FIFA Soccer 12 Review
+ Accessible to beginners and deep for veterans
+ Updates in FIFA 12 up the realism
+ Integration with real world soccer events
+ Well-presented tutorials ease players into changes
- No printed manual and in-game manual is sparse
Tagline: Beautiful game is beautiful
Score: 9.7
I remember when sports games were straightforward. There were exhibition games,
tournaments, and season mode. The rosters that shipped on the disk were all you
got, unless you wanted to move players around on your own, and playing against a
human being meant you were trash-talking your friends on the couch.
Today, the best sports games are more than simulations; they are immersive,
customizable and infinitely social. No game has elevated its sport to the level of
“platform” better than EA’s FIFA Soccer 12. Unlike MLB, NHL and NFL games, which
cover one league, FIFA is significantly broader, showcasing organizations from
around the globe along with national teams.
When you load up the game for the first time, you’ll be treated to an introduction to
EA’s new Football Club service. Football Club is the thread that connects all of your
FIFA play to every other player around the world. For every game you play, and
even other actions like using the creation tools and working on the practice field,
you’ll earn XP that determines your “FIFA Level.” This is used both in matchups
online and when comparing your progress with your friends.
EA is leading the pack with this type of social integration in retail games with
Autolog, Battlelog and, now, Football Club. From anywhere in the menu, pressing
one button will take you to the Football Club information screen, which is a slickly
presented social hub. Football Club is also used to deliver frequently updated
challenges based on real events and matches. You’ll also have the opportunity to
“Support Your Club,” such that all of your XP goes toward your favorite team’s
weekly standings. With FIFA’s huge number of leagues and clubs represented, your
favorite team is almost surely represented. The leagues reset after every week and
the winner is determined using an average XP such that clubs with fewer fans have a
chance to compete. Remember, all of this is presented before you even press a single
button. Before finally turning you loose, the game gauges your skill level based on
FIFA 11 achievements and suggests a starting point for your time with FIFA 12.
If that’s all EA had done to improve FIFA this year, this iteration would simply be a
huge step forward for how we play together. Thankfully, the game has also made
huge strides in how we play on the pitch. Again, before you even have access to the
menus, the game offers up a multi-stage tutorial on the new tactical defending
feature. While you can certainly switch back to the old way of handling defense,
tactical defending gives you greater control over the way you and your teammates
mark and contain the ball carrier. Once you get used to the way game flows, you
won’t want to switch back, especially as this year’s edition of FIFA deemphasizes
slide tackles. In fact, the standing tackle and tug are far better options for putting
pressure on attackers.
Of course, the change in defense wouldn’t be nearly as effective without the new
Impact Engine. The collision detection has been elevated to an art, in and of itself.
When players collide or bump, they react naturally depending on how they interact.
This also plays into injuries, which are carried through a player’s career. Even after
a player heals and is back in the game, that injury will impact the way the play and
how vulnerable they are to reinjuring themselves. All of this makes for the most
organic game of soccer ever represented in the digital format, and, if you don’t like
certain aspects of the game like sprint speed, injury frequency and more, there are
sliders for you and for the AI to tweak FIFA to your preference. You can even switch
from the default commentary team of Martin Tyler and Alan Smith to Cilve Tyldesley
and Andy Townsend
Beginning with the Football Club and the new gameplay at the core, EA has built the
most complete soccer package ever seen with a nearly overwhelming number of
features. I spent well over an hour looking through menus trying to wrap my head
around the sheer volume of options available in this year’s offering. Certainly, most
people won’t approach it like that, but it gives you an idea just how massive the
game is.
Both the Be a Pro and Be a Goalkeeper modes return with the benefit of EA’s
Gameface, which is getting easier and easier to use. I had no problem turning a front
and profile picture into a good likeness of myself that was easy to import into my
game. This year, the customization options are largely locked, and tied to
accomplishments that can be achieved in many different modes. Different kits,
celebrations and styles are regularly unlocked, giving you something to look
forward to with every game you play using your Virtual Pro.
In Career Mode, you are offered three options, you can engage with the game strictly
on the pitch, taking your team through each game in the season. You can also avoid
getting your cleats dirty all together, sitting behind the big desk, managing budgets
and handling player contracts. For the full experience, though, you’ll want to choose
the “Player Manager” option. This puts you in control of the front office and allows
you to play each game. I was pleased to see the difficulty options for the manager
mode that allow players less comfortable with the nuances of running a club to
succeed. Easier difficulties tone down the negotiating prowess of other managers
and afford you more money to play with.
Once you choose your path, during each game of the season, you’ll have the
opportunity to play as your Virtual Pro, if you have one. You can, of course, play
traditional FIFA, putting you in control of the entire team. It’s a matter of personal
preference and you’re welcome to switch between the two options from game to
game. The entire FIFA 12 experience is built for customization.
In addition to the aesthetic stuff, by performing well in games, you’ll upgrade your
Pro’s statistics. The best part is that you don’t need to wait until the end of the game
to see your improvements. There are popups that appear every time you dribble
past defenders, complete successive passes and perform skill shots on goal. It’s the
type of regular reinforcement that we started seeing with Modern Warfare’s midmatch promotions and Street Fighter III Third Strike’s challenges. Each one provides
a little jolt of energy, letting you know that you are on the right path. Also, your
player is rated on a scale of 1 – 10 during each match, you’ll see your match rating
rise and fall during the game and it’s great to see your assists, jockeying and
marking all contribute to your score. It’s not just about scoring; smart play and
staying in position are rewarded.
The creation feature also allows you to create or join a virtual club and play online
with friends, on the same team. If that’s not your speed, the online features cover
friendly matches, of course, but the meat of the online mode comes in the form of
head to head seasons in addition to seasons with a group of friends and
tournaments. In head to head seasons, you choose your club first (which allows the
game to match you accordingly, rather than jockey for best team once matched with
an opponent). For every 10 games you play, if you have more points than the
threshold, you are promoted to the next of 10 divisions. Even your friendly matches
count towards seasons with them, such that every 10 games you play with that
friend are considered a season. The commentating is even tuned to address your
progress through seasons and divisions.
There are also online Cups that you can play based on your division, with four
different awards available for your trophy case (in-game, not Playstation Trophies).
The online play is tuned and lag-free. Matching is quick and takes into account your
skill, geographic location, the control method you prefer and even your disconnect
rate when pairing you with an opponent. EA has done everything possible to
connect you to players that will offer you good matches online.
EA knows that many of you are going to be spending the entire year milking every
drop of hooligan fun out of the game and, to that end, there are upgrade options
available to offer even more customization options. You can purchase additional
custom tournament and club spots, and for the diehard fans, you can purchase Live
Season subscriptions. Live Season provides regular updates to rosters, injuries and
stats based on real games week to week. You can purchase individual leagues
(though only the biggest are represented) at 400 msp each or the whole bundle at a
discounted price of 800msp.
For those of you that can’t spend 24/7 in front of your TV with FIFA 12, EA was kind
enough to build FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) in the game, which can be accessed from
the FIFA Football Club website… when it isn’t at capacity. I was disappointed to visit
the site multiple times to find I couldn’t access my team. FUT is a card game that
connects to the Football Club’s web portal. You get a starter pack of cards when you
enter FUT for the first time and your task is to create the best squad of players from
your available cards. Booster packs are available using coins earned from in-game
single-player and online victories or, if you want to spend the cash, Microsoft points.
Packs range from 40msp to 120 msp. They aren’t exorbitant, but it can add up
quickly.
Your FUT team is graded on the statistics of its component players, specifically the
starting 11 and the Manager. Your team also has a Chemistry rating that is based on
the synergy of the players in the squad. You can see the relationships between the
players with colored lines. The strongest links are formed with players in the same
club, then same league and, if all else fails, the same nationality. Rare cards can also
provide whole-team buffs that boost morale and fitness. By playing with your team,
earning coins, and opening more packs, you’ll raise the skill level of your squad and
be able to enter bigger and better tournaments. Matches with your FUT are played
out using the regular FIFA engine, so you can see and use your constructed team on
the pitch.
FIFA Soccer 12 is an absolutely gorgeous game. The stadiums and fans are modeled
animations and the way the players interact feels “right.” While there have been
reports of some odd results from the Impact Engine, I haven’t seen anything
perfectly and, as I mentioned before, the new Impact Engine gives the game a more
fluid feel than ever before. The weather effects work very well, not only as a visual
effect, but also a way wet or snowy field impacts the ball (and vice versa). Most of
the player models look very close to their real-life personas and often avoid the
“dead eyes” effect. The celebration anatomically improbable during my play. It’s not
that I doubt the reports, just that these things are likely rare (but, nevertheless,
humorous).
EA continues to license a diverse array of music for their games. This year’s EA Trax
for FIFA is no different and, while there is full control over which tracks you hear
during the game, none bothered me enough to delete them from the playlist. For
those that simply want to play to their own tunes, or hear their own chants and
cheers during matches, FIFA has the customization options to make that happen.
The commentary team of Martin Tyler and Alan Smith is extremely well done. The
dialog regularly fits the conversation and has a dynamic feel to it. The pair is
enthusiastic enough to keep things moving. Of course, should you prefer the team of
Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend, they are just a click away in the options menu.
FIFA Soccer 12 is an amazingly robust and complete experience from the moment
you load it up for the first time. The game is clearly designed to appeal to the most
hardcore soccer fanatics, but manages to remain accessible to even the newest of
players. While the options can be overwhelming if you try to do everything at once
(especially since there is no printed manual and the in-game manual is too sparse),
if you are a beginner and take things slow, you’ll be eased into the deeper
complexities on offer. Somehow, EA has managed to create a game that works for
everyone interested in soccer from newbie to hooligan, and for that they should be
commended.