Anywho, the fine people at EA Sports once again brings their A-game when it comes to giving life to soccer and this title is no different. The game itself is just as beautiful as you'd come to expect, but I find this release to be a lot more forgiving for those either new to the franchise or more of a casual player.
The complexity levels are almost onion-like in nature: if you don't want to get into the minutiae, you can pretty much just go out there and kick the ball around, and the game will let you, without punishing you for not treating the game like a spread-sheet.
As you delve into the complexity of systems, player conditioning, and set plays the game will start to give you a more concerted challenge. That being said, the levels of difficulty are definitely odd – the two lower levels are similar to you mauling a friend with an unplugged controller, with the middle one actual resembling a reasonable challenge, and the higher difficulty levels are for those of us who enjoy screaming at the television and throwing a controller in frustration.
The lower levels will definitely leave you with a series of what the hell moments. My personal favorite was how the opposition did not successfully complete a goal kick to one of its own teammates in the entire 5 games I played at this difficulty.
You'll always seem to get some interesting phantom referee calls as well. I was intentionally leg tackling everyone to see how far I could go until I actually started getting carded… nothing happened, and then I got a yellow card for body contact while carrying the ball… huh?
The option to actually select which referee handles your match actually appears to make a bit of a difference too – some were more or less likely to call infractions it's definitely a neat feature (now only if I could actually remember some of their names).
While the gameplay itself isn't missing much of anything from the main titles, the game modes are streamlined. You will be pretty much limited to playing a pick-up game or a tournament. While the tournament mode does get a little more complicated in that you can select a roster, run practices (skills training) et cetera, the time commitment is certainly significantly less than any career mode from any of the EA Sports franchise. For the first time in recent memory, I was actually able to complete a long-term mode in a single sitting without having to consider if microwavable snacks was a reasonable meal replacement (they never are… despite what we sometimes tell ourselves).
The extra on-line feature for this title involves incorporating achievements into simulation games – trying to re-create team and personal achievements that actually occurred in games this tournament was a nice touch. It helps gives you an appreciation for the difficulty of doing some of these feats at the highest level of competition. That being said, other than that feature there are not a lot of differences for those that picked up this year's title. All in all, I definitely enjoyed the game and would recommend it for someone looking for a more casual soccer experience.
- Tazman
Follow @MichaelSiewert
The Good:
- More welcoming to the casual fan than the other FIFA games have been
- Exceptional incorporation of actual game feats
The Bad:
- Owners of the other FIFA titles this year really don't need to pick it up
- The AI is certainly not perfect
