Seven Sports Games: 2010 FIFA World Cup

This strand covers a selection of noteworthy sports video games and what makes them worth writing about.

Stepping out onto the pitch of a meticulously detailed digital stadium, to the sounds of cheering crowds and vuvuzelas blazing, it is easy to feel as though you really are there and competing in South Africa for football's highest accolade, even though you are sat at home.

This is a perfect summation of what makes 2010 FIFA World Cup, essentially a re-skinned update of the year's earlier FIFA title with less features, a far superior product. The development team at EA Sports could have easily turned out a quick, cheap and easy tournament tie-in. Instead they went to extra lengths to re-create the World Cup experience as authentically as possible - and on every level, they succeeded.

Even with so much time and technological progress in between this game's release and the present day, 2010FWC can still stand with any other football game that has followed. It still plays brilliantly: excellently paced, with fluid and realistic character movement and a straightforward control set-up.

Little details like players reacting to the referee and fan reactions adding to the realism, though the pace of the game is kept at a constant throughout, but everyone including the in-game commentators do well to keep up with it. It may seem like a lot going at once, but it's easy to get to grips with, though even those who master it will not win automatically every time.

The tournament this game is based on is remembered for one thing: atmosphere. Every match erupted with celebratory overtones unique to the first African World Cup, backed up by the noise of the divisive vuvuzela horns. Everything that made the atmosphere of the 2010 World Cup present in this game - a particularly impressive addition as it was made before the tournament itself was played.

As soon as each match in the game begins, the cheering is already in full swing stadium is full of both teams' colours. The virtual fans can be seen and heard throughout, reacting accordingly to their team's situation on the pitch, and the atmosphere does not give up until the final whistle. The celebratory feeling that comes with every World Cup is a big, infectious part of this game. Aiding the jubilant feeling is a great in-game soundtrack, headed by the unofficial tournament anthem "Wavin' Flag" by K'Naan, with a host of different tracks from a variety of world artists also featured.

It's that level of attention to detail that makes 2010FWC so special. Case in point, past World Cup games featured only the teams participating, with a few more on some occasions, but 2010 World Cup has almost two hundred to choose from. It’s not just teams of generic players, either, the real-world squad of each and every team has been painstakingly re-created. In doing so, that feeling of winning the World Cup with your own country is the same for (almost) anyone who picks the game up.

Probably the most remarkable aspect of the game is the level of depth than can be achieved. The more time spent playing with one team, the more you will get to know them. Their strengths and weaknesses will become more evident, formations and game plans can be devised. The final result is making that feeling of winning the World Cup with a team that you have gone the distance with and spent so much time pouring over so much more satisfying.

Though the prospect of playing the video game of a tournament may not seem appealing, no other game has quite re-created the feeling of football like 2010 FIFA World Cup. It is a remarkable experience that is worthy of the title of one of the world's biggest sporting events, with the added good news that cheap copies can easily be found. Even if you've never played any football game before, this is one to seek out.

2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa was published by EA Sports in 2010 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii