Real Madrid Football 2010 Review

I suspect I wasn't the only football fan who rather enjoyed Real Madrid's trophy-less season last year.

Having spent the previous summer poaching Europe's best with little subtlety or thought for how they might play together, it was somewhat satisfying to see them fall short on all fronts – the club's exit to unfancied Lyon in last year's Champion's League a particular highlight.

Of course, such defeats are always a surprise to the team itself. Real never expects to lose to anyone.

It's no great shock, then, that Genera's first stab at an official football sim for the club comes with a similar sized ego. The title naturally presents the team in the best light, but – in a startling case of life mirroring art – it fails to deliver at kick-off.

Not so Real

But while the team's recent failures may be accurately reflected here, this is by no means an accurate take on the current state of play in European football.

For starters, the only genuine team here is Real's. Rival clubs from around the world are populated by sound-a-like players.

Real Madrid is also the only playable team, leaving you to take on fifteen other clubs – Manchester Utd, Liverpool, Barcelona, and AC Milan all on board - either on a friendly basis, or via a league setup.

However, though Real Madrid Football 2010's description of rival teams might amuse, it's not enough to endear the package as a whole to you, with the most important part of play - the matches themselves - handicapping Los Galácticos's attempt at world domination from the off.

It's not the controls that let play down – available either in Expert mode, where hitting '*' passes the ball and '0' shoots, or Beginner mode, where all movement is taken care of for you – but rather the behaviour of the game's AI, and its own particular take on the rules of the game.

Shots on goal, for instance, come every few seconds, simply because defenders from both sides remain largely static, their main tactic being to try and catch attackers offside.

It's all too easy to find yourself several goals down simply because your own back line has let your opponents waltz on through regardless, any tackles you manage to make – good or bad – resulting in fouls and yellow cards almost at random.

Most curious is the blind eye Real Madrid Football 2010 takes to double tackles. Sliding into a player when he's already been grounded usually wins you possession back without troubling the referee's whistle.

When all such factors are combined, Real Madrid Football 2010 quickly becomes a slow, sluggish take on the game, where simply trying to keep the score down is an ordeal rather than a challenge.

Couple this with the title's especially odd soundtrack – crowd noise replaced with an annoying tune comprising beats and whistles – it's not long before Real Madrid Football 2010's own brand of footballing fiesta falls straight to the bottom of the league.