribute to Humber, complete with a wreath of flowers sitting next to the goalmouth.
When I look back now at 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, I had such an amazing time playing that game on my Xbox 360. Sure, I enjoyed EA Sports 2014 FIFA World Cup as well as a few years later, but it didn't quite gel with me in the same way, and I felt the gameplay actually wasn't quite as enjoyable. And then, unfortunately, EA decided to cancel the dedicated World Cup games entirely and turn them into free DLC expansions. That might sound good on paper, but the reality is that they don't contain anywhere near the same level of detail that we saw in the games prior to 2014, and I'd honestly be much happier paying for a more in-depth experience.
If you find yourself getting World Cup fever beginning this Sunday, I definitely think it's worth giving 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa a try if you've got an Xbox 360 lying around. 12 years later, the gameplay continues to hold up extremely well, and I've been having a great time recently rekindling those amazing memories. What a game!
Do you remember this game? Let us know what you thought of it in the comments below.
Comments 19
Absolutely loved FIFA World Cup 2010. Definitely had a good atmosphere and each match was actually fun to play and fast paced also.
Counterargument,
FraserG wrote:
Worst FIFA game ever. Haha.
This was my go to soccer game for years. It's a shame it's not Backwards compatible with the Series X.
I exhausted all entertainment value from the 2022 World Cup update in an afternoon. It’s absolutely terrible.
I remember playing all the EA World Cup games for months. They were absolutely packed with content, and really had a very special festive feel.
@BBB while i love sensy, that’s a rather preposterous idea.
@BBB it still hasn't been bettered in my opinion. Every Team and competition in the world, management mode and a great transfer market. All on a 2meg disk. Crazy when you think about it. The early Pes and Fifa games were good, but now they are just cash cows.
First ever World Cup game was the France 98 one, then loved the Euro 2000, World Cup 2002 and Euro 2004 games. After that I had a bit of a break and 2010 was the last standalone game I got. The Fifa 23 iteration looks better than ever but the 2 stadiums just ruin everything else.
Personally I think PES 3,4 and 5 was the best era for football games. The gameplay was fantastic. Played the hell out of all these games in college.
Just played through the free update in 23 (using the Game Pass trial) and was pining for the days when I could take Malta through all the qualifiers and all the way to a World Cup win. It's truly a shame all these national teams are missing, as well as the qualifying stages. I would gladly pay full price for a game of just that.
Great game with a great play and feel to it. I fire the game up every now and then for a quick tournament. I actually miss the dedicated Euro and World Cup games. The free updates just dont cut it.
@BBB SWOS the final version is the best footballing game ever and it’s not even close.
In my opinion, whilst this is one of the best World Cup versions of a football game. The depth and number of tournaments in a normal version is incomparable. The World Cup version had bare bones for replayability but was deeper and better than the free updates we now get.
A World Cup game with Historic world cups to play. With proper squads and stadiums would be something. You can play through qualifying and then World Cup 1990 and then jump to 2002… jump back to Brazil 1970…. Now that would be a game!
With nba 2k style filters.
Back in 98 i was hooked on the 98 world cup game. This was awesome too
Road To World Cup 98 - the absolute best one!
@Boldfoxrd If we're talking Road To World Cup 98 over World Cup 98, then absolutely agree! World Cup 98 was very good too though!
@OM1993 I had both. I would pretty much play road to world cup then jump straight into world cup 98 as well.
@Boldfoxrd That's legendary. Me and my cousin would spend hours on the 5 a side mode in Road To 98. Literally the best!
Frazer is right FIFA WC 2010 was ace. No micros, the controls were on point, great gameplay and the vibe was fabulous.
@BBB Swos was the stand out game for years. Great game and the tactics you could edit have never been bettered imo PES 3-5, FIFA 09-Fifa WC 2010 and then PES 18 have been worth playing since. I also have a soft spot for a sega soccer slam but it's more an arcade take on 3v3 not really the same thing.
I think we can all agree, however, that the best football game ever created was Red Card Soccer on the OG Xbox, PS2, and Gamecube as you could play as a team of, literal, Dolphins.
I was going to get FIFA 23 for the WC stuff then realised you can't do a full qualifying stint. What the hell?? That's half the fun. Taking a nation like the Faroes to the WC is epic fun.
I did play the Wii version of 2010 & it's actually not bad. I've played a lot of WC games from 90, 94, RtWC 98, 98, 2010 & all good fun. Even PES 2014 had a decent World Challenge that's miles ahead of what we have on FIFA now.
I think WC games are just sad and very lacking.
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