In six years, FIFA for Xbox 360 has evolved to a strong and competitor crushing phenomenon. The FIFA series has surpassed Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer series in almost every department, and upgrades each version with new features and production value.
The most significant changes to FIFA12 is the player’s ability to defend. The attention to the push/pull mechanic focuses more on pressuring the attacker into making a mistake. This is am interesting change since in the past games the second player would try to get the ball instead of causing the mistake to take the ball instead. The new changes will take a little time to get accustomed to, but once you’re familiar with the tactical style and approach you’ll forget all the previous versions.
The big game changer of FIFA12 is the Player Impact Engine. Players will now have the ability to move and react more realistically to events, including when they experience injuries. One of the biggest examples of the injuries due to the Player Impact Engine is seen in Career Mode. The manager is faced with realistic injury downtime for a player, and decisions whether to play ones coming off of an injury or who are fatigued.
Regarding the visual front, FIFA 2012 freshens up the game play with small cosmetic and presentational changes. You will find no blander and annoying stadium shots and the presenters have a new voice. Alan Smith does a great job next to Martin Tyler as co-commentator. Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend’s commentary doesn’t stand up to the other two, but after a while the variety is welcomed. As mentioned before, the Career mode has bunch of new features such as dealing with player’s injuries. However, it also features player’s concerns about their playtime and ability to negotiate trades. Unfortunately, if you’re new to Xbox Live you’ll miss out on the ‘Support Your Club’ system.
One of the least effective changes of FIFA 12 is their precision dribbling feature. Attempted dribbles and intricate footwork is often trumped by more powerful tactical defending techniques. Additionally, a Scenario Challenge mode, similar to other EA Sports games, is much needed to challenge players in real-life challenges. Right now, there only seems to be half-baked attempts in previous FIFA’s and hopefully in the next round we’ll see an improvement.
Overall, FIFA12 is the best version yet, and will not disappoint any eager football fan of the real life sport or the EA Sport version.
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