Contrary
to what you might hear or read, the download-only Ultimate Team add-on
for FIFA 09 isn’t brand spanking new. In fact, it’s pretty much
identical to the Ultimate Team mode that was present in EA Sports’ UEFA
Champions League 06/07 on the Xbox 360. Fortunately, the Ultimate Team
mode was that game’s saving grace so I was pleased to see it make an
appearance in an updated form in FIFA 09.
The add-on costs 800 Microsoft Points ($10 USD) and clocks in at
about 1.6GB to download. Once installed it adds an Ultimate Team option
to the game’s main menu.
The entire crux of the game mode revolves around a card-collection
meta-game that harkens back to those Panini football stickers and albums
that you may have collected as a child (and perhaps still collect). You
start the game creating your own team name that you’ll use in
single-player and online multiplayer. You also get to create a custom
player that stays on your team and can develop. From the off you get a
starter pack of cards that gets your team going.
What are the cards? Each card represents an asset and the cards can
be divided into the following categories;
Player Cards – For example, a Gabriel Agbonlahor card which
means he is on your team for a set contract length such as 5 games
Staff Cards – These include different managers, trainers,
coaches and physios - each with different abilities.
Contract Cards – These add additional matches to player or
staff contracts
Training Cards – These can improve different individual player
stats
Stadium Cards – Each stadium has different morale modifiers
Gameplay Cards – For example a card that increases shooting
accuracy for a half.
Misc Cards – These include Kit Cards, Injury Recovery Cards, Ball
Cards and so on.
You then play a variety of different matches, both online and off,
that earn you points that you can then spend on card packs. The number
of points you get from each game depends upon a variety of factors such
as the number of goals scored, the shots, the possession, the level of
your opponent, and of course, whether you win or not. Each pack contains
a random variety of the above cards and there are three levels of card
packs; Gold (5000 points), Silver (2500 points), Bronze (500 points).
Gold packs are more likely to have top tier players while Bronze packs
are full of lower league players. You can also actually buy card packs
using real world money – I shudder at the thought of supporting such
micro-transactions in game that isn’t free, but the choice is there if
you so desire.
Once you win more games you can then enter a variety of tournaments
with the eventual goal of filling your trophy cabinet. There's also a
meta-game of collecting cards as you can send cards to a card album and
you can unlock achievements by completing parts of the album.
The genius of this mode, and what makes it so addictive, is the
combination of having a team that’s in a constant state of flux and the
perpetual carrot of getting enough points to buy just one more pack of
cards that will surely have the superstar you’re looking for! Between
each match you’re constantly shuffling your team, trying to find cards
to renew or extend contracts and looking for better players.
It's
not all roses, however, as matchmaking for online often has you playing
teams that are ridiculously overpowered (the first round match of a
tournament had my team of lower league players against a team filled
with international superstars). I also wish there was the option of
entering a league-like structure rather than single matches and
tournaments.
For those of you who’ve gotten bored of the single-player in FIFA 09
this DLC mode adds tremendous legs to an already deep game. That said,
800 MS points isn't chump change and if you're bored of FIFA 09`s actual
gameplay this DLC isn't going to change much.
