By Dylan Moran
A good friend once told me his theory ‘football is the denial of pleasure’. FIFA 12 is not that denial.
EA has completely changed the game from physics to presentation to AI and it has immediately paid off.
I cannot put this any simpler: long-time FIFA players, you’re going to be learning from scratch.
The big three new features in FIFA all serve to make it a completely new title on last year’s release, and that’s not just trying to pump it up. It’s difficult to learn and master, but once you do the payoffs are incredible.
Firstly, the new physics engine has completely revolutionised the way the game looks and plays. Remember the FIFA of old where players would trip over one another with the same wooden animations?
Now it’s a lot more natural. Collisions play out a lot more like they should. There’s still the occasional weird roll or flop but overall it’s a marked improvement on previous years.
Next there’s ‘precision dribbling’. Precision dribbling is the logical next step in the evolution of ball control. It’s one of those features you’ll use very sparingly to start with but as you get better you’ll start to rely heavily on it as it helps you create a bit of space from the opposition.
The final, and biggest change, is to defence. In previous years the defensive line simply operated on a ‘throw defenders at the guy with the ball til he loses it’ mentality.
This year, there’s a massive emphasis on pressure and containment. If you go for a tackle and stuff up, you leave yourself totally exposed.
If the steep learning curve is the payoff for reliving my memories with the Waiopehu College 1st XI, it’s worth it.
FIFA is always one of the best sports game titles and this year’s iteration is completely the best to date.
Four stars.
3 News
FIFA 12
:: Publisher: EA Sports
:: Developer: EA Canada
:: Format: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii PSP, PlayStation 2
:: Rating: G