FIFA 12

Making its traditional autumn appearance, FIFA 2012 added itself to the recent pre-Christmas flurry of game releases. Offering its usual award winning gameplay with the addition of new features, FIFA has made defence its focus this year by revamping tackling and jostling of opponents, alongside the addition of new online features and a much needed revamp of the career mode.

The transformation of defence is a nice yet albeit frustration addition to the game, I've not cracked it yet and I seem to concede from every half decent opposition attack. Whereas previously you could get away with holding down circle and closing down & tackling players, it is now complex with jostling and tackling now separate buttons. You can now also make more of an effort to block opposing shots & crosses too, a tactic I frequently resort to until I learn how to actually time a tackle (Easier said than done!).

Career mode has thankfully been revamped too, as the mode had been stagnating badly year on year. FIFA has now added the option to hire youth player scouts and track down talented kids from across the world, signing them for a pittance rather than the inflated prices you nearly always have to pay for a brand name youngster. Players are more demanding as well too, Lukaku of Chelsea won’t stop moaning about being behind Drogba and Torres. Form is more of a factor too, if you leave a player out of first team action for awhile their performances and morale will deteriorate rapidly. Perhaps the most significant, albeit subtle addition is the increased amount of injuries. Previously you could get away with having a squad of 19 players; it was very rare you had more than one injury every three months. This time around you have to be a little smarter as the injuries are more realistic and reflective of the modern game.

Challenges are a new mode added for this year too, whereby you take on a real life situation and try and steer your team to victory. This was used during the FIFA 2010 World Cup game (more for filler than anything) but it does give you a new option and helps keep the game from becoming a little repetitive. Ultimate Team has also stepped into the limelight, with trophies/achievements being largely dependent on the success you have with your specially created team.

As with all the FIFA games they still have a few issues, the instant replay screen has been buggy ever since I purchased it yesterday, often showing no reply and just a blank screen which is frustrating after you’ve just scored a 30 yard belter. Lounge mode has been removed too, which means you can’t rub your superiority in your mates faces anymore as there is no method of tracking the scores. The trophies and achievements are great either as to unlock a lot of the Ultimate Team ones you either need to play for hours & hours or spend some money and buy some better players. The most frustrating aspect of the game is the typically useless EA servers which constantly log you out when you’re online (More frustrating when you’re winning 4-0 too!).

All in all, there is an obvious improvement yet again from the FIFA franchise. The defending might be horrific to grasp at first but you can see how effective it is once you have mastered it. The game is shifting rapidly towards becoming almost entirely online and the addition of a few new head to head options will keep online gamers entertained throughout the course of the season. FIFA has once again beaten PES and all football fans need to acquire the best football game around.