Whenever I read online reviews of Fifa I often ask myself is this a Pes player reviewing fifa or a genuine review, and vice versa for Pes reviews. Since the Mega Drive and Fifa International Soccer I have been soccer game mad, when Pes revolutionised the genre I went to Pes during Ps1 days and also Ps2. The first offerings on the PS3 of both games left me eventually ditching Pes and picking up Fifa 09. Year later bought Pes and Fifa and Fifa 10 stayed, then Fifa 11 (didnt bother with Pes) which was in my opinion the finest football game I have played on any console.
So imagine my excitement for this years installment, and I went and bought the game on release day having played the demo to death. My first impressions were very good, the graphics were improved and there were many new features such as youth scouts and a much more realistic transfer market. I have never been one for entering Online matches immediately and rather play the career mode to death (or for as many seasons as I could til it crashed as in 11)
***SINCE ORIGINALLY WRITING THIS REVIEW I HAVE CHANGED MY OPINION ON THE GAME HAVING AWARDED IT 7.5/10 FIRST TIME ROUND, AND NO IM NOT SPONSORED BY EA!***
THE PROBLEMS ARE THUS:-
1 Defending:- The defending is not impossible but heavily balanced in the favour of the CPU forwards with their (sometimes 62 rated) winger skipping past Van Der Wiel like he wasnt even their, cutting inside Jan Vertonghen and blasting it into the net. This could be acceptable from Messi or Ronaldo but when 62 rated winger youve never heard of does it EVERY ATTACK, it becomes massively, pad smashingly, frustrating. On the other side of the coin the CPU defenders rarely put a foot wrong, they never play you onside and even against a fast forward will run you down and dispossess you. This means that you have to rely on being patient, and i mean Patient to the point were you feel that its easier to let the opposition attack and hit them on the break but unless you break rapidly, if your players make the right runs, you will usually be outnumbered and lose possession. The CPU attackers can turn on a penny and your defenders feel like fat sunday league lumpers.
***Having got to grips with the defending a bit more I feel my above critique is somewhat harsh, the problems above are very real but if you are patient and dont dive in you will find the defending more effective. The defending is however extremely difficult in the 40th-45th and 85th-90th minutes of a match when the CPU team seem to become superhuman and close every inch of space down and intercept an unusual nuumber of your passes, as an avid football fan I appreciate that teams will push for a goal late in the game when losing but I feel somewhat aggrieved that my players are exhausted and lethargic and their players seem fresh as a daisy, it brings a certain sense of dread when leading by 1 goal, I almost come to expect an equaliser and clean sheets something of a rarity!***
2. Youth players/Transfers
Dundee United end up with Messi like 90rated superstars after 3 seasons as do most teams, and the best youth players who dont have contracts will not accept anything but £60000 a week, even when 16 and rated 48. Stoke City can afford 22,000,000 for Drogba, and Drogba goes…
***Same issues here, one team in your first season will be taken over “Manchester City Style” and will start spending like its going out of fashion, some may say realistic but not everyone is a shiekh and Stoke City always have 20 mil to chuck at someone even when not took over.***
3. Tactics/Physics engine
The player run/modifeier button doesnt seem to really do much, neither do attacking run arrows. Dont manually change positions of players or the squad will delete these players and your squad will be corrupted just like last years game. The physics engine means that on occasion the referee will award penalties for no good reason, even after a shot and the balls in the net he’ll point to the spot for a shirt pull! Players will run into each other and do backflips sliding along the ground and taking an age to get up leaving their players to run riot.
***The physics I will say are only accurate 50% of the time and especially when trying to track a winger going on a mazy dribble in the 89th minute is rendered somewhat impossible by their/your players acting as NFL “blockers,” allowing the winger a run clear and the inevitable tap-in***
4. Online play
Stupid results such as 8-2, 5-5 etc due to defensive issues
***As users are getting to grips this is becoming less of an issue, however I do not envy new players joining the game online as they will be demolished and may never catch up ability wise***
5. Your CPU defenders
Regularly make stupid decisions or let players run off them which…
I picked up this game for less than £10 from the Amazon warehouse (Used Like New). If like me you’ve not bought a FIFA game for a while(FIFA 09 was my last version) and you can’t justify the money for the latest version then this game has quite a few new touches that make it worth a look.
I’ve bought quite a few games used from Amazon and I think it’s a really good way to save money when the price is a lot lower, all have been in very good condition and less than £10.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Is it just me? Do I expect too much? Maybe I’m getting old? I don’t know. I used to love playing football games, FIFA/PES/Sensi/Dino Dini’s Soccer/Kick Off – I had them all. I just don’t understand how people can rate this the best football game ever. It’s boring and so one-dimensional. Most games end up the same. No-one ever overruns the ball or mis-controls it, every CPU player is a superstar and NONE of the skills work against the CPU.
Why can’t I take a set-piece without it going straight to the opposition? Throw-ins, goal kicks, free kicks…the opposition is there in a flash to steal the ball most of the time. Doesn’t happen in real football, utter nonsense. Set pieces are abysmal. Defending is awful, it’s nigh impossible to get the ball from the striker now, except when the CPU is defending! Then they’re all around you sticking the boot in. So frustrating!
Shots from outside the box just aren’t possible 90% of the time, you’ll be closed down or blocked. Which results in the same goals over and over again, striker through 1-on-1 with the keeper-finesse shot-goal. Or you’ll score a rebound because the keepers are dreadful. zzzz
Basic things like colour clashes happens all the time online, whether it’s the opposition or the ref, happens way too often; not good enough.
I honestly don’t get why people rave about the recent FIFA games. They’re the same as they’ve always been, too easy, full of bugs and irritants, sluggish. Even the menus are sluggish and unresponsive. The graphics are like PS2 graphics, the commentary has gotten worse with, er…Alan…er….Smith. Why does he have so many gaps in his speech?!? Arrrgghhh!! Mute!!
And before anyone asks; Yes I have played the game (30+hrs), no, I am not rubbish at it, and, no I don’t work for Konami. I just want a GOOD football game to play, this isn;t it.
I haven’t properly enjoyed a football game since PES6 on the PS2 – nothing released since then has been as fun as that. This game isn’t fun, it’s just annoying. It gets 2 stars because it’s slightly better than PES12, which is pants. I wish someone would challenge EA & Konami in this market, maybe then we’d see an improvement in these dull insipid excuse for football games. Or maybe I’ll just sell my PS3…
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FIFA 12 Ps3 after 2 weeks play…,
Ok, first things first…
Whenever I read online reviews of Fifa I often ask myself is this a Pes player reviewing fifa or a genuine review, and vice versa for Pes reviews. Since the Mega Drive and Fifa International Soccer I have been soccer game mad, when Pes revolutionised the genre I went to Pes during Ps1 days and also Ps2. The first offerings on the PS3 of both games left me eventually ditching Pes and picking up Fifa 09. Year later bought Pes and Fifa and Fifa 10 stayed, then Fifa 11 (didnt bother with Pes) which was in my opinion the finest football game I have played on any console.
So imagine my excitement for this years installment, and I went and bought the game on release day having played the demo to death. My first impressions were very good, the graphics were improved and there were many new features such as youth scouts and a much more realistic transfer market. I have never been one for entering Online matches immediately and rather play the career mode to death (or for as many seasons as I could til it crashed as in 11)
***SINCE ORIGINALLY WRITING THIS REVIEW I HAVE CHANGED MY OPINION ON THE GAME HAVING AWARDED IT 7.5/10 FIRST TIME ROUND, AND NO IM NOT SPONSORED BY EA!***
THE PROBLEMS ARE THUS:-
1 Defending:-
The defending is not impossible but heavily balanced in the favour of the CPU forwards with their (sometimes 62 rated) winger skipping past Van Der Wiel like he wasnt even their, cutting inside Jan Vertonghen and blasting it into the net. This could be acceptable from Messi or Ronaldo but when 62 rated winger youve never heard of does it EVERY ATTACK, it becomes massively, pad smashingly, frustrating. On the other side of the coin the CPU defenders rarely put a foot wrong, they never play you onside and even against a fast forward will run you down and dispossess you. This means that you have to rely on being patient, and i mean Patient to the point were you feel that its easier to let the opposition attack and hit them on the break but unless you break rapidly, if your players make the right runs, you will usually be outnumbered and lose possession. The CPU attackers can turn on a penny and your defenders feel like fat sunday league lumpers.
***Having got to grips with the defending a bit more I feel my above critique is somewhat harsh, the problems above are very real but if you are patient and dont dive in you will find the defending more effective. The defending is however extremely difficult in the 40th-45th and 85th-90th minutes of a match when the CPU team seem to become superhuman and close every inch of space down and intercept an unusual nuumber of your passes, as an avid football fan I appreciate that teams will push for a goal late in the game when losing but I feel somewhat aggrieved that my players are exhausted and lethargic and their players seem fresh as a daisy, it brings a certain sense of dread when leading by 1 goal, I almost come to expect an equaliser and clean sheets something of a rarity!***
2. Youth players/Transfers
Dundee United end up with Messi like 90rated superstars after 3 seasons as do most teams, and the best youth players who dont have contracts will not accept anything but £60000 a week, even when 16 and rated 48. Stoke City can afford 22,000,000 for Drogba, and Drogba goes…
***Same issues here, one team in your first season will be taken over “Manchester City Style” and will start spending like its going out of fashion, some may say realistic but not everyone is a shiekh and Stoke City always have 20 mil to chuck at someone even when not took over.***
3. Tactics/Physics engine
The player run/modifeier button doesnt seem to really do much, neither do attacking run arrows. Dont manually change positions of players or the squad will delete these players and your squad will be corrupted just like last years game. The physics engine means that on occasion the referee will award penalties for no good reason, even after a shot and the balls in the net he’ll point to the spot for a shirt pull! Players will run into each other and do backflips sliding along the ground and taking an age to get up leaving their players to run riot.
***The physics I will say are only accurate 50% of the time and especially when trying to track a winger going on a mazy dribble in the 89th minute is rendered somewhat impossible by their/your players acting as NFL “blockers,” allowing the winger a run clear and the inevitable tap-in***
4. Online play
Stupid results such as 8-2, 5-5 etc due to defensive issues
***As users are getting to grips this is becoming less of an issue, however I do not envy new players joining the game online as they will be demolished and may never catch up ability wise***
5. Your CPU defenders
Regularly make stupid decisions or let players run off them which…
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|Good value as a used game,
I picked up this game for less than £10 from the Amazon warehouse (Used Like New). If like me you’ve not bought a FIFA game for a while(FIFA 09 was my last version) and you can’t justify the money for the latest version then this game has quite a few new touches that make it worth a look.
I’ve bought quite a few games used from Amazon and I think it’s a really good way to save money when the price is a lot lower, all have been in very good condition and less than £10.
Was this review helpful to you?
|I don’t get it.,
Is it just me? Do I expect too much? Maybe I’m getting old? I don’t know. I used to love playing football games, FIFA/PES/Sensi/Dino Dini’s Soccer/Kick Off – I had them all. I just don’t understand how people can rate this the best football game ever. It’s boring and so one-dimensional. Most games end up the same. No-one ever overruns the ball or mis-controls it, every CPU player is a superstar and NONE of the skills work against the CPU.
Why can’t I take a set-piece without it going straight to the opposition? Throw-ins, goal kicks, free kicks…the opposition is there in a flash to steal the ball most of the time. Doesn’t happen in real football, utter nonsense. Set pieces are abysmal. Defending is awful, it’s nigh impossible to get the ball from the striker now, except when the CPU is defending! Then they’re all around you sticking the boot in. So frustrating!
Shots from outside the box just aren’t possible 90% of the time, you’ll be closed down or blocked. Which results in the same goals over and over again, striker through 1-on-1 with the keeper-finesse shot-goal. Or you’ll score a rebound because the keepers are dreadful. zzzz
Basic things like colour clashes happens all the time online, whether it’s the opposition or the ref, happens way too often; not good enough.
I honestly don’t get why people rave about the recent FIFA games. They’re the same as they’ve always been, too easy, full of bugs and irritants, sluggish. Even the menus are sluggish and unresponsive. The graphics are like PS2 graphics, the commentary has gotten worse with, er…Alan…er….Smith. Why does he have so many gaps in his speech?!? Arrrgghhh!! Mute!!
And before anyone asks; Yes I have played the game (30+hrs), no, I am not rubbish at it, and, no I don’t work for Konami. I just want a GOOD football game to play, this isn;t it.
I haven’t properly enjoyed a football game since PES6 on the PS2 – nothing released since then has been as fun as that. This game isn’t fun, it’s just annoying. It gets 2 stars because it’s slightly better than PES12, which is pants. I wish someone would challenge EA & Konami in this market, maybe then we’d see an improvement in these dull insipid excuse for football games. Or maybe I’ll just sell my PS3…
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