By Spike Chapman

As many of you may be well aware myself and a select group were invited to join EA in Guildford on Wednesday 1st June to try the new game play of FIFA 12.  I must first start by saying I did get to try the game play of FIFA 11 around the same time of the year last year and this has helped me become critical with the added bonus of hindsight.

Last year I was very excited after coming back from Canada about the promise that FIFA 11 showed, we were only privy to game play changes but the game play seemed slower, it had more of a genuine feel of football.

The real side of things however was when I received my retail copy of FIFA 11 only to discover that there were some serious server issues in clubs, Career Mode felt very stale and lacking and as always, the VP exploit along with various other bugs and glitches had snook their way in.  This in turn left FIFA 11 feeling like a step forward, but with far too many issues to allow me to enjoy that step forward and so this year I have come back a little more sceptical.

I must add that the game we played was a pre-alpha build with many known bugs and obviously a lot of code needing tightening up and fixing before it was to be a build that we could critique without the knowledge that it was known to be buggy in many respects.

So, where to start? I suppose the menus would be the best part as that’s what you’ll see first when you play the demo, buy the game etc

FIFA 12 Menu

The new menu is actually very nice in how it is presented, the graphics looked very crisp and the old menu system has been replaced by a single bar along the bottom of the screen that has a pop up bar.  Rather than describing it in depth I think a screen shot of it would be far more suitable:

As you can see Kaka is in the image above the actual menu but what is very nice is he is animated as the menu loads.  You’ll see Kaka perform an action and then it freezes him as if it were a photograph at which point you can navigate the menus.  The menu seems lag free which was nice but obviously we had no access to various options as they were greyed out, we were not connected to the servers and I imagine Ultimate Team was yet to be installed meaning these factors could potentially return the menu lag.  That said we won’t know that answer until the game is released and we have our copy to try it.

FIFA 12 Presentation

Upon starting my first match of Arsenal vs Chelsea (the only two teams in the build we played), I was greeted with the arena as per usual.  Nothing seems to have changed here but when the game was ready I clicked start and was greeted with a new introduction screen.T  he screen divided with the Chelsea badge presented in a 3D manner and then I was greeted with John Obe Mikel dribbling in a large close up of his entire player model.  It was a very nice touch and was followed Van Persie sliding on his knees in celebration for Arsenal.

This may be a small touch and very well may be skipped as you become used to playing FIFA 12 but it’s very nice to see the detail on the players and the new 8 way camera faces that have been captured up closer.  It would seem that EA are a little more focused on presentation this year which is always good from my point of view as I think it’s an area that EA have always been lacking in, especially when compared to the other titles they make such as NHL, Skate etc

FIFA 12 Gameplay

Defending – Now an art of it’s own

In my first game I expected to be able to just pick up the pad and play as I’ve always done from each instalment of the FIFA series, with a small learning curve. For this reason I was surprised by how much the new contain system changes the game.

I instantly held down what was the press/tackle button to try out the new contain feature that replaces it and found that I no longer felt like I could charge a ball carrier like a wild boar that was out of control.  The secondary press is now set to the RB button and B is now the commit to tackle button which does take some getting used to but adds a whole new layer to the tackling system.

After playing the game a few times I was amazed at how removing pressing/auto tackling opens up the game giving you more space on the ball and yet it did not bother me that the game was now a lot harder when defending.

After some time of playing I began to adapt to this very large change in the feel of the game and noticed that by secondary pressing the opponent no longer felt pressured to pass the ball off as soon as possible as the secondary press will never commit to a challenge, instead it is up to you to switch to that player, make up the containing space and either walk into the ball carrier to attempt a tackle or press B to actually stick out a foot and commit to that challenge.

This opens up a whole new dimension to defending so I now understand why EA have chosen to refer to it as “Tactical Defending”. I think this name sums up the change perfectly as it really does feel as if I have to be tactical in how I defend.

I think the contain is best described as a tracking motion or automatic jockeying where the defender does not spread his body as much.  It works nicely in the game and you cannot abuse the tracking as the closest you can get to the ball carrier whilst containing is around 1-2 yards meaning to actually commit to a tackle you have to release the contain button and manually attack the ball carrier either by running into him or by using the B button to put your foot out.

Another great thing about contain is that it carries over onto the secondary pressing and so you cannot just let the computer do your defensive work by holding B as could in FIFA 11, instead when you use secondary contain you find your teams player nearest to the ball will track at a range of around 3 yards making it harder for the ball carrier to run freely but not forcing him to make the pass until that player or another attempts to make the tackle.

The combination of contain, secondary contain and having a commit to tackle button allows more space in FIFA 12, something that we’ve never really had in previous FIFA’s and also adds a whole new depth to defending.  I’m also positive that this will bring a whole new level of difficulty to clubs with defenders having to stay on their feet more as you would expect in real football, something I’m very happy to see.

To sum up the changes to defending I would say that it’s easily the best change to FIFA 12 that I have experienced in terms of game play and adds a whole new depth that has been lacking for many years. It is quite easily the feature I am most excited about with regards to the game play of FIFA 12.

Dribbling

Dribbling this year is another area where FIFA 12 seems to have taken a large leap in the right direction.  With the new addition of “tactical defending” dribbling now feels more powerful, it’s almost as if I feel comfortable to try and beat a player with dribbling now which is something I’ve never felt before in a FIFA game.

The new precision dribbling makes a large impact on dribbling as it feels more natural to twist and turn or just to hop out of the way of a tackle that has missed the ball but clipped me as I’ve passed him.

One thing that really stood out was how nippy Walcott felt when dribbling, his pace and acceleration felt right as when I attacked the wing I found Ashley Cole struggling to contain me if I got a yard on him and I could then use that yard to break away using Walcotts pace.  This is something again that I never really felt I could do with Wallcott in previous games as his strength was so weak that the second I was touched I would collapse to the ground.

The new precision dribbling allows me to dodge small fouls and then use that split second that the defender has mistimed his tackle to break free and really use Wallcotts pace as he does himself in real life.

To summarize the dribbling it now feels like you can attack a player and beat him, it feels as if smaller players can now eave in and out of areas they previously would have lost the ball due to lacking strength and it feels as if players are actually making an effort to get out of the way of fouls so that they can use their dribbling to their advantage.

FIFA 12 Impact Engine

So with two positives it’s about time I add a negative with potential to the mix.  The impact engine at first feels fantastic with some fantastically realistic collisions and EA have done a great job in adding a lot more to the game with some of the rag doll like physics.

To look at the new Impact Engine positively it really can add realism to the game in the sense that it allows players to remain on their feet when they would have previously fallen to ground, it adds more variety to collisions, it allows injuries to be “understood” and it has a lot of potential in a variety of other ways.

The problem with this pre-alpha build that we played (I must stress that being pre-alpha makes a big difference) is that there seems to be a lack of understanding from the games referees as to what should and shouldn’t be considered a foul and more to the point what would merit a yellow card and what would merit a straight red card.

To explain this further I was very happy whilst playing one match where I went around Petr Cech only for his arms to take my legs out completely.  The referee immediately sent Petr Cech off which made perfect sense as had not only stopped me from having a scoring chance but had also made no contact with the ball.

I have not had a goalkeeper sent off in all of my time playing FIFA 11 and so seeing this first of all showed me that not only did the dribbling help but the games impact engine recreated the situation a lot better than the current system does, as I have been taken out the same way on FIFA 11 many times before.  This was a positive decision by the referee but it seemed the more that I played that I could not receive a straight red card unless I denied a scoring opportunity.

Once I realised this myself and Lee (a gamechanger and writer for SweetPatch.TV) set about fouling each other in the most viscous manners possible to test how the game reacted to it. Below are a list of collisons that occured and the results of them:

• Lee dived in two footed making contact with both of my ankles forcing them down and causing a nasty bend of the leg – no foul given
• I raised a leg and kicked Lees player in the back causing him to collapse to the floor with the ball no where near me – no foul given
• I headbutted Lees player in the air causing him to collapse without making any contact with the ball – no foul given
• Lee went through the back of my legs causing one to twist unnaturally and injure my player – yelow card

I think this is enough to get across my point.  Most people who were playing the game were able to agree that this was happening far too much and that it made the game very hard to judge in terms of how the Impact Engine would work.  If this carries over to the retail version then obviously this would put a major damper on the impact engine and there still seems to be no understanding of a dangerous tackle/foul which is a slight concern.

Having said this if EA do tidy up the impact engine and the understanding of fouls then it’ll be an amazing addition to the game as when it works it’s very impressive and when it doesn’t work it’s a real problem for gameplay.  Being as it is a new engine and this was a pre-alpha build I’m still not panicking about this issue being fixed as I think there is no way you can play the game without experiencing it so the devs are probably more than aware of it and looking to fine tune prior to release.

FIFA 12 AI

Here is where there is a mixture of hot and cold in big extremes.  On a negative side the game still doesn’t seem to understand intelligent off the ball runs, it’s still a case of running in fairly straight lines or strikers getting in the way of wingers by coming out wide etc.  There is also in my own personal opinion a problem with the AI supporting players by coming to them to give them an option. Both of these have always been an issue with FIFA for me and I think until they fix it you’ll never get that feeling of the team working together.

I also have a problem with how players still don’t react or push that extra bit.  What I mean by this is there are far too many occasions on FIFA where I find myself shouting “go to the f*@#$* ball!” as a player doesn’t react to a loose ball.

The AI still seems to do this far too often as you see a ball roll past them in the midfield and you know that had they been a real person they would have made the effort to collect the ball.

These problems aside one great new change is the AI’s ability to create chances.  Whilst I was watching Tom (from FIFA Soccer Blog) play one game there was a fantastic goal scored by the AI as Ashley Cole cut inside and side stepped one defender and then hopped out of the way of another challenge and poked the ball into the path of Anelka who fired the ball into the bottom corner.  Whilst it sounds like a simple type of goal it is the exact thing that FIFA 11 is currently missing as the AI just sees to attacking via the wing by crossing for a header all of the time.

Whilst playing against Arsenal as Chelsea I really felt as if I was playing Arsenal as they worked the ball around the edge of the area on both sides and in the middle.  There was also signs that they had no intention to cross unless there was a real chance that Van Persie or Chamakh would get to the ball as they were aware that Chelsea were stong in the air whilst they were not.  It was great to see just how much the AI was willing to try and beat a player whilst in possession or to work the ball in the middle of the field, again something that previous FIFAs have been missing.

To summarize the AI, I think EA still have a crazy amount of work to do as there are still too many things that massively frustrate me as I play the game.  The majority of them were AI based but on the same note I have to give EA credit for giving teams a little more team individuality and that ability to be a little less predictable in how it attacks.

Heading in FIFA 12

Just a quick thing to mention on heading which is that whilst the heading in the game is fantstic in so many ways the key problem with heading remains.  First of all I’ll put across the positives as there are quite a few with the first being air collisions.  Due to the Impact Engine there are a lot better air collisions and you really get to feel like you’re a victim to gravity should you jump and get it wrong.

Positioning plays a much larger part of heading successfully now with headers going behind a player if the ball is too high or in a few cases the ball bouncing off of the floor and going over the goal if you head down with too much conviction.

One of my favourite additions to heading is how if you jump up to challenge for a header and the opposition player backs into you hen quite often it can result in you falling over his back with brilliant realism.  Again this is where the impact engine changes the very way FIFA’s key game play elements react and look.

So what is the key problem? As always in FIFA heading is a 2 man thing, only one player from each team can truly challenge for the ball which defeats the whole purpose of being able to crowd out a big man in the box.

With all FIFA’s you can have one striker in the box and if the cross is good enough he’ll only be challenged by one play from the defensive team, even if there are seven men in the box all around him.  This is something PES has always seemed to have had over FIFA and I just cannot understand how a game aimed to be a simulation of football can limit a single player from each team to challenging for a ball in the air.

FIFA 12 Gameplay Summary

To sum up my view on FIFA 12 I would have to say the game is defiantly a step in the right direction, however I still feel there is a long way to go before I feel like I’m playing a football game that will truly amaze people. There is a sense of revolution there, I just can’t quite help but feel like it’s more evolution than revolution.

I hope that as the game code improves so will my opinion on the game but due to being burned last year and some AI issues needing changing still I can’t help but be somewhat reserved in my excitement.