After the thick end of a decade spent limping along behind Pro Evolution Soccer like a fat dad on sports day, EA Sports finally hit paydirt with last year's Fifa 10 – a title in which EA married its usual fearsome levels of official endorsement to an intricate, absorbing game that, at times, played very much like actual football.

Despite following a scant six months later, 2010 FWCSA is no by-the-numbers cash-in or attempt to sell the same game twice – there's authentic improvement and innovation on display here. From advances in the gameplay engine (consider the realism of the lighting or the smooth fluidity of an on-screen player's motion when he receives the ball) to the ambient specifics of the location (high-altitude venues allow the ball to fly further through the air, and bring players to the point of exhaustion much faster), 2010 FWCSA is an engrossing proposition on its own terms.

It's not just a game involving the best teams in the world (plus New Zealand) either. Take control of any one of the 199 teams who entered the qualifying rounds, and see if you can't steer the underdogs to South Africa and on to ultimate glory. Or just play as Republic of Ireland and kick lumps out of Thierry Henry.