FIFA 12

Ok, first things first...

Whenever I read online reviews of Fifa I often ask myself is this a Pes player reviewing fifa or a genuine review, and vice versa for Pes reviews. Since the Mega Drive and Fifa International Soccer I have been soccer game mad, when Pes revolutionised the genre I went to Pes during Ps1 days and also Ps2. The first offerings on the PS3 of both games left me eventually ditching Pes and picking up Fifa 09. Year later bought Pes and Fifa and Fifa 10 stayed, then Fifa 11 (didnt bother with Pes) which was in my opinion the finest football game I have played on any console.

So imagine my excitement for this years installment, and I went and bought the game on release day having played the demo to death. My first impressions were very good, the graphics were improved and there were many new features such as youth scouts and a much more realistic transfer market. I have never been one for entering Online matches immediately and rather play the career mode to death (or for as many seasons as I could til it crashed as in 11)

***SINCE ORIGINALLY WRITING THIS REVIEW I HAVE CHANGED MY OPINION ON THE GAME HAVING AWARDED IT 7.5/10 FIRST TIME ROUND, AND NO IM NOT SPONSORED BY EA!***

THE PROBLEMS ARE THUS:-

1 Defending:-
The defending is not impossible but heavily balanced in the favour of the CPU forwards with their (sometimes 62 rated) winger skipping past Van Der Wiel like he wasnt even their, cutting inside Jan Vertonghen and blasting it into the net. This could be acceptable from Messi or Ronaldo but when 62 rated winger youve never heard of does it EVERY ATTACK, it becomes massively, pad smashingly, frustrating. On the other side of the coin the CPU defenders rarely put a foot wrong, they never play you onside and even against a fast forward will run you down and dispossess you. This means that you have to rely on being patient, and i mean Patient to the point were you feel that its easier to let the opposition attack and hit them on the break but unless you break rapidly, if your players make the right runs, you will usually be outnumbered and lose possession. The CPU attackers can turn on a penny and your defenders feel like fat sunday league lumpers.

***Having got to grips with the defending a bit more I feel my above critique is somewhat harsh, the problems above are very real but if you are patient and dont dive in you will find the defending more effective. The defending is however extremely difficult in the 40th-45th and 85th-90th minutes of a match when the CPU team seem to become superhuman and close every inch of space down and intercept an unusual nuumber of your passes, as an avid football fan I appreciate that teams will push for a goal late in the game when losing but I feel somewhat aggrieved that my players are exhausted and lethargic and their players seem fresh as a daisy, it brings a certain sense of dread when leading by 1 goal, I almost come to expect an equaliser and clean sheets something of a rarity!***

2. Youth players/Transfers

Dundee United end up with Messi like 90rated superstars after 3 seasons as do most teams, and the best youth players who dont have contracts will not accept anything but £60000 a week, even when 16 and rated 48. Stoke City can afford 22,000,000 for Drogba, and Drogba goes...

***Same issues here, one team in your first season will be taken over "Manchester City Style" and will start spending like its going out of fashion, some may say realistic but not everyone is a shiekh and Stoke City always have 20 mil to chuck at someone even when not took over.***

3. Tactics/Physics engine

The player run/modifeier button doesnt seem to really do much, neither do attacking run arrows. Dont manually change positions of players or the squad will delete these players and your squad will be corrupted just like last years game. The physics engine means that on occasion the referee will award penalties for no good reason, even after a shot and the balls in the net he'll point to the spot for a shirt pull! Players will run into each other and do backflips sliding along the ground and taking an age to get up leaving their players to run riot.

***The physics I will say are only accurate 50% of the time and especially when trying to track a winger going on a mazy dribble in the 89th minute is rendered somewhat impossible by their/your players acting as NFL "blockers," allowing the winger a run clear and the inevitable tap-in***

4. Online play

Stupid results such as 8-2, 5-5 etc due to defensive issues

***As users are getting to grips this is becoming less of an issue, however I do not envy new players joining the game online as they will be demolished and may never catch up ability wise***

5. Your CPU defenders

Regularly make stupid decisions or let players run off them which because of the inability to tackle means a simple pass and usually a tap in against you, either this or a cross into the box and your defender stops and allows their striker a simple header. Also when heading the ball will go thru your players head and will be volleyed into your net by the waiting striker. INFURIATING especially when they dont do this when your attacking. CPU only scores 2 types of goals and are impossible to stop.

***If you run a defender out of position your CPU team-mates will hardly ever cover the space, this in my opinion is just bad AI but if you can scroll through the player select quickly enough (always seems to select the most ineffective player to switch to) then you can force the player wide or force mistakes, your AI controlled players will also slide and stretch and when played often enough you will realise they never seem to reach the ball leaving huge holes in your defence. It seems as this is an attempt by EA to show realism, but to be it is badly implemented and extremely frustrating***

***6. Sometimes your not supposed to win, you can shoot shoot shoot, hit the post/bar 3 or 4 times, have umpteen 1 on 1s with the GK and still not score, you can get penalties and have the CPU save in the bottom corner, then they attack you and score. If i hear the commentary dialogue "Well looking at the shots on goal you'd think that only one team could win, but it wasnt the case Alan," I will headbutt my TV***

In summary this game is too difficult and results in boring, tedious singleplayer gameplay whne your in attack, and frantic chasing ending in a tap in or header when your in defence. It isnt fun anymore and in my opinion has not been tested due to the fundamental issues above. Defending aint just a learning curve its a mountainous accent. The game doesnt hold my attention for more than 1 or 2 games ata time, truthfully I wish I hadnt bothered and stuck to Fifa 11. I may even be tempted to give Pes a try but the demo wasnt as good as this.

***In summary and despite the critical nature of this review I do enjoy the game, it is achingly frustrating at times, possibly the most infuriating game you can play, but it does have its strong points, when you master the defending (it takes a while) it is possible to hold your own more regularly, and get results that are warranted. Shooting is much improved in my opinion and games against the CPU feel like genuine contests due to the difficulty in defence, Online play is solid if sometimes farcical and EA seem intent on ironing out the bugs however this will take time. The game is worth the money and promises to improve, work on defence and dont lose your hair whilst you do it!***

7.5/10
***8.5/10***

Jon

FIFA 12 is a first class game, I'm not going to waste time talking about the software for anybody who's in to the FIFA genre of games knows what they're going to buy. The game was second hand but arrived as good as new in 2 days. I would highly recommend using the same company as myself and will most definitely purchase further titles if and when the need takes me.

HOWEVER.... A mistake I made and which I failed to foresee is the fact that if you wish to go online, you have to enter a code contained within the packaging. As this is a second hand game the previous owner had already entered the code on their PS3 therefore rendering the code invalid when I attempted to use it. This cost me £8 as I had to purchase a replacement code online, so the cheap deal I was so pleased with, turned out to be not so cheap at all. Just something to consider if you wish to go online. This is the single reason this purchase did not receive 5 stars from me.

I have to start off saying i'm a massive FIFA fan, get the game every year and have done so (a part from one year when i tried PES).

However this game is nothing compared to the previous FIFA's, and results in a lot of anger, shouting and destruction whenever i play the 2012 version. I've already destroyed one controller whilst playing this version. The defending is none existent (as gone into by other reviewers) leaving you a sense of injustice, especially when the computer defenders are spotless. The Attack therefore leaves you also frustrated as the amazing defence leaves you very few options and very few styles of scoring making the game not only frustrating but boring. Coupled with their boring attack (header or dribbled through tap in, which you can do nothing about) you come away from playing this game feeling both aggrieved and angry, which is the exact opposite reason behind turning the game on in the first place.

So why so i keep going back, well..i do have to admit its addicting, and very, VERY satisfying when you do actually win a match. But i find the way they try to bring realism to the gameplay false, because realism must be on both sides: not handicapping your players to make the game harder and more real for the playing experience.

The graphics and career mode are amazing i must say, but that doesn't hide the fact that i usually come away feeling angry and irritated which translates into me being angry and irritated at people around me.

I write this review in the hope that those who create FIFA games take into account the views of those who actually buy there products, and yes this won't be the only place i will be reviewing to and writing negatively about this game. But if they don't listen, as well as to the thousands like me who think the same, then its of to PES for me.

So FIFA...if your listening, please make 2013 better. I have only this game, Assassins creed and MOH left nowadays: don't go the way of the rest of the useless games out there.

Yours sincerely, blah blah blah.