TDZ recently took the pitch in EA Sport's latest soccer offering, FIFA 12. This is my first FIFA game since 09, which provided hours of entertainment for both Career and Be A Pro modes. Will 12 do the same?
Click on to kick it with Messi, Rooney and the gang.
Storyline - n/a
As this is not relevant, I will put double emphasis on Gameplay instead, which makes or breaks a sports game.
Gameplay - 18/20
FIFA 12 touts a new physics engine that brings the physicality of soccer to life. Just last night I was playing, and my striker collided with the goalkeeper and broke his tibia! Check out FIFA's E3 trailer for more of the new features available in the latest edition.
The new physics engine is not perfect, but it's a massive improvement over the old one, which felt rigid (TWSS) or non-existent. Tackles in previous games tended to look the same and overly clean, while in 12 you can grab shirts, bump knees, and sweep out legs. I've seen some funny glitches with the new engine on Youtube but have not encountered any myself.
The learning curve for this game seems much higher for me than past games, not just offensively but defensively with the array of collisions that can occur. Similarly, the variety of moves and ways to score are rather incredible. Just check the next video below - many of those moves were not possible in FIFA just a few years ago (or maybe I was just really bad).
Thus far, I've invested a lot of time in Career Mode. I wanted to pick a mid-level, low budget club and make it an improbable league champion, so I chose Hearts of Midlothian in the Scottish Premier League with the goal of steadily growing their talent and upsetting the two league titans, Celtic and Rangers.
There are two ways to grow a team's talent: transfers and home-grown talent (via youth academy). Both are rather well done. The transfer system is truly international, as players on transfer lists across all FIFA 12 leagues are available for acquisition. Naturally, team budgets reflect their real-life constraints, so that tends to determine your buying strategy, and your orientation to youth development. Playing as Hearts, I've endeavored to stock my youth academy with the best kiddos my scouts could find and supplement my roster by buying old vets as hired guns to round out my squad. Needless to say, I've found Career Mode quite engrossing.
I did take two points off, though. First, I was disappointed that youth players don't progress to their potential, even though that was supposedly fixed. For a team with budget limitations, that bites. Second, I took a point off for actual in-game play. The passing can be a bit frustrating as pass strength is typically lacking, and if you try to make your passes too strong, they may go to an unintended player. Defensively, the new contain function helps you stay goal-side on an attacker, but it doesn't close the gap gradually like it's supposed to. Calling a second defender for help is also a cool addition, but having the right bumper control that function is a pain in my bicycle-flipping behind when I've already committed my index finger to sprinting (right trigger) just to keep up with an attacker.
The learning curve for this game seems much higher for me than past games, not just offensively but defensively with the array of collisions that can occur. Similarly, the variety of moves and ways to score are rather incredible. Just check the next video below - many of those moves were not possible in FIFA just a few years ago (or maybe I was just really bad).
Thus far, I've invested a lot of time in Career Mode. I wanted to pick a mid-level, low budget club and make it an improbable league champion, so I chose Hearts of Midlothian in the Scottish Premier League with the goal of steadily growing their talent and upsetting the two league titans, Celtic and Rangers.
There are two ways to grow a team's talent: transfers and home-grown talent (via youth academy). Both are rather well done. The transfer system is truly international, as players on transfer lists across all FIFA 12 leagues are available for acquisition. Naturally, team budgets reflect their real-life constraints, so that tends to determine your buying strategy, and your orientation to youth development. Playing as Hearts, I've endeavored to stock my youth academy with the best kiddos my scouts could find and supplement my roster by buying old vets as hired guns to round out my squad. Needless to say, I've found Career Mode quite engrossing.
I did take two points off, though. First, I was disappointed that youth players don't progress to their potential, even though that was supposedly fixed. For a team with budget limitations, that bites. Second, I took a point off for actual in-game play. The passing can be a bit frustrating as pass strength is typically lacking, and if you try to make your passes too strong, they may go to an unintended player. Defensively, the new contain function helps you stay goal-side on an attacker, but it doesn't close the gap gradually like it's supposed to. Calling a second defender for help is also a cool addition, but having the right bumper control that function is a pain in my bicycle-flipping behind when I've already committed my index finger to sprinting (right trigger) just to keep up with an attacker.
Graphics/Visualization - 10/10
I almost can't believe what a difference three years can make. FIFA 09 wasn't a bad looking game at all, but 12 looks significantly better to me, which is impressive given I played them on the same console. The detail is impressive, especially relating to sweat, whether it's a glistening brow or swamp-ass after 90 minutes of running around on the pitch.
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| "No, Cassano! We're flying Emirates, end of discussion!" "Settle down, you know you sweat when you get flustered. We all have to live with that in the locker room." |
This section is really grading three different things: in-game sounds, commentary, and the soundtrack.
The in-game sounds are decent, but could be a bit better. Anyone who has watched an English Premier League game knows that a vocal contingent of fans is always singing during the game, so I was a bit disappointed that there weren't more chants and songs during the game (I believe there's actually a way to download some though). The normal cheering, however, is well-done and makes you feel like you really did something when you score a goal... there's no shame in turning up the volume on those occasions!
With regard to the announcing, Martin Tyler lends his dulcet tones to the play-by-play once again and is joined by Alan Smith. Smith is apparently very well-liked in England, but I honestly found Andy Gray's commentary in 09 to be more snarky and amusing. Nevertheless, the commentary fits well with the game and isn't overly repetitive like in past sports games. Most of all, I'm glad EA didn't go the domestic route and pick the wish-your-ears-were-bleeding commentary of Alexi Lalas or wannabe-Brit John Harkes. There was, however, one flub where I heard Martin say "Andy" instead of "Alan."
Edit: There are actually two pairs of announcers. The other is Clyde Tyldesley and Andy Townsend.
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| EA: thank you for outsourcing in this instance. |
The worst is this song by Digitalism called Circles, as in you will be caught in a neverending circle of playing this game. I'm not exaggerating, here are the lyrics:
Gather all the good timesIt's almost wrong to say the lyrics are subliminal, they almost blatantly come out and say "go mad and play this forever." I'm extra suspicious though because some lyrics sites wouldn't display the lyrics for copyright reasons. Cover-up?
When they chill with me behind
I didn't have enough time
For this stuff, on my mind
Oh when you're trying to rewind
You're caught up in a never-ending circle; we play it again
And again and again
Just give me more
Just the same, just the same
We play it again
Caught up in a never-ending circle
Play it again
You're friends with the madness
Gotta give it some more loving
Cause you can hear what the answers
You won't let, it begin
Oh when you're trying to rewind
You're caught up in a never-ending circle; we play it again
And again and again
Just give me more
Just the same, just the same
We play it again
Caught up in a never-ending circle
Play it again
I play it again
I play it again
I play it again and again and again
We play it again
Again and again
I just play it again and again
I play it again and again
I play it again and again
I play it again and again
I play it again and again
And again and again... x11
I play it again and again
And again and again
And again
And that's just the worst one. I swear to you, many of the other songs (example 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) are specifically in the game to lull you into a Career Mode playing daze with their slow synth beats and lyrics not worth paying attention to so that you just focus on your club and not your real life.
Despite some of these bad apples, there were some songs in the game that were new to me and I really liked. I was favorably reintroduced to The Strokes with their song Machu Picchu, which is probably the first time I had heard them since undergrad. On the opposite end, there's a song from fellow undergrad band The Hives that I found disappointing. Other good selections:
- Call It What You Want by Foster the People
- Escapee by Architecture in Helsinki
- Hold On by The Chain Gang of 1974
This review took me about 5 days to write since I preferred playing this game instead of talking about it. With the youth academy and transfer system, I've been even more obsessed with this game than I was with 09.
Overall - 9/10
This is a very solid effort, and I know I'm going to be playing it for another few months, but there's definitely some room for improvement. The good news is that none of the issues I see are overly difficult too fix, aside from EA being a notoriously evil organization bent on mind control via subliminal game soundtracks. I'm afraid that characteristic of their organization won't be purged any time soon. *frowny face*
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