FIFA 09 Ultimate Team first impressions

Download the free trial version of FIFA 09 Ultimate Team from PlayStation Store today and start building your dream squad.

For those FIFA 09 players used to running riot online with Manchester United and Barcelona, starting a FIFA 09 Ultimate Team campaign is a humbling experience. Taking the random collection of players in your first pack of cards onto the pitch, you'll find a few of the squad are lacking a yard of pace, and, chances are, your strikers will be a little shy in front of goal.

However, great oaks from tiny acorns grow, and the joy of seeing your ramshackle collective grow into a cohesive unit is where much of FIFA 09 Ultimate Team's appeal lies.

Bearing in mind the limitations of this initial allocation, it's likely that your first XI will be picked on individual ability alone. Then, after your first couple of games, you'll have amassed enough in-game coins to buy your first Bronze pack of cards, adding depth to your squad and allowing you to work on the all-important Team Chemistry.

Using players in their preferred positions and within their favourite formation boosts Chemistry, and there are further increases to be had by using players of the same nationality in similar positions. Employ an Italian back-four, for example, and you'll notice far more cohesion on the pitch. Tactically, this means that you might decide to play a weaker squad member if his nationality and preferences suit the way you want to play. It also encourages you to check out the game's trading system for that missing link.

It's easy to search through available cards and the system is flexible, allowing you to bid with coins, unwanted cards of your own or a combination of the two. Putting your own surplus personnel up for trade is just as simple, allowing you set a reserve and informing you of any bids that come in. You don't have to put your spares up for trade though; you can move them straight into your Collection, which is like a sticker album. You'll gain some coins for adding to the Collection, and while it may not be as fruitful as trading in the short term, completing entire teams or other groups of cards unlocks generous bonuses.

You'll also want to keep an eye on each player's contract; each card is tied to you for a certain number of games. Fail to play a contract card and renew the deal, and you risk losing them.

As you play more matches and earn more coins, your squad will turn from Bronze to Silver as you gain stronger cards and train the ones you already have, and you'll feel more equipped to take on one of the tournaments. These come in offline and online varieties and each requires a certain number of skill points to enter, which are earned by playing matches. Tournaments are where the serious coins can be earned, so you might want to save your gameplay cards for the big matches. These can be played during the match and, while they might not always be decisive, they can tilt the balance in your favour at crucial moments. The Keeper Taunt card, for example, adversely affects the opposing goalkeeper temporarily, and its strength varies depending on whether it is Gold, Silver or Bronze.

A trading card game on the surface, there's more depth to FIFA 09 Ultimate Team than first meets the eye. The importance of Team Chemistry makes tracking down strong cards and training up your own a fine art. This is helped by the trading system, which is easy to use and flexible. The tournaments are competitive and varied, and online matches are much more unpredictable as each player is using their own custom team. Opening a new pack of cards is as exciting as it has been for real sticker collectors over the years, with the added thrill of actually taking your dream team onto the pitch to play against others.

The trial version of FIFA 09 Ultimate Team, giving you access to all of its features and allowing you to play five matches, is available now from PlayStation Store, completely free; just bear in mind that you'll need a copy of FIFA 09 on PS3 to play it.