FIFA 12 - Game impressions: A Definite Upgrade, but is it enough?

Having now spent around four months with the latest installment of the FIFA series, I feel I am well equipped to offer some views on FIFA 12. Although FIFA 11 was a good game, I had reservations about the it, and so have some of those misgivings been answered? (Please have in mind that the mode I play by far the most in football games is the Manager Mode/Master League and similar).

In short, yes. The passing is much better, and so is the movement of your AI team mates, meaning you'll have a much better chance of creating attacks through intricate, triangle passing Barcelona-style, if your players are good enough. Very rarely are passes under hit, as they so frequently were in FIFA 11, although lesser passers are not as likely to his the pass into the right place, which is basically as it should be.

The upgrade in passing and movement also means that through balls are much, much better this time around. Threading one through an established flat four defense is very difficult, but a side step, a feigned shot or a shimmy may open things up. Chipped, rolled or over the defense, all of these work well and better than before, especially if the passer's stats are good in terms of passing ability and vision, and the receiving player has pace and/or strength. Though your average passer may also be able to hit a decent through ball, the balance between good passers and not-so-good passers is immensely improved.

Shooting is also much, much better. If you player has good shooting stats, in particular in terms of power, and the ball is hit cleanly, you get the feeling that there is some oomph in the shot. Finesse shots are also fine tuned, so you can cut inside and aim one for the far corner.

The speed of players has been tweaked, fast wingers will be handy to have, but don't underestimate crossing ability. I get the feeling that early crossing is a good option if your forward(s) have good movement and heading stats.

But crossing is also one of the game's faults: Short, hard crossed can be awkward to pull off, when they are very common in hte modern game, especially with teams such as Barcelona, whose style you may think the game engine has been tweaked to emulate, or at least accommodate, in a better way. Lay-offs are even worse, almost always getting picked up by an opposing player.

The opposition keepers are also too good, in my opinion, especially on "World Class" and "Legendary" modes. Sure, I can live with getting 10 shots on target a game, the keeper saving all of them. This may just have to do with my lack of concentration or composure in a given game. But when the keepers nearly always catches, and keeps, the ball in his hands, with no possibility for rebounds, no matter how hard the shot was struck, something is not quite right. That your own keeper frequently drops balls into dangerous positions in the box doesn't make things much better.

The new defense system may seems like a good idea, and sure, on "Professional" mode (and lower, I assume) it works very well: calling on team mates to double up, while you try to shield for a possible cross, can work wonders, and get you the ball. But on harder modes, the opposition players get too tricky, even when their dribbling and technique stats are low, and your defenders have very little chance of stopping them. All too frequently, opposing players perform Messi-like runs through your defense and slots the ball into the corner. Very, very annoying, and impossible to stop.

While getting close to opposition players on the top two difficulties is neigh on impossible, sliding tackles are awful almost regardless of the difficulty, as it was in FIFA 11. I'm of the opinion that having a good tackler to perform one last ditch tackle is one of the joys of football, never mind football simulators. Sliding tackles occasionally work OK on the wings. Through the middle they don't work at all. Your player loses too much speed, and the opposing AI picks up what you're trying to pull off much too easily.

The new physicality of the game, meaning players can bump each other off the ball, or just bump into each other, isn't that much of a deal, though, it can be an annoyance when your fellow players knock one another to the ground, spoiling a potential good counter attack, or worse, sending an opponent clean through on goal. When this happens once, it can be a funny coincidence. If, and when, it happens too often, it's a bug that needs to be fixed.

Overall, though, FIFA 12 is one of the best football games I have played, right up there with Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (and possibly 5), which I still hold as my fave football simulator, especially in terms of the possibilities of what happens on the pitch and therefore the longevity of the game. I rated FIFA 12 9 out of 10 on Gamespot (by comparison, I gave PES 6 9,5). FIFA 12 is the first footy game, though, that I cannot see myself playing on the hardest modes (I played "World Class" on FIFA 11, almost always the top mode on other football games). I'm staying with "Professional", at least for now, as it seems offers just enough balance for me between challenge and gaming pleasure. Could be, though, that I'm just getting old.

In summary:

• Positives: passing and through balls; AI movement; shooting; presentation; physics; graphics.
• Negatives: keepers; difficult new defense system; tackling; lay-offs; the leap in difference between "Pro" mode and "World Class, esp. as it relates to opposing AI's abilities.

Below: a couple of videos from my second Manager Mode campaign (the first being an Arsenal campaign) that exemplify some of the joys of FIFA 12: one a chipped through ball assist, one that exemplifies good AI movement, and one a free kick goal from a difficult angle:

See more Game Videos at EA.com.

See more Game Videos at EA.com.

See more Game Videos at EA.com.

What works and doesn't work in FIFA 11

I think it's fair to say that EA's FIFA series has come in leaps and bounds since the transition to the new generation of consoles. Most but the sternest of fan (-boys) now agree that FIFA is a worthy rival to the Pro Evolution series that was once preferred by those who craved a realistic football/soccer game. One may even claim it is a better game these days.

I myself have been buying the three latest installments of FIFA (only the two latest for the PS3, mind), but have been an avid player of the Pro Evolution series since it's days on the PSX. I'd still happily name PES 5 and/or 6, along with ISS Pro Evolution 2 as the nostalgic fave, as my two favorite football/soccer simulation games (I'm not counting FM and CM here).

There are a few reasons why FIFA these days is perhaps the better game:

• player movement and physics
• ball physics in relation to the players
• the ability to edit set pieces
• excellent online and human player vs. human player modes
• more leagues and players (with the added bonus of them being licensed)

However, there are still critical aspects of FIFA that frustrates to such an extent that I can only play a few games at a time. These are such important elements for the feel and realism of the game, and they needs to be fixed if I'm to buy the next versions. This regards especially when playing against the AI:

• power and accuracy of passes and through balls: regardless of whether you play with the settings on manual, semi or assisted, too often passes are under hit, and are easily picked up by defenders, or they are played directly into an opponents feet, even when aimed and powered to pass them by. Not even when playing with esteemed playmakers such as Xavi, Fabregas and Pirlo do passes go the way you want them to, at least not often enough, which is not very realistic at all. What's the point of playing through a play maker when you, as the gamer, spot another player's run, directs and presses the button to make the through ball with your best passer only for the ball to be cut out by a defender. One of the most exciting things in footy games for me is when you are able to make the defense spilling pass, and all that is left is to beat the keeper, if your attacker is calm enough. Only when you have a clear advantage in numbers does a through ball work, and even then they are just as often cut out. This is a real shame, and undercuts the realism the game aspires for. PES still have the upper hand in respect to passing and through balls. EA claims to have a new system going that should make passing better for the next version. We'll just have to wait and see. Curiously, playing through balls worked brilliantly with the right player on FIFA 09 for the PS2. Below, a (poor quality) video of an example of how well through balls can work on Pro Evolution 11, and then one of only few exambles of a successfully hit through ball on FIFA 11.

• crosses: crosses significantly lack power
• significance of player stats: the difference between a player with, say 65 in short passing as compared with one with say, 85, is minimal at best. This could tie in to the problem with the passing system as a whole, but stats such as strength, shot power, and ball control seem to have very little significance as well. What's the point of buying better players if their stats don't improve on what you already have?
• long range shooting: needs a tweak. The ball trajectory isn't quite there, and some long range specialists should be able to get more power behind the ball than FIFA 11 seems to allow.
• tackling: yes, a player loses speed when he goes in for a sliding tackle, but not to the extent that we see here. By comparison, tackling on PES is actually fun, even when you miss.
• preferred foot: players too often use their weaker foot for passing (especially lofted passes) and shooting, even when their stronger foot seems the easiest and best way to go considering where the player is in relation to the ball, and also where you are aiming your pass/shot. At times very, very frustrating.
• player search menus in career mode: I mean, come on.

I wouldn't mind seeing some tinkering with the set pieces and the goal keepers either -- some keepers seem to be "on" all the time. I'll admit this may just have to do with the way I play the game, but thought I'd mention them anyway.

So, there are still some things to be done if any future FIFA game is to have the longevity that the PES games had for me on the previous generation. You can do it, EA!