Well the year has finally come to an end and over the last 12 months there has been an incredible amount of new FIFA content, announcements, feedback, articles, videos and screenshot from all over the world and in our FIFA Review of 2011 we look back at the very best bits to hit FIFA Soccer Blog.

January

2011 didn’t exactly start with a bang for FIFA news and the announced mass server closures meant some fond FIFA memories of old would be lost forever. Things quickly picked up though and straight after our Retro: FIFA 98 Review the very first FIFA 12 details were announced by Dave Rutter and the term “revolution” would end up sticking with the series all year long.

Some worrying rumours about Andy Gray also began to surface…

February

In February FIFA 11 received its post transfer window roster update as expected and we grabbed EA soundtrack regulars Hadouken for an exclusive interview. Not to be left out the FIFA Manager series also received big news as they launched the Your Feature campaign which would see many community ideas make the final release later in the year.

March

March started well as details of a new FIFA 11 patch to fix issues with Virtual Pro AI and Ultimate Team surfaced. Meanwhile we spent some time reminiscing about FIFA World Cup 2010 which as it turned out was one of our favourite FIFA games of all time.

In a bumper news month EA SPORTS also announced that they were ditching in-game manuals and the Ultimate Team Web App FIFA 11 Beta began. It was only a disappointing night for FIFA at the Gaming BAFTA’s which soured a solid month of updates.

April

FIFA on handheld devices was the hot topic at the beginning of April and rumours of FIFA 12 on the 3DS and the code named NGP were rife. The Official FIFA 12 Forums also opened for business and the revolution bandwagon gathered even more pace after a David Rutter interview with IGN.

In a minor Twitter gaff Clive Tyldesley confirmed his involvement in FIFA 12′s commentary and Andy Gray’s birth was coming under increasing pressure.

May

A dear friend Phil Wride left EA at the start of May but the words on everyone’s lips were “Impact Engine” as OXM published the first details of FIFA 12′s new collision system.

FIFA 12 was officially announced on the 3DS in May, although the fan fare was dampened slightly after we later discovered that there would be no online play as previously promised by EA.

The end of May was utterly fantatastic for FIFA 12 as the first official details on the all new gameplay elements the Impact Engine, Pro Player Intelligence, Precision Dribble and Tactical Defending all hit FSB. Screenshots and a trailer followed and Team FSB were Guildford bound for the first play test of the year.

June

June was off to a flyer as the FIFA 12 E3 Trailer hit the web and the Ultimate Edition of FIFA 12 was announced. This was followed closely by the first community reaction to FIFA 12′s  in the form of our Gameplay Impressions taken from our two day trip to EA Guildford.

E3 2011 brought the biggest wave of news in June and the announcement of the EA SPORTS Football Club topped the billing at the EA Press Conference. During E3 2011 week,  the FIWC Final also took place and Francisco Cruz was crowned champion in Los Angeles.

To cap a fine month for FIFA 12 the release date was announced as September 30th, Arabic Commentary was confirmed and we got a fantastic behind the scenes look at how the commentary duo of Alan Smith and Martin Tyler were settling in to their new partnership.

July

July was the month of Career Mode as Team FSB headed to Guildford once again to sample FIFA 12′s managerial simulation. We released a list of the new Career Mode Features as well as two impressions articles (Dave’s view / Tom’s view) on how the reinvented mode was shaping up.

The first “shaky cam” gameplay video then hit the internet followed by the “unprecedented” EA SPORTS deal with Man City which caused quite a stir at the time, although future deals with other English clubs would eventually dampen the discontent.

July was rounded off very nicely with the release of the FIFA 12 official covers graced by Rooney, Wilshere and co.

August

With the FIFA 12 release date looming EA SPORTS launched their Season Ticket service in August which would give subscribers free DLC and the much desired early access to FIFA 12.

Pint Shot Riot were the first band to be confirmed on the FIFA 12 soundtrack and we grabbed an exclusive interview with them and later All Mankind who would also grace FIFA 12′s audio.

The biggest event in August was of course Gamescom where for the first time the public would get hands on time with FIFA 12 and subsequently open gameplay footage would hit the web. Aside from watching FIFA 12 videos the Demo date was also revealed and we broke the news on the demo details thanks to an early morning German adventure for Asim.

Eclipsing all other Gamescom news though was the surprise announcement of the rebirth of FIFA Street which I don’t think any of us saw coming and the first FIFA Street trailer and details hit FSB soon after.

September

FIFA 12 release month was upon us but it was also the month of lists as we revealed the Teams, Stadia, Trophies and Gameplay Sliders which would all grace FIFA 12 in just four weeks time. Even though the release was still some way off it didn’t stop the first official review score leaking with GamesMaster awarding FIFA 12 – 94%.

New FIFA 12 screens and trailers were litterally pouring out of EAC now and as well as the hilarious US TV Advert FIFA 12 Ultimate Team and Creation Centre also went live, albeit a little later than first advertised.

Then before we could blink it was Goodbye FIFA 11 and hello FIFA 12 as the game launched first in the US and then three days later in Europe becoming the UK’s third biggest game launch of all time.

October

It was starting to get cold outside, but on FSB things were hotting up nicely as our mammoth, six part FIFA 12 Review released with us awarding FIFA 12 a more than respectable 8/10.

We also asked you all to get involved with flagging up bugs in FIFA 12 and worryingly our post amassed some 263 comments, but luckily the first patch was already on it’s way, to amend some of the glitches.

FIFA 12 was grabbing all the headlines by outselling PES 25/1 in the UK but FIFA 11 bit back in October by winning the title of Best Sports Game at the Golden Joystick Awards.

Not to be outdone by it’s bigger brothers, FIFA Street also had a good month as we brought you an exclusive Developer Interview with Sid Misra and a host of pretty new screenshots. The novel FIFA 12 Scarf World Record attempt also launched and we ran a competition to get your names amongst the footballing elite.

November

FIFA Football kicked things off in November and was announced as a PS Vita launch title as we got some new details on the handheld gameplay. We also got the first glimpse of the timed FIFA 12 exclusive on the Xperia Play and the trailer certainly raised a few eyebrows.

The feedback train was also in motion and our Career Mode: The Road To Success parts one and two were posted for the reading pleasure of Simon Humber and his team.

FIFA 12 Patch number 2 also landed in November and it was massive curing many bugs, for many modes although sadly it caused a few of it’s own too.

FIFA Street was back with a bang with the superb Mash-up Trailer and the quite incredible announcement of Lionel Messi as the the new FIFA cover star signing a multi-year deal with EA SPORTS which we then analysed meticulously.  After that we became the Messi Soccer Blog with goal competitions, screens and the Messi Cup all stealing the limelight.

December

With EA SPORTS in a festive mood the hilarious FIFA 12 Xmas Advert was released which would later propel FIFA 12 once again to the number one spot in the UK chart between Christmas and New Year.

The FIWC 2012 opened for business at the start of December with all six online qulifiers announced and PS3 FIFA players were certainly being spoilt as the $400,000 Virgin Gaming Challenge also launched, as envious Xbox 360 owners looked on.

As the middle of the month rolled round we saw the impressive FIFA Football Trailer and an exclusive Messi inspired FIFA Street pre-order bonus was revealed after some questionably titled images leaked.

With Christmas drawing ever nearer it was time for FSB to wind down with our 2011 Awards and a Community Survey from EA SPORTS allowed you to have your final say on football gaming before the year came to a close.

See you all on January 1st 2012…

Don’t worry, we won’t judge you if you scroll right to the bottom to see the final score first and then come back to the top to read the more detailed final verdicts. After you’re done hit the comments and share your own final verdict of FIFA 12.

Suffwan’s Verdict

With the launch of FIFA 12, EA have managed to push the bar tech-wise with sports video games once again. With a plethora of improvements to graphics, audio, gameplay mechanics and features combined with improvements to both offline (Career Mode) and online game modes FIFA 12 offers a much improved gaming experience when compared to it’s predecessor. However, whilst FIFA 12 manages to impress with it’s bold implementation of new gameplay features, it is hampered by the same fundamental issues that existed in previous iterations and remain unresolved.

For all it’s glory visually and mechanically, this game remains an enigma. The simple fact is that FIFA 12 allows you to play football the beautiful way with skill, precision and finesse. However, the basics of the sport that include pass, move and support are not endorsed by the almost lathargic AI that fails to support build up play and seems static. For this reason above all it has surely been the most difficult football game to ever review due to the gulf in variability within the game’s various aspects.

Take nothing away from the FIFA development team in Vancouver, FIFA 12 is the best FIFA game to date and is a joy to play! However, on a personal level I feel that the potential of this game was immense and I keep wondering “What if”!

Tom’s Verdict

FIFA 12 has shown that EA are capable of making bold moves. A lot of FIFA 11 has been ripped up and disposed of, Menus, Online systems, Career mode has seen drastic changes, as has Creation Centre, and that’s before you go into changes on the pitch. I want to see more of this bravery going forward. FIFA 12 is very much a step in the right direction in so many ways, but there is more work to be done. Those largely cosmetic changes don’t alleviate the issues with player movement and AI, which I feel haven’t really moved on from last year. That’s what frustrates me most about FIFA as a franchise, with every step forward, certain aspects get left behind, leaving them to stand out even further than they previously did.

At this point 12 months ago I was already picking holes in FIFA 11 and becoming more and more frustrated by the day, but currently I’m still very much enjoying the game overall, which excites me because there’s still so much left to explore. That said, it’s early days and there will no doubt be problems that arise and exploits that appear, but for the first time since FIFA 09 I feel confident that I could be enjoying the game right up until the next release.

Toby’s Verdict

Overall, FIFA 12 is a game which has improved a lot over FIFA 11, and represents the single biggest yearly improvement in recent years. We have a bulked up Career Mode, an entirely new online setup, and in some ways, revolutionised gameplay, but in far too many areas the game is all too recognisable. The Be a Pro side of Career Mode, and Clubs modes are almost unchanged from last year, and there are far too many problems in FIFA’s gameplay which have been there for far too long.

In that way, FIFA 12 is a contradiction. EA has bravely shown that they are completely capable and willing to make big and risky changes to their core engine, while still experiencing sales growth and great critical acclaim. At the same time, they have been unwilling to expand this revolution any further, spending a lot of time implementing the complex Player Impact Engine, barely noticeable but for the glitches, yet leaving the AI in a frankly appalling state. FIFA 12 may be the best FIFA yet, but at the end of it all I’m still mourning how much potential is still unrealised.

Dave’s Verdict

One thing EA always seem to nail with new FIFA releases is the feeling that you can never go back, and with FIFA 12 that sentiment is perhaps greater than ever before. If that was the only barometer for success, then FIFA 12 would be without doubt a 10/10 game. For me though, improving your product immeasurably year on year is simply expected and not necessarily cause for celebration.

With fundamental issues surrounding AI, inertia and variety of team styles still prominent for many FIFA gamers there’s only so far the largely successful trinity of new gameplay features could ever carry FIFA 12 on the pitch. Tactical Defending has forced FIFA in the right direction but until the intelligence is there to back-up the impressive tech, it will always fall just short of the mark.

FIFA 12 is an immensely enjoyable experience this year and it’s probably the best FIFA game I’ve ever played. My major disappointment is that I don’t believe FIFA 12 is as good as the potential many of its features possess.

Asim’s Verdict

Thanks to new gameplay features and revamped modes, FIFA 12 represents the biggest change in the series since FIFA 09. Tactical defending, precision dribbling, an improved online structure and a bolstered career mode all make the game a much more enjoyable experience than its predecessor. Yet despite all that, FIFA 12 still has some of the same old problems and a few new ones too.

Whilst you’ll get a decent game of football out of FIFA 12 (especially if you play with friends), thanks to the lack of AI, you won’t get a great one. It’s a shame really because the potential for a truly amazing representation of the beautiful game is there, hiding somewhere deep inside. EA promised a revolution, instead what we have is more of a slight evolution. Still, even with that in mind, FIFA 12 is quite possibly the best addition the series yet. If you loved FIFA 11, chances are you’ll love this too.

And the Official FIFA Soccer Blog Review score for FIFA 12 is:

8/10

* The final score is not an average of each element reviewed, additional weighting was given to more prominent game modes.

Replay Theatre – Dave

In fairness, David Rutter did admit quite early on in the release calendar that EA have done very little with Replay Theatre for FIFA 12, and whilst that may have been the correct decision in terms of resource allocation, I can only review what’s in front of me.

The good news is that the limit of saves in Replay Theatre has been upped from FIFA 11’s meagre offering to a bulging 50 saves. Sadly that’s the end of the positivity because beyond that, Replay Theatre is feature and quality identical.

The main issue is that the replays you save aren’t actually replays at all. They’re heavily compressed, poor quality, video files which can’t be re-edited after saving. Even more disappointing is that they’re limited to an astonishing 11 seconds in length, which makes capturing any kind of build-up play virtually impossible.

When you see what Activision and Bungie have done in recent times with their own versions of Replay Theatre for Halo and COD respectively, it really does emphasise just how far away FIFA’s lacklustre offering is from an acceptable benchmark. I really can’t stress enough how poor Replay Theatre is and to be frank, in its current state it’s only wasting valuable disk space.

You’re only as good as your worst feature.

4/10

Game Face -Dave

I’ll be honest; it is odd for an application which has been widely available for two years to still be in beta, but none the less that’s the current state of play with EA’s Game Face technology. Even though it’s still classed as in beta the million dollar question is, has it improved?

For FIFA 12 I decided to create my Game Face again and thankfully the photos I used last year were still stored against my EA ID. Anything which saves the uncomfortable process of capturing a gormless self-portrait gets my vote so very much a +1 to Game Face on that front.

Visually Game Face looks the same, the instructions are the same and the steps to completion are exactly the same. This could fool you in to thinking that the result would be the same, but it’s not. In fact once my FIFA 12 Game Face had been created I barely had to tweak anything, it just worked. In previous years I’ve always had to spend hours upon hours tweaking sliders, gradually making the Game Face look less and less like me as I went.

It’s pleasing to see that the development of Game Face has been solely focussed on the outcome and that’s without doubt the right strategy. The evolution of Game Face has been slow, but finally the rewards are beginning to be reaped.

7/10

Custom Audio – Tom

EA obviously have some limitations as to what can and can’t go into the game, which is why over the last few years we’ve seen so much customisation handed back to the users. Custom Audio was one of the tools provided to do that. The first outing was good, aside from some bugs which we’re assured have been fixed and haven’t experienced ourselves this year, although others reportedly have. Sadly, aside from that bug fixing, Custom Audio hasn’t been touched. The process and features remain the same as FIFA 11, and if there have been any changes to quality behind the scenes it’s not immediately noticeable.

There are still useful options missing such as preview functions for playlists from within the game so that you could test how the audio sounds against the backdrop of the crowd and make adjustments if needed.

That said I still spent the best part of an evening carefully sorting my playlists and assigning everything properly before I’d even thought about starting a Career Mode because this is an excellent feature that, used properly, can help boost the atmosphere of matches, it just needed some attention. So whilst the premise remains solid and still has the impact it did in FIFA 11, the lack of new features or innovation this year makes you wonder if EA have decided that it’s as good as it needs to be.

6/10

Edit Mode – Dave

The actual contents of the in-game edit mode in FIFA 12 haven’t really changed a great deal from FIFA 11 but with Creation Centre now picking up a lot of the slack in this department it hasn’t needed to. What’s there is good and it works well but there are two main issues hampering our creative juices.

The first is that you’re unable to edit the appearance of licensed players. I guess this is restricted by one of the many weird and wonderful license agreements but with the vast majority of FIFA’s roster still without 8-way facial capture it’s a disappointing miss. Seeing Phil Jones running around with dark brown hair rather than his expertly highlighted golden locks isn’t ideal and it should be easy for us to amend.

There is some hypocrisy in the AWOL Appearance tab though because the current settings will allow you to set Wayne Rooney as a goalkeeper, but not make Phil Jones blonde. Which is worse from a license perspective?

The other problem is that once you change aesthetic items like boots, the game treats your default squad file as “customised” and if you then wish to use these changes in Career Mode you have to waive the right to be on the leader boards. Now if I’m transferring players around I totally understand that restriction but for aesthetic changes only it’s an incredibly harsh price to pay. I’ve always said that accessory changes should be contained within their own data file rather than modifying the default, to allow you to re-apply should the default fail or corrupt. I hope EA take that feedback on board.

Beyond those issues the usual options for tweaking Team Management, Rosters and Stadiums are all present and with Creation Centre backing Edit Mode up there’s an awful lot of time you can invest in customising FIFA 12 should you wish to.

An overhaul visually is needed going forward and also a change of strategy with regards to how aesthetic changes are saved and applied but on the whole it’s fairly decent.

6/10

Creation Centre – Tom

You could almost forgive EA for the lack of attention paid to the above considering how much has been changed in Creation Centre. Almost.

The turnaround in the 12 months since it was first released is astounding, with several huge changes being made. Stand outs include being able to customise your created clubs badge and sponsor, which, when coupled with the extra kit options, allows you to create pretty much any team past or present that aren’t in the game, including your sunday league team. The ability to make use of licensed content is a great addition, as is the ability to spread your Creation Centre content further into the game than the exhibition and unranked matches that were available last year, with certain content accessible through CM.

Things haven’t changed drastically in terms of editable stats in player creation but the using the unity plugin that powers gameface to allow player faces to be designed in 3d is a big step forward, allowing more face types to be used. There are more boot and kit options for people that like that kind of thing.

New to Creation Centre is create a tournament which allows you to create a custom tournament of up to 24 teams with customisation of balls and screen overlays which can be downloaded to play in certain modes, which people have already used to recreate full leagues unavailable in game.

The app is easy to navigate and generally solid. There are a few overhanging issues with content from FIFA 11 currently unable to be deleted, but we understand a fix is incoming for that. I experienced the odd crash whilst editing the FSB team, but if you use quick save frequently enough you won’t lose anything. Another downside is that when you’re viewing teams for bookmarking, you can’t see the kits, so you’ve no idea how faithfully it’s been reproduced until you download and use them in game.

Now some of the features above need to be paid for, unless you have an EA Sports Season Ticket, but I have to admit I was shocked at how cheap the add ons are and as long as that money is put back into Creation Centre next year it’s fine by me. The key thing is that you don’t have to own the premium content packs to be able to download content that has been made with them, smart move by EA, as is breaking down the premium content in to packs, letting you pick and choose which features you want to bolt on.

The doors that Creation Centre unlocks are vast and a quick look at the figures at the time of writing shows that, over four million item downloads so far today. There are people that have used the tools for unsavoury purposes, namely creating teams for Virtual Pro boosting, but that aside Creation Centre needs to stay and needs to keep improving in the way it has.

8/10

Features Total 31/50

*This is not the final score for the game. It’s the score for this portion. The final score based on all aspects considered will be live at 3pm*

It’s no secret that FIFA has consistently improved it’s visuals year-on-year this generation. The game’s graphics, particularly in gameplay camera angles, is second to none. But as they say, there’s always room for improvement. We assess every aspect of FIFA 12′s graphics to determine how much time and effort has been put in to the beautiful game.

Pitch & Atmosphere

On first impressions the graphics from a far instantly appear enhanced compared to it’s predecessor. The improvement’s may not be drastic but they are evident and welcome. I can’t tell you how many times a family member has walked in on me playing FIFA 12 and asked “who’s playing on TV?”. The grass is greener and attention to small details like pitch side items is very welcome. The stadia in-game again look fantastic this season and this is even more evident in the newly introduced stadium such as the “Juventus Stadium”. The only criticism that can be made of this graphical aspect is the lack of 3D crowds that would really compliment the game’s brilliant graphics.

Player Models

The player models in FIFA are possibly the weakest aspect of the game’s visuals. Whilst they appear fantastic in gameplay cameras, upon closer inspection, you begin to notice the anatomical inaccuracies that include a lack of shoulder variety, inaccurate femur bone length and almost the sense that underneath that kit is a stick-man or wire frame and not a human body. The player models are definitely in need of further examination and tweaking in order to make them look more accurate.

Faces

The introduction of the 8-way camera technology to implement player faces into the FIFA series is a tech masterstroke, and FIFA 12 shows how this technology provides great results. It is instantly evident which players have had the 8-way camera treatment in FIFA 12 as their faces are scarily accurate. Other lesser known players, or those who play for clubs that have not yet been reached by the 8-way camera team, look far less convincing in comparison. But it’s looking good for the future!

Kits & Equipment

The level of detail (LOD) on the clothing and equipment in FIFA 12 is impressive. Even using the gameplay camera angles you can identify certain boot types based on the accuracy of their depiction in-game. The kits are also very well replicated, however, there are still some point that must be addressed. These include the lettering/font on the back of the shirts and how they stretch and move with various body movements, as well as the detail on various club emblems on the shirts. But again this is just nit-picking.

Lighting & Effects

This is an area where FIFA 12 flexes it’s muscle. The lighting effects in-game give you a sense of real life representation, particularly as they truly take into account a whole host of factors including time of day, weather conditions, stadium structure and geographical location. Furthermore, the visual filters and effects that are applied to the game with various camera angles truly add to the broadcast style presentation and the authetic representation of the beautiful game. Top marks here again.

Conclusion

On the visual front, FIFA 12 truly does deliver the goods. The graphics are sharp and crisp and truly give you that broadcast TV feeling. Every year the improvements seem minor at first, but when compared to the previous iteration then they are truly evident. You only have to zoom into the Official Barclay’s Premier League ball in the replay mode to truly appreciate the attention to detail. Exemplary.

9/10

*This is not the final score for the game. It’s the score for this portion. The final score based on all aspects considered will be live at 3pm*

Presentation

Ultimate Team has seen a welcome makeover in the aesthetics department for FIFA 12 and compared to its predecessor the changes made certainly enhance the experience. Where FIFA 11 Ultimate Team was dark and dingy, FIFA 12 Ultimate Team is pleasantly bright and warm, especially in the main and squad selection screens. It’s reminiscent of the original FIFA 09 Ultimate Team design and as a hark back to the birth of the mode, that dose of nostalgia works wonders to freshen the Ultimate Team landscape once again.

Sadly, some of FIFA 12 Ultimate Teams menus are blighted by EA’s odd affinity for plugging dead space with shades of grey. The most glaring example of this is without doubt the Leader-boards menu where beyond the club crests, the environment surrounding you is depressingly bland.

It’s a real shame because some of the presentation on the console and the web is outstanding, but in less prominent sub-menus the styling appears to have run out of ideas. And because there is this disparity in presentation quality, Ultimate Team does lack cohesion especially on the console.

Inconsistently brilliant is probably the best assessment I can give of FIFA 12 Ultimate Team’s presentation and styling.

Ultimate Team Web App

If you were to rate new additions to FIFA on a scale of impact, then the Ultimate Team Web App is perhaps one of the most successful we’ve seen this generation. How we ever managed to trawl the auction market without it is a mystery to me and its implementation in FIFA 12 is just as good if not better.

The biggest plus point is obviously usability, as a mouse and keyboard will easily dispatch the controller when it comes to navigation. Everything drags and drops, button presses are minimal, exploration is simple and on the whole it’s very responsive. The Web App is the Mecca for serious Ultimate Team players and the re-skin for FIFA 12 has focussed on improving the smaller details which combine for greater effect.

There are a few odd design choices though, especially within the search options. The inability to search for a manager by nationality is probably the most annoying and also the most confusing because nationality is a mainstay in the player search. It’s a small problem in the grand scheme of things but that’s why it grates so much, because it’s easy to remedy.

Another concern is the inability to move Club items to your trade pile when using the Ultimate Team Web App. You can do it on the console, so why not on the web? This means you’re always wary not to “send all items to club” when using the Web App as valuable consumables can be lost in to the abyss and only returned by taking a trip to your console.

It’s worth mentioning as well that stability hasn’t been the Web Apps strong point during the FIFA 12 release. I’m sure the issues can be filed under “teething problems” but none the less it’s not the kind of service you’d expect from EA at launch. Seeing the message “FUT Web has reached its maximum number of users” does raise eyebrows and it ever so slightly tarnishes an otherwise exemplary experience. I appreciate that capping the number of Web App users is to protect the console experience, but for a franchise and publisher so big, capacity management really shouldn’t be this much of an issue.

The FIFA 12 Ultimate Team Web App is a crippling addiction which I just can’t seem to shift and free gifts aside, there’s always a reason to return time and time, again. The Ultimate Team Web App is a shining example of how good development can enhance the overall FIFA experience beyond even the highest of expectations.

It’s still a few nips and tucks away from being brilliant, but minor gripes aside the FIFA 12 Ultimate Team Web App is a resounding success, when it’s live…

Online Modes

When it comes to competitive matches with your FIFA 12 Ultimate Team, the only place to play is online. With the only limiting factor to the type of Ultimate Team you decide to create being your own imagination, the variety that can be seen online at times is truly staggering. From league and nationality themes, to coalitions of random players and even left foot only teams, there’s rarely a dull moment in FIFA 12 Ultimate Team online matches.

There’s a real surprise element to Ultimate Team online because until you and your opponent are joined you have no idea beyond Bronze, Silver and Gold what on earth you’ll be coming up against. A swathe of black in-form cards always sends chills down the spine as the team sheets are revealed and seeing Emile Heskey leading the line perhaps even more so.

It’s a shame then that it’s the community’s innovation and dedication to team building that is inspiring the online arena because the tournament structure in Ultimate Team itself hasn’t moved on a great deal from FIFA 11. The differing entry criteria and featured tournaments maintain the interest to a certain extent but it’s the variety of your opponents which really make the mode sing. Knock-out football is the most intense form of sporting competition but as a singular strategy, I don’t feel it’s enough to carry the weight of an entire mode.

The next logical step is surely to incorporate Online Head to Head seasons in to Ultimate Team, which for me have been a real plus point from the wider FIFA 12 online space. Playing in Bronze, Silver, Gold and In-Form Ultimate Team leagues, with featured tournaments spliced in between, would have incredible community appeal and it could propel Ultimate Team to a whole new level of stardom.

Online matches in FIFA 12 Ultimate Team are fun, varied and compelling; it’s just the online modes themselves which require some innovation. Another year of the same tournament football won’t cut the mustard for FIFA 13 and personally I think Head to Head seasons could be the answer.

Single Player

If the variety of your opponents is driving success in the Online Ultimate Team arena, then sadly offline, when that element is removed, there are some serious issues. Because the auction market is online, the leader-boards are online and the Web App is online I totally get that the logical place to play FIFA 12 Ultimate Team, would be online. But if you’re going to provide a single player experience it still needs to be decent.

The single player structure is essentially a carbon copy of the online tournaments but instead you’re pitted against the AI and real life clubs. That’s not necessarily a bad thing per se, but it does show a lack of imagination about how Ultimate Team could and perhaps should stand out offline.

One major issue for me centres on game difficulty, namely the fact that it’s hard coded in to the tournament criteria. The opening Bronze tournament is set to amateur, a difficulty level I’d never consider using, but if I want to win the trophy I’m forced to grind through these matches with zero gameplay enjoyment.

The sensible thing to do would be to let us choose the game difficulty ourselves and have the tournament rewards scale based on how hard the matches are. So completing the Bronze tournament on Amateur will give you a 400 coin bonus but on World Class that might move to nearer 1000 coins. If I can’t enjoy Ultimate Team on the pitch, at a difficulty level I’m comfortable with, then there’s little or no point in me playing many of the existing offline tournaments.

Perhaps pulling in some elements from Career Mode would be an interesting experiment, mainly to try and shift the emphasis on to you as a manager, rather than a collector. Team Chemistry represents how different players gel but what it doesn’t account for is the personal aspect of whether Robinho and Messi want to play together. So maybe there’s a Player Stories angle which can be worked in to Ultimate Team offline, just to shakes things up beyond repetitively playing matches.

The single player portion of Ultimate Team does seem like a bit of an afterthought and because of that, much of the enjoyment is found online rather than offline. It needs either a drastic overhaul with some bold new ideas, or EA may as well make FIFA 13 Ultimate Team an online only mode and plough all the resource in to making it fantastic. Another half-way house next year for single player won’t be good enough.

Verdict

In most FIFA fans eyes when it comes to game modes it’s all about Career Mode and now the all new Head to Head Online seasons. Because of that, a lot of people see Ultimate Team as merely a side dish to the main FIFA course, but that’s an incredibly unfair assessment of a mode which possesses many qualities the other big modes fail to capture.

One of which being the sense of achievement that building an Ultimate Team over weeks and months and then going on to win that big online tournament gives you. The time investment can be incredibly high but that’s part of Ultimate Teams charm and the reason why the matches matter so much.

The big let-down is that the online and offline tournament structure is a touch uninspiring and worryingly identical to FIFA 11. FIFA’s gameplay will always look after itself, as will the addictiveness of the auction market, so for me the emphasis needs to pour in to the game modes if Ultimate Team is to develop and move on to the next level for FIFA 13.

Surely we can’t be that far away now, from a social life destroying Ultimate Team iPhone app either?

It would have been an 8.0 had the Ultimate Team Web App server issues been resolved promptly but because they still persist.

7.5/10

*This is not the final score for the game. It’s the score for this portion. The final score based on all aspects considered will be live at 3pm*

For FIFA 12 EA have gone to work changing up systems which have been part of FIFA for years, and adding new innovations like EA Sports Football Club – but outside of the big promises and buzzwords, how does FIFA 12′s online hold up?

Head 2 Head Seasons

Undoubtedly the largest changes that the online segment of FIFA has experienced this year are in the way that the ranked head to head games are held together. The entire matchmaking and ranking systems have gone to be replaced by a newer, smoother, simpler, and, almost inarguably better system.

This comes in two parts, first, the Head 2 Head ‘Seasons’, which is a revival of the FIFA 2010 World Cup games’ ranking system. It’s a very simplistic ranking system which works in a way very similarly (but much faster than) the real world system of national divisions, ranking players by challenging them to beat those in their division.

In terms of being able to rank players accurately it’s fairly crude, given that there are only 10 divisions, meaning that the game barely differentiates between the top player and bottom player in any particular division. Mostly though, the accuracy of ranking is something I’d trade every time for what Head 2 Head seasons grants FIFA, which is a much more exciting structure which prevents ranked head to heads from being match after match, and instead being a fight, every game, to prevent relegation or to reach promotion. There are also cups to play in which aren’t out ’til after this is published – but an extra enjoyable way to compete is always wanted.

Match Flow

Intertwined heavily with this is the new Match Flow, which replaces the old quick and custom searches. The major change is that now you choose your team, and setup your team before searching, and get put straight into a game. Cleverly, it searches to find an ideal game, trying to match you to a closely rated opponent team, in your same division, with similar did-not-finish percentages, and gives you the option for searching for a manual game.

It’s a fairly unexciting number of changes which in many ways radically change how online games work. Most importantly, I can now get fair games with lower levelled team – and the increased prominence of the manual search, at least for now, means that I can always get manual games as and when I want them, usually with fair teams.

It does have some issues, mostly in how it reacts to situations where it struggles to find a perfect opponent, something which even now happens quite frequently when searching for manual games. When this does happen, players can be matched up with people from different divisions to them, or to teams which are massively better than them. Given that the ranking system pins on the fact that you are playing against people in your division, this seems an odd decision. Take an example of someone from Division 10 who then gets matched up against someone in Division 8, is that really fair? Equally, is it fair for someone playing as Charlton Athletic to be matched up against Real Madrid?

Even when it does find a ‘perfect’ match, you may well find yourself in an unfair fixture. The system matchmakes you to a player with a team of the same star rating, but the difference between the bottom and top of any (half) star is enormous (ie, Arsenal and Barcelona), and this is already leading to people converging towards the best teams in each half star, which probably explains the sudden rise in fans of Anzhi Makhachkala.

Finally, it’s worth questioning the reasoning behind having the team management done before you search, when arguably what I want to do with my team management is dependent on the type of team I come up against. FIFA’s gameplay does lack in the tactical department, and forcing us to pick our team set up before knowing what we’re going up against simply exacerbates this.

Head 2 Head Gameplay

Of course, what happens off the pitch is not as important as what happens on it. Though the ranking system and matchmaking system contributed to the problems and frustrating of online gaming in the last few years, it was gameplay, and the way it translated online which caused the most problem. Like with the rest of FIFA 12, the most striking change is Tactical Defending. Given that online players for the last 5 years have had the press system, and high pressure ingrained into them, the removal of these ultimate crutches has caused a bit of a culture shock – and it’s common to see new players making comical and useful mistakes, and though after a while people will get used to the new way to defend, the lasting effect on the balance of FIFA online will be remarkable, and will massively improve the way FIFA feels to play in the long term. The amount of time you have on the ball to play your football is revelation, and for that EA deserve much praise.

Otherwise, changes to FIFA’s gameplay seem quite small. My biggest frustrations are almost always aimed at the AI, which are questionable defensively and offensively. The result is that far too often conceded goals feel like matters of fate rather than matters of fault – and in attack players almost have to become reliant on the player-run, and one-two triggers to get things moving forward. In some ways the most important thing for an online competitive game to do is to achieve a feeling of fairness and balance: you need to be able to feel that you deserved to win, and understand what you did wrong when you lose, and frankly, I don’t find that much in FIFA 12.

Whether it’s a case where your goalkeeper inexplicably spills the ball straight back to an attacker, or you tackle someone only for the ball to ricochet perfectly back into his, or his teammates control, or you get taken out in the penalty area without a penalty or taken out from behind when one-on-one without the opponent getting a red, or when you perfectly position your player to header only for the game to swap you to a less well positioned player: it’s a constant list of things which are guaranteed to have you raging against the game – and they are things which happen far, far too often, and far too randomly.

The football is still startlingly end-to-end, the most successful attacks often coming off of perfectly placed clearances – midfield play is as difficult to find in FIFA 12 as ever. Add to that the fact that gameplay is still very much dominated by assisted controls, which are still too accurate, and thus very exploitable – and this will put a lot of players between a rock and a hard place. FIFA 12 has made playing manually online easier than ever thanks to the more prominent filter, but for everyone else it’s very difficult to be successful playing anywhere in between the inaccessible, and somewhat flawed full manual scheme, and the overpowered, unrealistic, and exploitable mostly assisted ‘ideal’ setup.

And, as we’ve come onto the subject of exploits, I will take this opportunity to state in no uncertain terms that the ‘Goalkeeper’ exploit where users take control of the keeper, and leave the CPU to do all the defending for them is an utter farce which absolutely must be fixed. I am amazed that after all the criticism of how overpowering human goalkeepers are in Clubs, EA actually opened the door to this being used on ranked multiplayer. It seems that they will be able to fix this, hopefully it will be so sooner rather than later.

Almost purely because of tactical defending, FIFA 12’s gameplay online is the most enjoyable in a long time: where I barely played FIFA 11’s online due to utter frustration, I have enjoyed a lot of my time on FIFA 12 online so far and plan to play a lot more, but it could be so, so much better.

Online Friendlies

Head 2 Head Seasons is not the only area of considerable change, because EA have also changed up the way that online friendlies work. The system works sort of like the head 2 head seasons, except that you have a ‘season’ running against each friend. This gives a level of continuity between friendly matches, and will undoubtedly add that extra excitement in matches between friends.

FIFA 12 Clubs

While it’s all change with the Head 2 Head Seasons, Online Friendlies, and the Match Flow, it’s all the same when it comes to Clubs. Unfortunately, it has to be said that Clubs in FIFA 11 was simply not a mode which could be released again unchanged, and the result will be that Clubs will denigrate to the same mess that it has for the last few years, but this time around it will happen even faster.

I will not use this opportunity to go over the problems with Clubs, as I quite recently wrote about them in a Xaor’s Corner post. Unfortunately, the issues talked about there recur almost in their entirety. It has to be said that so far it seems the servers are holding up considerably better than they did in FIFA 11 launch, but that really is a bare minimum. Worst of all, it seems that the 100% VP hack which only appeared in the last few months of FIFA 11’s lifespan, has already been replicated in FIFA 12. Even for those not willing to go as far as explicit hacking, boosting your VP is easier than ever thanks to the gameplay sliders making even the hardest accomplishments extremely easy.

All of this put together probably means one thing: those who still tolerated Clubs last year will probably continue doing so, albeit with even more gritted teeth, but those who couldn’t tolerate it last year certainly won’t be able to this year – a dreadful disappointment for FIFA’s cleverest, most unique, and most potentially brilliant feature.

EA Sports Football Club

Lastly, FIFA 12 features a number of new concepts housed under EASFC. This allows you to connect better to your friends – getting updates for everything they do, get rewarded for playing FIFA 12 through experience points, challenge yourself with dynamic scenarios, and contribute your supported team’s league position. As you play, you gain experience and this contributes to your level, but so far I can’t see any reason to care about my level.

It’s certainly a well implemented feature, both smooth and stylish, but frankly I fail to see why so much effort has been focused on it. While it’s occasionally nice to know that a friend has won a game in X mode by Y score, I certainly don’t need to be informed that a friend has uploaded a video (especially given that I can’t watch the video from the game).

Then there is the Support Your Club feature, a virtual football league based on how much (on average) a fan of each particular team plays FIFA. This is at best an interesting statistic, but I can’t realistically imagine anyone caring a huge amount about how their team does in this league. After all, your contribution is capped so heavily that unless you support a club with very few other followers, you won’t be able to make a jot of difference – and even if you could, is having the ‘Most FIFA addicted’ Club really anything to get excited about? I can see as many reasons to hope that my team would do badly as well!

Finally, the challenges feature allows you to play a scenario which EA has set (they roll over every few days) which allows you to try to recreate a real world result, starting at a particular point in the match at a particular score. I cannot know what type of scenarios there will be in the future, but so far almost all of them have been: “You are X goals down with Y minutes to go – go  win”. I hope that in future the challenges will become a little more varied – perhaps having us hold on to a lead, giant killing, or surviving with 10 men. Even so, it will only ever be a small nice idea in the EASFC package of small nice ideas – and that begs the question: was it worth the hype, or the time?

Verdict

FIFA 12′s online is a bit hit and miss. On the one hand, the new structure for head 2 head ranked games is a superb success, not that this is a particular surprise given that the system had already been tried in FIFA 2010 World Cup – and the new matchmaking system is a triumph for manual users and small team supporters. On the other, we have a whole host of modes which have experienced almost no change at all: Leagues, Online Team Play, Pro Ranked Matches and most importantly Virtual Pro Clubs, which will no doubt be a huge disappointment to many. EA’s big new innovation this year, EA Sports Football Club, fails to prove its worth as something which will revolutionise the way we play FIFA. Crucially, the gameplay online feels very different to how it did in FIFA 11 thanks to the changes to defending, but outside of this the old cracks are appearing thick and fast.

7.5/10

*This is not the final score for the game. It’s the score for this portion. The final score based on all aspects considered will be live at 3pm*

Offering 15 seasons to grow your virtual pro and sculpt your perfect team either starting with a whopping budget or taking a team of minnows from the lower leagues to top flight and European glory. In previous years it’s been heavily criticised for being both lightweight and buggy, which is fair, but this year there’s a new designer in the driving seat.

In the interest of disclosure, the below is purely my experience in taking control of Arsenal, including my Virtual Pro, for the first season of Career Mode. The others are covering gameplay etc, so this is based on my experiences off the pitch.

User Interface

The UI isn’t a massive overhaul from what you’ll be used to in FIFA 11, however the changes that have been made are extremely welcome. You no longer need to sit in the calendar and watch the days tick by as it’s now presented across the top of the screen as a ticker of sorts. This means that you have near constant visibility of the news pane, which shows news from around your career mode, ranging from players talking to the press about being unsettled to other managers complaining about injustice in previous matches. A personal favourite was a Martin Jol rant about the importance of goal line technology after conceding a goal that wasn’t.

The posts are varied and although they might tire after a few seasons there’s certainly plenty in here. As well as news you’ll also have players recommended and get to see players that are unhappy elsewhere which can change the way you approach the transfer window. The key thing about the news this year is that it’s not just superficial, it’s also a way for you to find out more about your club, i’ll touch on that more in player stories. My only criticism of the news posts is that although it cycles through them whilst the days are simulating, you don’t have any control. When the simulation engine isn’t running, you have full control of the news pane. The time this control would be most useful is whilst simming days, as there isn’t anything else you can do, which makes it a great opportunity to catch up on what’s happening.

Another new feature on to the ticker is the talk to press option. For the few days prior to a match, you have the opportunity to interrupt the sim cycle and chat to the press about the upcoming game. It’s then up to you whether you choose to slag off the opposing team or praise their manager amongst other things. Depending on your choice you’ll see a news post regarding the remarks you made and occasionally it’ll pop up in the commentary. Alan Smith was a little miffed that I’d been less than pleasant about Harry Redknapp before the derby, whereas I was upset I wasn’t given a choice of colourful language to use. We’ve been told that your choices and comments have an actual impact in game, but I can’t say I saw any evidence of this happening.

The email system hasn’t changed, but there is a little more going on now. From suggesting prospects that aren’t getting enough first team action be sent on loan, to providing you with your scout reports, it’s rare more than a few days will pass without receiving a notice that needs actioning. This does sadly break things up a bit and we’ve discussed before the idea of an “admin day” where once a week you spend some time sorting out loose ends, catching up with your scouts and making squad changes as needed before heading in to that weeks match. I personally would prefer that to having the events pop up as and when and it would speed up the process of simming during the week.

Player Stories

Another new addition that ties in to the above are player stories. Again there’s plenty of variety, and the player stories will spread from the newspapers to pop ups to make you fully aware of the situation. You’ll get players complaining about not getting enough time on the pitch, asking outright to be transfer listed, requesting a rest and more. The best example I’ve had in the final game (you can read another one here) was with Alex Song. Around November stories started to surface in the paper that he was unhappy at the club. I proactively checked the squad report screen and it showed him to be happy, so assuming it was a bug I moved on.

About a week later I was approached by Song (through an on screen pop up) and he told me that he was in fact feeling out of sorts and was unsure of his future. He did however, reassure me that he would continue to give 100% for the club and his teammates until he had sorted his head out. Returning to the squad report screen I found his status had changed to unhappy. Throughout December he continued in the starting 11 and occasionally reassured me that he would decide on his future soon, but before he got the chance the board stepped in and told me that he would be sold for the greater good of the squad, rather than have an unhappy player around lowering the moral. I took this as a prompt to list him, which I did, but as the transfer window ticked by, having received no offers, I received an email saying he’d been sold to Man City, for slightly less than his market value, without any involvement from me, and that I needed to start looking for a replacement.

The whole process was not only interesting, but also interactive, and made a huge difference to my transfer window activity as one of my starting 11, who I had no intention of losing, was prised away from me and there was nothing I could do apart from rethink my squad and make some moves in the market.

Injuries

Another sore topic for hardcore CM players has been injuries, with in game injuries being as elusive as bigfoot or the loch ness monster. In the season I played, I didn’t experience any on field injuries, but (and it’s a big but) I did experience them in the preview code we played, and have also had them in Ultimate Team, so whilst they clearly aren’t as frequent as people would like, they are there. Somewhere. I did however pick up a lot of training injuries and injuries during simmed matches, ranging from pulled muscles to broken bones with varying periods of rehabilitation. I felt that most of the injury periods were short, frequently being less than a week and with the longest being just 6 weeks.

The ability to view other clubs injury lists properly (clubs within your league anyway) is a nice touch and players returning from injury will warn of being not 100% if dropped back into the first team straight away, I tried pushing my recently injured players to their limits, but sadly didn’t get anyone aggravate an existing problem.

Squad Report

Squad Report is the  central screen for viewing your players progress and attributes, as well as their playing stats, mindset, form and growth. There’s a lot going on in here, with colour coding to help you make sense of everything. It’s a great touch to have everything visible all in one place, and it’s definately a screen to keep an eye on as you’ll find players that are unhappy either with the management or not getting enough game time, that aren’t vocal about it through player stories.

Fatigue

Although I did experience player stories relating to fatigue and dutifully rested the player that requested a match off, who was very grateful, I didn’t feel like on pitch performance was suffering in such a way that action needed to be taken. I also didn’t feel like players who weren’t 100% were any more or less prone to injury than players that were fully fit. I was able to play a large portion of my season without too much in the way of rotation, apart from injuries and suspensions. Definately more work to be done here.

Scouting

Another area that’s had a decent amount of work put in and it shows. Scouting is now both interesting and quite challenging. Whilst setting up the network is straightforward, the choices of which players to bring into your youth squad becomes extremely tough as the list of scouted players grows. As you scout players month by month, you gain a better view of their current and predicted Ovr, as well as a detailed view of their attributes. The more you scout them, the more you get to see and the gap on their rating tightens. As an example, I scouted a 16 year Spanish prodigy called Juan Pablo. My first view of him was an Ovr of 42-54 with a maximum potential of between 67 – 89. After scouting him for a further month, the gap tightened to 69-87 and then 70 – 84, at which point I decided to bring him into the youth squad.

If you leave your youth players unattended for too long they’ll get grand ideas and threaten to leave, at which point you’ll need to check their profile and decide whether you want to offer them a first team contract or not. The youngest scouted player I was presented with was 14, which is too young to sign into the main squad, so if you find a young gem, you’ll have to watch their progress closely in the youth squad until they hit 16.

Contract Negotiations

In honesty these haven’t changed but the new UI does present different ways for rejection. Rosicky decided not to accept my offer, which I heard about in the papers before I received the rejection email. A small touch but nice nonetheless.

Transfers

Transfers now take a two tiered approach as we’ve mentioned in previews, with fees needing to be agreed with clubs before negotiations with players can begin. The two windows I played through were very busy, both for me and other clubs in the premiership. I was constantly batting away offers for unlisted players and received a fair amount of interest for listed ones.

Generally the sums were believable as were the types of clubs approaching my players. In the first window Man Utd sold three players to Tottenham which is unrealistic, but in the same breath, Tottenham had sold Modric for a whopping £40M, so they had funds at their disposal.

Transfer deadline day is a massive change to the way the the transfer window closes, and is an excellent addition. Being able to see the final hours play out in “real time” adds a much needed touch of tension and drama to the proceedings, especially when you’re trying to close a deal, and even if you’re not, there’s plenty to see with all of the news being dedicated to player movements and availability and the interface changing to present a list of the biggest transfers of the window so far.

Player Growth

Player growth appears to finally work well and can be easily monitored through the squad report screen. Over the course of the season I saw Jack Wilshere, being both young and a first team regular, grow from an 82 Ovr to a  85. In contrast Aaron Ramsey, similar age but who had pictured in the first team slightly less than Jack Wilshere, mostly playing from the bench, grew from a 77 to a 78.  Whilst there was no growth on short term loans, players did experience growth on season long loans with all 6 of the players I had out on season long loans growing by 1-2 Ovr.

Commentary

There has previously been a bit of a disconnect between what’s happening behind the scenes in your CM and what happens on the pitch, but to help bridge that gap, the commentators will now react to certain events off the field during the course of the game. From comments you’ve made through talk to the press to transfers, you’ll occasionally pick up on lines specifically relevant to something you’ve been involved in behind the scenes. It’s a great touch and bundled in with the other changes does a lot to help that feeling of being in your own experience.

Bugs

Always a sticking point for CM players, given that in recent years there have been a variety of bugs and niggles that can end up ruining hours and hours of work, leaving no option but to start again or retreat to a backup save if you have one.

The bugs I experienced myself were firstly some issues with the news, mostly duplications of news stories on the same window, hardly gamebreaking, but slightly annoying.

There is also a problem with the times that matches are being played and the time of day that’s used. I frequently played night matches in the sunshine which is a real immersion killer. Evening cup games should look and feel the part and it sounds like a minor detail but it’s really not. Worse still, the option to edit the weather pre game isn’t there, so you can’t even correct it. Once I hit the european games in the second season they were played at dusk, which is close, but not close enough.

More concerning was an issue with a player being bought by two clubs. I bought Coentrao from Real Madrid for £20M and went through the process of agreeing and accepting terms with the player, but in the same set of emails that I received signing confirmation, I was notified that he’d signed for AC Milan. I finished TDD and checked my squad, no player, then checked my budget to see that the funds had gone, so I was left without the player I’d targeted and no funds left to look for another suitable player in the next window.

Upon further investigation it’s a problem that was there in FIFA 11 and possibly even earlier, so it’s extremely disheartening that it can still happen.

As time rolls on, there will no doubt be more bugs that surface, but those were the only ones to come to light in the first season for me.

Verdict

For the first time this generation, I have been 100% fully engrossed in CM. There have been some huge steps made and whilst some issues remain and some new ones appear, overall it’s the most fun I’ve had with the mode. There is plenty to see and do off the pitch and if you’re anything like me you’ll sometimes just sit there for ten minutes reading the news in the alternative football universe that’s being crafted around you. It’s not perfect, there are still omissions and changes that can be made, but I honestly believe that even that harshest CM critic from recent years will find something they really like here. The only thing that can spoil this for me now is more bugs popping up as I head into the second season.

7/10

*This is not the final score for the game. It’s the score for this portion. The final score based on all aspects considered will be live at 3pm*

At a time when ethics, morals and financial regulations in football are under heavy scrutiny, the beautiful game has never looked so ugly. But no matter how tainted the reputation of the sport has become in recent years, our love and passion towards it remains unconditional. It is for this reason above all the last decade has seen football video game sales continually set new sales records on a yearly basis and it’s is no secret that the FIFA franchise has led the way in this respect.

But what is it that makes a football video game successful? Is it based on gameplay? Controls? Visuals? Atmosphere? Licenses? Or is it simply a harmony of all the above? The general consensus amongst sports gamers is that “gameplay is fundamental”. It is the heart and essence of any video game and the other aspects can only shine if the gameplay is at a high enough level. In a recent survey, 83% or people voted gameplay as the most important aspect to any video game. Poor gameplay mechanics can severely attenuate any graphical or technical prowess a game might demonstrate. I put forward this question recently and received a whole host of answers, but one stood out above all the rest. Iain Mair (via Twitter) put it best when he said gameplay is fundamental because it is “immersion, losing yourself in a game of football, blissfully unaware you are holding a controller in your hands”. So does FIFA 12 adopt this philosophy that gameplay is fundamental?

Player Impact Engine

This year the saw the introduction of the “Holy Trinity” of gameplay features, that includes the Player Impact Engine (PIE), Tactical Defending (TD) and Precision Dribbling (PD). The Player Impact Engine (PIE) was developed to add authenticity on a visual front, by implementing an advanced procedural animation system in combination with collision physics to produce different results depending on the players and physical forces involved. This is a feature that other games in the genre have had for some time now. It is instantly evident from the onset that collisions in this year’s game are far more varied; with collisions now appearing to look great in many situations. This impact engine also has the added benefit of facilitating better determination or player injuries as it takes into account body impact locations and determines how significant they would be in injuring a player. However, the realism and outcomes purported are not as well executed as other game titles. There are often situations where players collide with pace and momentum and the collisions appear light or alternatively too heavy (as evident from many YouTube videos). However, as we saw with the physical play and jostling engine in FIFA 10, it requires some time to refine and tweak which was evident in the following year’s release.

Tactical Defending

Historically defending has often been seen as the tedious aspect of football gaming, with players traditionally holding press and timing a tackle to obtain possession of the ball, or alternatively waiting for an interception. Over time the art of defending has been lost, with players that are more defensively astute not being able to gain any advantage from their skill in this aspect of the game. The introduction of Tactical Defending (TD) was necessary to provide the defensive minded players with some reprieve and to reinstate the complexities of the defensive aspects of the beautiful game. The new system is instantly obvious as you are afforded less tracking aid, with timing of the tackle and defensive positioning now playing a much more significant role. Defending now requires thought, precision, timing and anticipation.

Principally, TD will change the way we all think and play FIFA. Conversely, this system may increase the gulf between the good and average players due to steep learning curve involved in adjusting to the new system. This is more significant as TD is locked for online game modes. On a technical level, TD does not take into account that defending is at it’s essence a “duel” between two players (or if you’re Maradona or Messi three plus players), where the attacking player must decide on the most effective way to beat the man standing in his way and the defender must assess the best opportunity for him to retain possession of the ball. The TD system provides the defending player with too much movement freedom which makes it very easy for attackers to skip past players who are less technically able. The system could have benefited from the implementation of a one-on-one lock with a limited degree of movement freedom. This addition would be reflective of the mental lock (challenge) any player is subjected to in the real sport and better portray the time taken to react and make a decision on how to beat a defender whilst reducing the impact this would have on the flow of the game. Alternatively, by reducing the degrees of freedom afforded to player movement when jockeying or defending, the defensive system may become less frustrating for new or less able players who constantly find themselves being left for dead by attacking players. TD will remain a necessary evil this season, that hopefully with some tweaks in subsequent years will change the way we all play football games.

Precision Dribbling

Last year’s offering introduced true 360 dribbling, thus facilitating the process of tight ball control in confined spaces. However, it is well documented that FIFA had the tendency to frustrate the hardcore fans as they were unable to hold onto the ball with the most technically gifted footballers. This is a feature that the competition’s title has provided for over a decade. Precision Dribbling (PD) aims to build on 360 dribbling by further enhancing the ability of the player to dribble using close control whilst shielding, meaning you can still move around the pitch whilst holding players off. The results of this feature are evident instantly for more cultured players and given time and practice, even more casual players will begin to reap the benefits of PD. Gone are the days of Terry and Pique stepping in and collecting the ball from you as if it was their birth right. You now have the ability to hold them off whilst maintaining your dribbling prowess by taking smaller finer touches on the ball in an effort to hold up play for support. This offers the player much more time on the ball and combined with the new limitations of Tactical Defending in not allowing better defenders to always step in and win possession, build up play is now a more frequent occurrence in contrast to days of the past when play was usually much more direct.

Pro Player Intelligence

An essential feature of any simulation is it’s ability to mimic real life situations and behaviour. The incorporation of Pro Player Intelligence (PPI) according to EA Sports has “infused CPU players with self-awareness and aptitude”. The claim being that teams and players are now more akin to their real life counterparts in intelligence and ability, which in turn is reflected on screen. When playing against the AI, there are subtle differences in the approaches that various opponents take in their attacking play. Furthermore, this is also seen in individual performances where a Xabi Alonso will utilise his Vision and passing ability more often than not. Conversely, the frequency at which these events happen is not as regular as one would hope for.

A limiting factor that must be taken into consideration is how effective is PPI when a human is playing due to vision restrictions introduced by camera angles etc. You’re not going to spot a 60 yard darting run from your left-back if he isn’t on-screen (Default Camera) and you typically don’t refer to the map that often, but if you are playing in the Be A Pro camera angle then the chances of you seeing that same opportunity are enhanced. How this feature will influence the game for Manual players isn’t clear at the time of going to print, but one would suspect that PPI involvement in manual passing would void the “manual” moniker.  But on the other hand if manual was truly manual then that would nullify the advantage of having more technically able footballers. PPI is a welcome and needed addition to the list of FIFA 12 features, one that will occasionally make you truly believe you are playing with or against certain individual footballers or collective teams.

Shooting and Passing

In short and simple terms, ball physics in FIFA 12 are superb. The impact this has on the overall gameplay feel is very evident in the fact that the ball truly does behave like it would in real life. Shooting in FIFA 12 is truly a joy and we finally have “Daisy Cutters”. Shooting feels refined in all its varieties (Power shots, finesse shots or volleys), and the trajectory and movements of the ball much more true to life. People are going to love hitting long range efforts with known sharp shooters. Passing is fundamental to any football game, as its the essence of the sport as the maestro’s from Catalunya have demonstrated over the last half decade. So how does it feel in FIFA 12. Passing is evidently upgraded in FIFA 12 as a result of more realistic ball physics. Long range passing is improved with better ball trajectories, whilst on the ground passes feel like they have more weight and zip behind them.

Artificial Intelligence

The artificial intelligence (AI) is possibly the most crucial element of any sports game as it controls the decisions made on the pitch that impact the game as a whole. The artificial intelligence in FIFA has seen some steady upgrades over the last few years with the implementation of features such as PPI that aim to enhance the realism of on the pitch events. This AI is however inconsistent at best, with elements such as Goalkeepers being superbly implemented, whilst others including off-the-ball movement requiring a serious overhaul. This season the the higher CPU controlled difficulty levels (World Class and Legendary) are far more challenging in comparison to previous years in order to increase the longevity of the game. The implementation of PPI is also evident under certain circumstances which further supports the argument that the AI has been improved in comparison to last season’s title.

Unfortunately FIFA suffers from an AI flaw that has become more evident with every passing season over the last three years. Although efforts have been made to improve this aspect of the gameplay, it seems that it has been forgotten or ignored in favour of more glamorous technological additions that will enhance the visuals and or atmosphere around the game. AI movement has long been given too little attention and the cracks are beginning to show. FIFA 12 is the most advanced football simulation to date, with a plethora of AI features that aim to mimic the real sport. The problem is that these AI advances can’t shine unless the basic AI is at a particular standard. As it currently stands this level has not been met and it seems that player movement of-the-ball (controlled by the AI) has not been addressed with enough focus for far too long.

There are too many occasions when playing FIFA 12 that a fan can become frustrated with lack of attacking options from attacking players. This applies to forwards/strikers making diagonal or curved runs, wingers and fullbacks making incisive runs down the wings, or midfield players coming to provide support to forwards or to provide alternative options in the box. What you are left with is an underwhelming feeling of “Static-ness” in a game that shines on a technical front. This should not be the case. Features such as PD, that are utilised predominantly in order to buy time until support arrives are deemed useless if the movement of the AI controlled players on your team is too limited/static. Furthermore, the effectiveness of a significant AI feature like PPI is also of less benefit or less likely to be obvious if the movement of your teammates is relatively muted. It is imperative that this particular aspect of the AI be examined with immense focus and resources in order to provide a much more complete product next season that will further showcase features that were introduced this year. If not then any further AI advancements will continue to be subdued by the lack of intelligence in player movement.

Many may argue that in an industry that is continually moving towards online modes and team play, the role of CPU controlled players will become less and less significant with time. In an effort to counter the above argument many could explain how 11 v 11 online team play can eradicate the shortcomings of the AI player movement. However, video games will always heavily depend on AI even in fully human 11 v 11 matches, thus it is imperative that AI is continually improved in order to enhance the gameplay experience for both offline and online play. Ideally we would all love to see forwards making darting runs, strikers making curved runs to stay onside, and players intelligently moving into positions of space in order to provide options for their teammates. This was once a dream for football gamers, but the competitor’s game has managed to replicate this aspect of the sport with stunning results. The ball is now in EA’s court.

Sliders

The human species has been blessed with the ability to think for itself, thus we are able to make decisions based on our preferences. In order to cater for this FIFA 12 now comes with sliders that control the frequency/speed of various aspects of gameplay. These can be moved in order to tailor your gameplay experience as you prefer. A welcome addition to the game, these will be tweaked by the millions and various clubs and communities may begin to publish their preferred settings.

Conclusion

At the top of this gameplay review I asked the question does FIFA 12’s gameplay instill a sense of immersion, where you find yourself lost in the game and anticipating every frame caught by the retina of your eyes? There are times when FIFA 12 appears to be the closest thing any game has come to replicating a sport or any real-life event for that matter. The combination of fantastic ball physics, deep gameplay features that aim to enhance the player’s experience and advanced AI processes that aim to replicate the variety in football styles and attributes makes it shine in many aspects.

Unfortunately there still remains a disconnect between the human player and the game, amplified by the fact that in pursuing a perfect simulation the series has lost some of it’s fun factor. This is something that FIFA 09 had in abundance. Furthermore, the lack of AI intelligence, variety and unpredictability especially with regards to player movement allows the user to quickly become disengaged from the game and will ultimately push people towards online game modes that require less AI dependency or involvement and more human involvement and decision making. So whilst FIFA 12 excels at the complex features, it ultimately stutters at the basic fundamentals. But by going back to basics and addressing the fundamentals of gameplay for next season’s release, next year’s offering could be a much more complete package.

7.5/10

*This is not the final score for the game. It’s the score for this portion. The final score based on all aspects considered will be live at 3pm*

We’re pleased to inform you that the FIFA Soccer Blog FIFA 12 Review will launch on October 7th (Friday) a full week after the UK release date and here’s why…

• We want this to be your FIFA 12 review as much as our own. Waiting a week enables all of you to hammer the game meaning you can contribute your own feedback in the comments once we release, creating the definitive FIFA 12 community review.
• FIFA 12 is a massive game, too much for one man to do justice so this year we’ve decided to break the game down in to its component parts, reviewing and scoring them individually, this simply takes more time.
• We wanted to base our FIFA 12 review on the same  retail code that you guys would be playing and to properly access each game mode, over a weeks solid play is a bare minimum.
• We wanted to be able to asses any bugs/glitches that made it in to FIFA 12 retail code, as they will obviously have a huge bearing on how we score it.

Hopefully those reasons are good enough for you guys and we appreciate this is a different strategy to the norm, but it’s one we feel necessary to provide the right type of feedback to EA. Here’e Friday’s schedule:

9:00am – FIFA 12 Gameplay Review – Suffwan

10:00am – FIFA 12 Career Mode Review – Tom

11:00am – FIFA 12 Online Modes Review – Toby

12:00pm – FIFA 12 Ultimate Team Review – Dave

01:00pm – FIFA 12 Features Review (Creation Centre, Replay Theatre, Custom Audio, Edit Mode) – Dave/Tom

02:00pm - FIFA 12 Review Verdict – All

Our final FIFA 12 score will take an average of all the marks awarded in each mode review so it will be (we think) the only review that reflects FIFA 12 as a whole package and not just it’s top level successes. So begin to prepare your own thoughts gentlemen because on Friday FSB needs you to contribute to our FIFA 12 review!

Oh and I’ve crudely hidden some Kitana Media references in the post image, can you find FSB?

We’ll update this post as and when more FIFA 12 Reviews come online and as for the FIFA Soccer Blog FIFA 12 Review, all will be revealed very soon.

IGN: FIFA 12 Review – 9.5/10

“The beautiful game, just got a bit more beautiful”

CVG: FIFA 12 Review – 9.3/10

“FIFA has more character, depth and tactical weight than ever before, and with the new physics engine and tackling system comes promise for the future.”

OXM: FIFA 12 Review – 9/10

“A goal machine of a game and a compulsive purchase that not even Arsene Wenger could resist.”

Videogamer: FIFA 12 Review – 9/10

”The King is dead. Long live the King: FIFA 12.”

Eurogamer: FIFA 12 Review – 9/10

“It’s another step closer to reality, and this time it’s a very welcome one.”

IncGamers: FIFA 12 Review – 9/10

“If you’re looking for a realistic, thoughtful and exhaustive recreation of the beautiful game thenFifa 12 is the best option you’ve ever had.”

Mirror Football: FIFA 12 Review – 5/5

“FIFA 12 isn’t quite a whole new ball-game, but it is the most beautiful take on the beautiful game yet.”

More to follow…