FIFA 12

FIFA 12 brings to the pitch the game-changing new Player Impact Engine, a physics engine built to deliver real-world physicality in every interaction on the pitch. Experience the way real-world footballers challenge each other for the ball, win possession, and test each other physically. Enjoy an infinite variety of natural and believable outcomes in every collision. Players feel more resilient, push and pull during the fight for possession, and recover from light challenges more easily. Revolutionary gameplay innovations make FIFA 12 deeper and more engaging. All-new Precision Dribbling creates a higher fidelity of touch on the ball for better control in tight spaces, more time to make decisions on attack, and more control over the pace of the game. Innovations in attack are balanced by a...

• Paul Martin October 13, 2011 360

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  Introduction
  
  EA Sports are renowned for their annual release of the FIFA football/soccer franchise, but now with a bold promise of improvement in computer A.I and in-game play mechanics onto the already worldwide popular and impressive FIFA 11 instalment, has it managed to improve or fail on the promise that was given?
  
  Ok let's start by giving you my first experience of my first FIFA 12 game...
  
  Start game up, press start at introduction, press start to access main menu, select settings, change difficulty to World Class, go to main menu and select kick off mode.
  
  Home team Newcastle United, away team Barcelona FC, kit selection, minor changes to the squad and formation and were off!
  
  ... And here it is the first game of the season an exhibition game between, Newcastle United and Barcelona FC. High expectations from the home side after dominating previous games towards the end of last season, however with new additions to the away side we expect tough opposition and a close match. *Whistle Blows* and were off, Newcastle foolishly lose possession of the ball within seconds of kick off, Barcelona pounce and go on the offensive pushing up the pitch with Newcastle currently chasing shadows. Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Villa, Newcastle are already being pushed back into their own box and can't get anywhere near the ball. Now David Villa long ball to Lionel Messi, who runs at the Newcastle defence, skips around Ryan Taylor, nutmegs Coloccini, skilfully flicks it over Steven Taylor before smashing the ball into the top corner past Tim Krul.
  
  Ouch! It's safe to say I was dominated and the match ended 5-1 to Barcelona, I was demolished and humiliated in my first game on FIFA 12, which left me with my first impression "This is hard, but realistic!"
  
  Control's
  
  The control aspect of the game has never been an issue for the FIFA franchise, and therefore control aspects have not been changed in the past 2 instalments of the game. That said with new additions to the game EA Sports have been forced to make minor changes to the layout of defensive duties on the control pad. In FIFA 10, and 11 the controls allowed the player to simply hold one button to apply pressure to the opposition when defending. The new mechanics in defensive situations ask the player to press a button for a timely standing tackle or alternatively another button for a sliding tackle. The reason I mention the above in the control section is because it all feels fresh, unique and responsive when using the pad. Should a tackle be made to late due to poor responsive times it could lead to goal, foul and possibly a booking depending on how bad/late the challenge was made. EA Sports have done a grand job making the controls similar and fresh, yet making the game feel more responsive from control pad to the player responding to the actions on screen. It all feels tight. Also it may be a mention that should you be used to the Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) series control buttons you still have the ability to swap default buttons to meet your standards allowing for easy transition between the series making new comers feel welcome and comfortable when using the pad.
  
  Gameplay
  
  The new mechanics when defending places more emphasis and pressure on the skill of the player. Timing is everything and it is frustrating at times especially when A.I defenders manage to give away a soft penalty for what would only be described as a graze on the opposition player and would in no way be regarded as a foul in a real game of modern football. Perhaps that's more that the referees A.I is inconsistent than the players A.I, I can't really say but it is one of the more frustrating aspects that the game has to offer although it is quite rare. Overall your new defensive duties make the game harder, especially against players like Messi, Nasri, Silva and Ronaldo with quick feet and skilful abilities at their disposal. Saying that, it does make the game feel and look more realistic with tackles and the physical aspect of the game looking how they should in real life. Should Messi come alongside John Terry for example you now have the ability to pull the player, allowing you to slow him down and place him off balance, but of course the same ability could cause a foul in the process. In FIFA 11, the gameplay felt almost scripted should a big player get alongside a small player, strength would prevail. In FIFA 12 it is more realistic allowing smaller quicker players to run away from the bigger slower players, however not being able to match the physical aspect in strength or jumping. These are changes that the public have been asking for, changes that have now revolutionized the series onto the next level of realism. Another aspect that has been added is lower league teams such as Newcastle, Sunderland, Stoke, Fulham etc. basically all outside the big names such as Manchester United/City , Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal have been given a lot more treatment on the field. Should Lionel Best go up for a header against Ashley Cole he would now, the majority of the time win the ball. Gabriel Obertan was well known for slow pace on FIFA 10, yet it was the complete opposite to his real life counterpart. These differences were mainly because these players were unknown or were neglected for some reason being in lesser known teams outside the top 4 or bigger teams around the world. Now Obertan can run past players, but may not have the passing ability compared to say Fabregas or Wilshere, which is fair valuation of the player. It all feels re-worked, fresh and realistic.
  
  The difficulty of the game has increased overall, not just by the new mechanics but the A.I improvement is most notable on the games harder settings. It would be worth to mention that should newcomers to the FIFA series wish for a less intense gaming experience they can lower the difficulty. In regards to the A.I, computer controlled defenders will now make life difficult for strikers especially on harder difficulties. Striving to apply pressure to the player whenever they are without the ball making life on FIFA 12 difficult; crosses are harder to put into the box, shots are occasionally blocked and headers are competed for across the whole pitch. Should players require a challenge they should select World Class difficulty against the better technical teams such as Barcelona, it really does replicate how they would play in real life. Keeping possession of the ball and pressuring the opposition high up the pitch, mistakes are not advisable. The behaviours of most players in the top leagues resemble their real life counterparts including the lesser known teams/players. QPR's Joey Barton will slide in with no regards, as would Newcastle United's Tiote, and yet Messi will run into space and look to skilfully run past players on the opposition team. It all feels familiar, mainly because it is what football/soccer fans watch week in and week out throughout the season making the game feel and in many ways look realistic.
  
  That said I feel like goalkeeper A.I has now been downgraded. It all feels too unpredictable, although in many respects it provides a real life drama to the game. All keepers are prone to errors, I just feel FIFA 12 A.I is prone to more errors than it should be. Goalkeepers won't simply catch a cross that swerves towards goal despite the ball floating directly towards them with no pace, instead tipping it over for a corner. Shots can be taken and the keeper beaten from areas that you would believe it should have covered. That said the following game a shot that would be unstoppable in real life would simply cause no problems to the A.I keeper, making the experience feel slightly unbalanced, with an emphasis to shoot as you may actually score, even with what could be regarded as a weak or poor shot. I don't know if EA Sports intentionally created this problem, or what I see as a problem. It's really hard to tell, but at the same time it can add the realism that any keeper on a bad day can be beat and any keeper on a good day is simply a brick wall between the goal posts.
  
  The game modes have been improved again, most notably the career mode with new additions and more interactions giving you a more rich experience, whether it be playing as player or manager. EA Sports have also added new challenge modes that allows the player to re-live classic moments from real life. An example would be from last season being 4-0 down to Arsenal at half time and you will play as Newcastle and will have to attempt to re live the 4-4 draw with only one half of football to accomplish your objective. It's a good mode and can get very addictive. A not so new mode, but more refined in FIFA 12 is the simple head to head online ranked matches. The player will now go in divisions that will allow the player to be promoted, relegated or simply place themselves in mid table as they have 10 matches to try and lift themselves into the higher divisions or save themselves from relegation. Each division is a different difficulty, those higher obviously providing more difficult opponents with the eventual outcome allowing players to play those on the same level in terms of skill. The other aspect for the likes of my self being a Newcastle United fan is you will only play teams around your selected team's level. This means you won't play Barcelona or Manchester United every game as you would do in FIFA 11, instead it allows players to play as their own supported team without the added pressure and difficulty to play a team far beyond your own making the match fair.
  
  Another thing I would like to mention is the offside system. Whether it would be intentional or not, again I cannot be sure, but regardless it feels inaccurate at times. This is actually much like real life leaving possibility for human (or A.I in this case) error which can lead to incorrect decisions being given with several replays showing my player onside when the ball was played, but still called offside. I haven't read anything about this leading up to the games release though so whether it is an unintentional mistake on EA Sports part I am not sure although it does add a sense of realism. Another small thing worthy of mention is the injuries, which now goes on the basis your player goes down he will stay down for a while, possibly not getting up until the ball is out of play and therefore having to leave the pitch for treatment. The great thing is the fact the player may or may not return to the game should the injury be serious with the eventual outcome of substituting a player should you have the them left, if not you must embrace the game head on and play with 10 man for the remainder of the match. Another way of injury is should your player be running onto a ball he could pull up holding his groin, it's frustrating should you need a goal, but there is always the potential for the same situation to occur during a real football match. It's the small things that make a game stand out from the crowd, and FIFA 12 certainly does the small things well, whether some features be intentional or not it doesn't matter this game is the most realistic football/soccer game to date and the gameplay and its features show it.
  
  Graphics
  
  In this department the FIFA franchise has always made improvements, but still for the likes of myself Newcastle United have never resembled the player's real life counterparts. Instead a more generic character is created that may have the same hair colour and style with other aspects of the game having been focused on. Normally only the likes of Rooney, Ronaldo, Ronaldhino, Beckham, and Messi etc. have done justice to player's realism with again the smaller teams missing out on the feature with a possible entire squad of players looking nothing like they do in real life. In FIFA 12 it's time to say things have changed. With 9 of Newcastle United's starting 11 looking like they should and would in real life and other teams of the same level are given similar treatment. I have to admit, along with the actual gameplay graphics that have been improved that this is the best looking FIFA or any other football/soccer game by far. The crowd's looks much more realistic, the movements on and off the ball look better with less character animations cutting into each other. It all looks good and it won't be long before lower leagues are shown the same treatment with the ability to now add your own face into the game. This concept was available in the previous version, however it looks much better now with the pixels on the face improved dramatically, making less fuzz around the eye area. That said EA Sports have made leaps and bounds of an improvement over FIFA 11 in the graphics department, making it a job the EA Sports graphics team should be very proud of.
  
  Audio
  Without going into much detail as to why Andy Gray was not included in this year's instalment, he is a huge miss to the commentary aspect to the game. That said it comes with a massive plus due to the fact a new commentary team had to be recorded from scratch instead of recycling the same lines, facts and opinion used in the last instalment like previous versions. Alan Smith replaces Andy Gray when commentating league matches with Martin Tyler with the additional commentating team of Andy Townsend and Clive Tyldesley for tournament and international matches. This makes the game feel fresh due to the different opinions the commentators have as well as making it fresh as opposed to listening to the same voices every game you play. You do have the option to select one commentary team should you prefer a specific commentary team, who will then commentate on all matches. FIFA 12 provides new and more football fan chants from home supporters making match day realism slightly better, although it hasn't marked a great improvement on the previous instalment but it is still worthy of a mention. The soundtrack as like any previous FIFA is full of recent and upcoming songs from major or new upcoming artists. It makes the menus refreshing to go to with a variety of songs to listen to selected at random. Should you not like a certain song you can remove it from the set list in the settings menu. Overall the audio aspect of FIFA 12 is a huge positive of the games aura, providing a great commentary and overall audio package to make the game as authentic as possible.
  
  Conclusion
  
  FIFA 12 is a mammoth of a game, with a mass of game modes to choose from. Challenges, head to head, career mode, various online modes the list goes on and on. There is hours of gameplay with the benefit of the most realistic and updated football/soccer experience on any gaming console to date. The difficulty can be adjusted as per the player's skill on the game and it simply is addictive. That said there is small quibbles with the computer A.I, that are seriously questionable at times especially goalkeeping errors, of course that is only an issue should you be able break down the opposition defence where the A.I is impeccable. Admittedly the defensive mechanic takes time to get used to, and until you do your vulnerable to conceding 'easy' goals. My advice stick with it, once you get used to the new system the game feel's and plays so much better. This year's instalment when asked the question is it better than FIFA 11, the answer is an unquestionable yes, by far! It really is and without question EA Sports have delivered a promise of improving an impressive game that was dominating its genre to begin with. Should you buy it? 100% Yes! Should you buy it if you're a football fan? Is that really a question?! Just do yourself a favour and go buy this game, why are you even reading this review still, your wasting valuable FIFA 12 time, as am I writing it! 9.5/10
  

• FIFA12 - E3 Gameplay Trailer 360 | 01:08 Play Trailer