Fifa 12 Early Release Review

So its that time of year again when EA Sports release yet another Fifa game First thing we think of is what warrants the £40 price tag for just a few players who have been moved around and the teams wearing the latest kits.




Well here goes we fire up the game and are welcomed by the all too familiar EA Sports welcome screen with the usual “ITS IN THE GAME” slogan we all now from all EA titles Then is the usual
waiting for the loading screens to clear off so we can enjoy the game, Entering from the right we see Wayne Rooney coming into focus lining up a shot at goal then the screen pauses to display the PRESS START option.

From this image alone its easy to see that the player likeness in this game is more realistic than ever before and makes the game feel just a bit more real.

First we are introduced to the usual arena with 1 v 1 been the main standard for the game with more options accessed by pressing the back button. Pressing the start button places us in a new redesigned menu that is placed at the bottom of the screen from left to right. While the image behind the menu this time is now the player of choice from the arena doing a variety of shots and moves.

The menu now feels more clean and fresh to use look at and to use all the options now appear as tabs on the main menu bar and when highlighted offer more options using a fan like panel that appears above the menu all in all a good improvement and one I and im sure many other will welcome.

In the Early release version of Fifa 12 we are not provided with access to Ultimate Team so unfortunately cannot review that part of the game right now .

All the usual Options are there I.e Kick off/Ultimate Team/Xbox live and Game Modes ect first thing we did was make a pro and to be quite honest there is no difference from last tears edition apart from what we can see is the max height you can make your pro now is 6ft 10.

After making our pro we did the usual arena accomplishments and returned to the main menu where we heard a beep on the right hand side of the screen was a notification area informing us our friend had just won a game and via the back button we could find out in depth what he had done and when in this menu area found via the back button you have xp friends leader board a news real informing us of each thing we or friends have achieved and finally scenario mode where you can raise your daily xp limit by completing the challenge successfully xp is capped at a daily limit of 2000 and is eared via many ways including but not limited to winning games, earning accomplishments and successful transfers ect in career mode.

Career mode is a lot more in depth this season with many more options added varying from players status to what information you can see about the leagues or competitions you are in .

There is a big difference in game play this year mainly thanks to the tactical defending system that to be honest is frustratingly hard to get used to but once you have makes for such a rewarding game experience that is more true to life than ever before also the new passing system is unbelievable and offers so much more control over a otherwise just press A and pass game that we all no fifa for this year you really have to aim the ball where u want it to go and the player you are controlling also makes his own decisions if he thinks the pass your are attempting is to risky he will then pass it to some one else via a safer route.

All in all the game play feels much more refreshed and a welcome change from the fifa of old it keeps you competitive and really makes you have to concentrate on the game for the whole 90 minutes which for me has been a really enjoyable experience.

The last thing and most important thing about Fifa 12 has to be online right ……And yes this year its bigger and better than ever with so much to do from supporting your team and earing points in a daily league to simple head to head matches.
The new head to head leagues is a really good addition with you playing in a league with all other users of the same level for each win you receive you gain 3 points 1 for a draw and none for a lose with a set number of points required to gain promotion to the next division where the points required to progress are higher and the level of competition is vastly improved at each stage.

There is now the option to play your friends in a friendly league with the season been best results over ten games at the end of ten games the player with the most points receives a title and it is displayed on the friends league page next to that is a title what records each title you have received and changes the number as needed this format is based on 1v1 friends and as such if u have say 3 friends you have the chance to win 3 titles each season which really does make for amazing banter and of course the usual bragging rights.

Be a pro clubs is much the same with not many new additions but still a very enjoyable experience for you and your mates or clan to be involved in the main difference we can see is the chance to edit and review your pro from within the pro clubs menu save the whole “ im just changing my pro “ taking forever. When searching for a clubs game there is no player stats or positions revealed so reduces the amount of people backing out of the game because you have a good pro on your team.

As for the servers the new system seems to have no lag problems at all we have not witnessed any problems from people not been able to join or getting disconnected mid match but this may not be the cases when the game is released on retail disc this coming week only time will tell.

So to close I truly believe EA Sports have out done there self’s this year with the latest Edition of Fifa 12 and I for one have really enjoyed the experience of been a better Fifa player even if I did want to smash my Xbox trying to learn the new defence system so go try out the demo now or buy the game when it is released on 30th September 2011 in all good retailers .

See you on the pitch.