FIFA 12 Review

So here we go again. The annual iteration, the roster update, the Fifa gravy train chugs on… Except, EA Canada has never really been into the idea of making the same thing over and over again with just a serving of updated team sheets, a couple of fresh modes and a new photo of Rooney for the cover.

After several hours of play, it's the latter that's emerging as the most important transition. As you'll know, the old trick of hitting the A button to send an AI defender hurtling toward the attacking player like an Exocet missile in polyester shorts is now gone. Well sort of. It's a little more complicated than that.

In Fifa 12, there's a multi-layered system that now lets you hold the A button to "contain" the man on the ball – it brings the player you're controlling right up to him and you'll automatically attempt to shepherd your opponent into disadvantageous positions. It's neat, it's effective and it allows you to chain into a proper tackle, like a football beat-'em-up.

That's pretty much as close as we get to the auto-defend nature of previous Fifa incarnations. Meanwhile, the jockeying function, accessed via the left trigger, allows you to face the incoming player and create a barrier between him and the goal; this can also be combined with the "run" button in order to deal with sprinting opponents. Many Fifa fans will find this forces a radical shift in their defensive philosophy, moving from a mobile approach of darting slides from the back and side and head-on nipping tackles, toward a zonal, more rigorously planned approach, where players get into position and block out attacks, only tackling when the ball is clearly there to be taken.

I have found through the rigorous playing of Fifa 12 that attacking is much like trying to get that certain someone to like you, I mean not taking it out to dinner or anything like that, what I mean is it takes time to craft a perfect, precise attack like a relationship takes time to come together, also much like in a relationship if you take the wrong turn or a heavy touch you will end up on a stretcher on your way to hospital.
Honestly though, the real beauty of the game is in its two-player mode – that's what gets the five stars in the end. I know I'll be playing this all year, mastering new aspects, trying new teams, experimenting with the EA Sports Football Club, watching the online leader boards. A year's worth of play is good value, and value is important in this day and age.

So, yes, here we go again. The annual iteration, the roster update, the accusations of cashing in, cashing up, moving on. Fifa is a symbol now of what the games industry has become – a digital Hollywood, a hit factory, with behemoth franchises, caged in and milked for all they're worth; a grinding production line of choreographed retail launches and endless DLC updates. It used to be just the annual sports titles, now it's everyone.
And yet out of this can come a game like Fifa 12. A game that isn't perfect, and that won't suit everyone, but that absolutely reeks of effort, of care, of love for the sport. Blast EA and its peers for the way they run their businesses if you want to, but recognise this: with friends, with practice, with a will to re-think your approach to defence.

Fifa is an absolute joy to play.

FIFA 12 = 5 stars

Author – The Iceman