Review: FIFA 12 (360/PS3) | Video Game ... - Bits 'n' Bytes Gaming

Posted by Martin Watts on Monday, October 10, 2011 ? Leave a Comment?

by Hossain Behbahani

Football?s Coming Home

The new football season is well under way; hundreds of goals have been scored, thousands of pies have been eaten and now countless hours will be lost as the new instalment of FIFA is upon us. Recent years have seen EA?s footballing goliath acknowledged as the king of football games. With smooth gameplay and top-notch graphics, FIFA is invariably top of the league and this year?s release will be aiming to defend its title with some new features, some tweaks to the gameplay and some old school addictiveness. Prepare yourself for neglect, WAGs of the world; football?s coming home.

Games such as FIFA, which are updated and released every year, would quickly wither and die without them getting some new additions that add to the overall experience. FIFA 12 has these in abundance. By far the best addition (and one of my favourite features in any game) is the inclusion of the EA Sports Football Club. Just one button press on the main menu takes you to a screen where you can view all the FIFA 12 news pertaining to you and your friends, check out the daily challenges (completing these will give you a bucket load of XP) and, best of all, check out how your favourite club is doing in the FIFA 12 leagues. Yes, every game you play, every point you win contributes to your team moving up and down the leagues. When you first boot up the game you are asked to enter the team you support and the game awards points to your team in accordance with the quality of the performances, regardless of which team you actually play as in the game. A season lasts for a week and points are determined by the average performances of the actual fans rather than by the number of fans. Currently Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United are languishing at the bottom of the npower Championship, the second tier of English football. Oh, how the mighty do fall.

The Love of the Game

Gameplay wise, the main new addition is the implementation of what EA have called ?Tactical Defending?. Instead of pressing your opponents like in previous iterations of the game, this year you are forced just to contain the attacker. They?ve also added a standing tackle button, which can also be used to push or pull the attacker to force a mistake. This new form of defending can be somewhat of a mixed bag. It?s supposed to give the defending team the ability to ?time your tackles and maintain your position like never before?.

Maintaining your position is spot on; staying goal side on your opponent has never been easier. The issue with Tactical Defending is in timing your tackles. It?s incredibly difficult to simultaneously contain the attacker and time your standing tackle properly and more often than not the defender ends up lunging into empty space leaving a nice big hole in the middle of the back four for the attacking team to exploit. The default buttons do not feel as if they?ve been well thought out either, although they are fully customisable. Clearly it takes some time to get used to, especially since it is such a departure from the previous games. One wonders how much faith EA have in Tactical Defending seeing as how they?ve included the option to switch back to the old style dubbed ?Legacy Defending?. That being said, when everything comes together and you do get your defending right, there is a greater sense of accomplishment and that clean sheet can be very satisfying.

In terms of presentation, FIFA 12 really is a beautiful game. Understandably, players from lower profile clubs have been recreated with less detail (my beloved AFC Wimbledon is full of strangers), but high-profile players are incredibly accurate. Watching the game is tantamount to watching Match of the Day and it is surprising just how much detail has gone into some of the players, from David Luiz?s Sideshow Bob-style ?fro to Samuel Eto?o?s sticky outy ears. The new collision engine makes it even more fun to watch as player?s tackles are now so realistic. Being upended and face-planting into the turf is so satisfying that it?s actually less fun to stay on your feet. Rio Ferdinand would be appalled.

The sound effects are exactly what you would expect from stadia across the globe and the match commentary is very well done. Although it is disappointing that the British version does not include Spanish commentary. The sound of a grown man screaming ?GOL? at the top of his lungs after a two yard wonder was most gratifying. This year, the soundtrack is a bit hit-and-miss. There is some nice background music, but there?s also some strange inclusions (is that a rap track in German I?m hearing?). All in all, the overall presentation of the game cannot be faulted.

All the features that you?d expect have returned but with some tweaks. The management mode has become more detailed and realistic. It doesn?t quite have the same technicality as the dedicated management sims in the market but it?s accessible enough to hold one?s attention. The online head-to-head has undergone some changes. Now you are paired up against a team of a similar star rating, meaning you no longer need to play against an endless torrent of Barcelonas. Fans can actually play as the team they support without knowing they are going to be ripped apart by Messi and co.

The Final Whistle

So another man of the match performance from EA has produced another stellar FIFA experience. FIFA 12 delivers the thrilling highs as well as the devastating lows of real football. Any apparent drawbacks to the game can easily be overcome with some control customisation and a little bit of practice. The overall magic of the beautiful game has well and truly been captured and rest assured, it is as addictive as ever. Once again, FIFA is by far the best way to play football?without actually having to play football.

Source: http://bnbgaming.com/2011/10/10/review-fifa-12-360ps3/

annie lennox prozac scientific method udp udp atf kelly clarkson