How Will the New Features Change FIFA 12?

[RaychelSnr]

You have to hand it to the folks running EA Sports’ marketing department. Every year they come out with some catchy names for their game's features that never fails to get you excited -- no matter what the feature actually is -- just because it sounds so damn cool. For FIFA 12, it is "The Trinity" of improvements, which conjures up memories of either a leather-clad Carrie-Anne Moss or Sunday school. But hey, it sticks in your head.

Okay, so there's sizzle, but will the end product live up to the hype?

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[NaturalSelected]

In the end, I hope the end product is about tightening the feature set, fixing bugs, and tuning tackling, injuries and fouls/cards (in terms of gameplay).

I can't disagree that Career Mode is a huge part of the experience for a lot of us, and improvements need to be made there as well.

[Matt10]

This is is the problem with modern gaming though. Why doesn't Konami and EA take note from 2k (NFL 2k5 to be exact) and realize that we do not need to hear about gameplay FEATURES. Seriously, they could put "This year, FIfa 12, we've made the computer players kick the ball better."

Honestly - the features are all hype and marketing - and it's downright stupid. I don't get excited about them. Just say it's going to play like real footie/soccer and I'm going to enjoy my experience. Save the features for the off the field stuff.

[JMUfootball]

Quote: Originally Posted by Matt10

Honestly - the features are all hype and marketing - and it's downright stupid. I don't get excited about them. Just say it's going to play like real footie/soccer and I'm going to enjoy my experience. Save the features for the off the field stuff.

Providing details on the features makes it appear that there's more game improvements than really exist. You're absolutely right, and it's a great point: in the old days, before rabid sports-game fans like us had forums and constantly nitpicked the details, game designers assumed nobody would be interested in hearing the technical details of on-field improvements. So you'd get games released that a line like this on the back cover (everything used to be on The Back Cover, that used to be the #1 place to read about game improvements):

-Improved on-field play for even greater authenticity!

And that was it. And there would be room on the back cover for like 4 or 5 more bulletpoints so designers knew they actually had to make more improvements to the game.

Now, when you pick up FIFA '12, read the back cover. Bet you that you get bulletpoints like this:
-New tackling system technical mumbo jumbo
-New defense technical mumbo jumbo
-New dribbling technical mumbo jumbo
-New injuries technical mumbo jumbo

All of those would have (in pre-internet days) just fallen under New, Better Gameplay! and we would expect more out of a title. We only have ourselves to blame for technical improvements now becoming the vast bulk of improvements - and for that being "ok".

I still think FIFA '12 will be great...but where are the updates to Game Modes? And I don't want to hear about that multiplayer lobby garbage - that's nothing new or revolutionary, it's just a simple matchmaking system with stat tracking (that will be abused, or padded by lamers). What about CM and Be a Pro modes?

[therizing02]

Given the track record of this dev team and knowing that the game is designed more for online players leaves no reason for me to be optimistic.

If PES can fix the lack of fouls problem and the magical through balls, FIFA won't even collect dust on my shelf.

[Dazraz]

More than any fancy named gameplay tweaks, FIFA badly needs attention to the lacklustre Manager/Season modes.
Spot on with your comments regarding the Impact Engine. You've got to believe that EA will get this right come release time. Failure to do so will render the game an arcade fest & undo all the great work that has taken the series to where it is today.

[JJT]

If a forward doesnt get a header in while covered by 3 defenders, I dont care if nothing else was added.

I just want the cross - head - goal toned way down.

And also want players to play lifelike. Ronaldo, messi and so forth should stand out, but with fifa 11s AI they are horrible.

[BrianFifaFan]

I feel the same as the article. Two sure hits, in dribbling and defending. Worried about the impact engine. Not so much it turning into a rugby match. It's more about the Ref AI. Fifa has had a hard time balancing that over it's history. I can see my boy Wayne Rooney getting laid out and injured with a "play on" scenario. That'll make the whole feature just another exercise in Fifa -frustration. But, that said, I feel they have plenty of time to sort all of this out by late-August when the European shows start. E3 isn't the place to really judge Fifa gameplay. It's just like the NBA2k coverage, it's all about first looks and teases. All of this will be clearer in the fall.