FIFA 12

I'll start with the big (and unfortunately limited) positives:
As an offline football game, the gameplay is fantastic. Passing, shooting and dribbling are smooth and realistic, love it. The characteristics and strengths of players are mirrored well, and overall control of your 11 players is better than ever. I love the fact that it is harder, as i used to be able to win a season on Legendary, and I'm far from a great FIFA Player. To top it off the graphics of the actual football gameplay are flawless.
For those reasons, it is hard to rate this game lower then 50% - because it is a decent football game.

Now come the flaws.

1. Online - My main problem with Fifa games is that they are always delayed significantly by poor connection. I have a online wired connection, giving me 100% signal strength. Yet every single online game I have ever played On Fifa 12 has experienced some degree of 'lag'. Games like MW2 and Assassins Creed always run smoothly online, so why doesn't FIFA? Online play is slow and unrealistic, so much different to offline, and I don't pay £40 for half a game.

2. Career mode - Transfers! I bought Fifa 12 in Hope of playing a season similar to the one I was following on TV. But by the time I had reached the end of the first 'Transfer Deadline', David Silva was at Arsenal, Rooney was at FC Bayern, and Higuain + Cambiasso + Sjneider had decided to move to Man Utd? Felt like I was playing a fake season, but that may be just me. And a very small complaint, it rained 4/5 matches all season? I know we have a lot of rain here, and I know Fifa are trying to show off their Graphics, but it completely ruins the football.

3. The Referees - Far, far too sensitive, the number of fouls given per game is huge, for things that would be ignored in real life. Football is a physical game, and despite the 'Divers', true footballers are strong in the tackle, and very often don't give away fouls for physical challenges- it's part of the game.

4. Pace of defenders- In real life, Ronaldo sprinting with a football is faster than Mertesacker sprinting without Ome, without a doubt. On FIFA, apparently this isn't the case. That is just one of many examples where the defenders are given unrealistic pace, giving them the ability to catch the fastest of strikers, even when they hit the offside line perfectly.

There are more, but I won't bore you. At the end of the day I can play Fifa with the flaws, but I won't buy FIFA 13, because I know that the online football will, once again, be a shambles. If you are going to pay top dollar for game, you expect all aspects of that game to work, and FIFA seem to spend a lot of time fixing minor issues, rather than the biggest problem.

Basically, it's okay. But they need to sort out their online football before I consider buying another of their games.

I'm an old PES covert - i started on PES and for years thought it the best. i converted to FIFA through FIFA 11 and thought it alot better and a genuinely more playable (ie fun) game. EA Sports have now decided to ruin their game. they have in effect abolished slide tacking! aah! this is blaspemous whatever your game loyalty. why does arcade football have to replicate the s*** on tele?! this is one of the more rubbish footy games i have ever played. i started on semi-pro and found it far too easy (finishing 1st in league) and so upped a level to pro and found it impossible finishing 10th and quickly going out of all competition. i'm not a rubbish player (honest!!) - whats going on ??? why do they keep messing around with good play-able formulas that people like? LEAVE IT!! likely to now revert back to PES 13 or maybe get a life :-)

TERRIBLE. The 'tackling' is a joke and spoils the game. The games ok when you;ve got the ball but trying to get it back terrible.