Come Play With These Balls

Gameplay - 9/10

Storyline - 5/10

Graphics - 9/10

Game Score : 23/30

Yaay; It's Friday, Friday, play a new game on Friday. Welcome to another game review blog here on Zalgo Cometh, today were having fun with FIFA 12. FIFA 12 is the nineteenth game in Electronic Arts' FIFA series of soccer video games. It was developed by EA Canada, and published by Electronic Arts worldwide under the EA Sports label. David Rutter, the line producer for FIFA 12, promised "a revolutionary year for FIFA ... especially in the gameplay department. Along with several other new EA Sports titles, FIFA 12 was available three days early to purchasers of the EA Sports Season Ticket. FIFA 12 sports several new features and improvements over its predecessors.

So here we have EA Sports newest addition to the world of sports gaming and I for one must commend them on this game. It really changes how I look on the sports game genre. As you can see from the trailer there are many new improvements and tweaks to this game that promise to deliver a new and exciting twist to the world of FIFA. A "trinity" of major gameplay changes have been implemented in FIFA 12; these are the Impact Engine, Tactical Defending, and Precision Dribbling: 

1. In development for several years, the Impact Engine improves collision variety, accuracy, and momentum preservation. A new advanced procedural animation system is used along with collision physics to produce different results depending on the players and physical forces involved.
2. The new Tactical Defending system aims to change the approach to defending by placing equal importance on positioning, intercepting passes and tackling. When defending there will be more of an emphasis on slowing attackers down and containing them, and pressuring them into making mistakes.
3. The Precision Dribbling feature allows players to dribble whilst shielding, meaning you can still move around the pitch whilst holding players off, rather than being rooted to the spot. Close control has been added below jogging as a way of allowing players to take smaller, more frequent touches, keeping the ball closer and keeping tighter control.

With those new improvements explained we move to a classic favorite of FIFA games; the ball tricks...

Two additional areas of noteworthiness are the career mode and the online mode. In the career mode the player has the option to assign himself as the team manager, a regular player on the team or as both a player and team manager. I personally think this was a brilliant move by EA to appeal to all types of soccer players, whether they are interested in the actual on field events or the actually managing of the club and its players. From this versatility it is obvious that EA has earned their place as a top competitor in the sports games genre.

Player: As a player you have to learn your trade by working your way up through the club to go from a nobody to being a club legend.

Manager: As a manager your role is to pick the best possible team and tactics for each match, build a great squad of players and keep them all happy; if that’s possible.

Player Manager: As a player manager you can have influence both on and off the pitch. Manage your lineup and join the action for key games.

Career mode is multifaceted by virtue of the option to play as a created player or an existing player on the roster. If that was not enough of a bonus, you can also limit control to only one specific player or the entire team. FIFA 12 has undoubtedly positioned itself to be the new measuring-stick to which most future soccer games will be judged.

As far as the online aspect of FIFA 12 goes, that also brings new and innovative aspects to the game’s multi-player experience.   EA claims to have "revolutionized" the online side of FIFA 12. Among the changes is a new mode called "Head to Head Seasons", a variation on regular ranked matches where league points are awarded for winning or drawing matches. There will also be related "cup" tournaments every few weeks. A new online service called EA Sports Football Club launches simultaneously with FIFA 12, and has been compared to a social network that tracks what players do in the game and awards experience points. This will be linked to both friend-based and worldwide leaderboards, and include a leveling system. The player also chooses a particular football club to support which will be apportioned a share of all XP earned, with league tables for clubs based on the average experience points contributed by their fans. Each week will count as a "season" with clubs being promoted or relegated based on the skill of those who support them. EA Sports Football Club will in future connect play across multiple titles, starting with FIFA 12 and the forthcoming FIFA Street. By playing both games experience points earned in one will be carried over to the other. I think it’s fair to say that FIFA 12 has answered the call of soccer fans worldwide, it has raised its standards above and beyond anyone’s expectations.

As anti sports as I might be, I must say that I had fun playing this game; it felt good to have an interest in soccer again after all these years. My only fault with this game is the shot power meter; as it is far too small and too hard to discern how powerful a shot you are taking. If memory serves in other FIFA games I have played the shot power meter was much easier to see and also there was an arrow to direct the different kicks awarded. i.e. corner kick, penalty kick, free kick, etc. There is no doubt in my mind however that soccer fans all over the world will thoroughly enjoy the hours of gameplay this game has to offer. The immense variety of modes and online inter-connectivity that EA FIFA 12 brings to the table is simply astounding and will keep their fans satisfied and occupied for a long time to come. Soccer is still the most loved world sport; all people can connect with it on some level, whether as a die hard fan or just an average person...