With one of the two big football gaming guns having already crossed the white line and shown us what they have to offer this term, it is time for the second to strut their stuff on the grand stage. Of course, Konami have already given us a taster of what we can look forward to later in the year and now it is the turn the reigning champions to show us what they’ve got in their locker.
FIFA 10 was simply a gaming beast and there were only a handful of faults to be found in the console king. A tough task at hand for EA this year then, and we were intrigued to discover just what they have done to fine tune the series. Well, what better place to start with than the last efforts’ frailties, bringing us nicely onto passing.
The passing mechanic is the first change you will notice in FIFA 11, more often than not because you’ll completely mess up some passes which would have been routine in its predecessor. That’s down to the Pro Passing System which now means that every pass you make will require skill, direction and varied power. The CPU provides next to no assistance, so who are you going to blame those misplaced passes on now?
Good passing decisions will be rewarded with positive outcomes, while poor or mistimed passes will cause potentially catastrophic errors. Passes are also determined by the skill of the player performing it and by the situation you find yourself in on the pitch, for example it’ll be tougher to complete a pass if you find your play has a sense of urgency.
EA pulled off a master stroke last time around with the introduction of 360 degree movement and they have continued with this theme, spreading the idea into man-to-man interactions. Sounds like a minimal adjustment, right? Wrong, it changes a lot. The biggest influence it has is when attacking. Now you will be able to jostle effectively, and actually win! When we played as Barcelona with Lionel Messi, it was a joy to see the realistic scenario of him using his size and speed to take the ball past the dumbfounded John Terry.
You’ll also notice it when defending. Long gone are the days are having to wait to time a tackle until you have the correct angle. Now you can strive to get the perfect angle, one which will win the ball without danger of taking the man for example. Player exchanges don’t end as soon as a tackle is made, or a defender is beaten either. In the latter case, you better believe the defender will be on your back in a matter of milliseconds. Likewise, if you’ve pole-axed an advancing winger, don’t assume he’ll stay down, because if the ball is still in play he will make every effort to regain possession and punish your concentration lapse.
The next mechanic to receive a tweaking is the shooting, and it is certainly one which will make your experience more enjoyable. It is still all too possible to send a sitter blazing over the cross bar but it is now much easier to steer the ball into the back of the net, providing you use the correct amount of power. When one-on-one with the ‘keeper, slotting into the corner or tricking the goalie and using the outside of the boot is not only a breeze, it is oh so satisfying.
On that note, what you will find is that getting into goal scoring positions in the first place is the main problem, with clear-cut chances being few and far between. You’ll find that build up play will have more bearing in the overall result of your attack and thanks to the revamped passing system, it is not only easier to implement, it is extremely pleasing on the eye. Unlucky all you Blackburn fans out there!
Another summer addition to the FIFA 11 squad is Personality +. The function brings players to life with individual styles, skills and trademarks replicated in the game. The perfect example is Didier Drogba who is rubbish at making darting runs, but is lethal having found some space and getting on the end of a quality ball in. David Villa is also a fine example with his patient characteristic being smashed when the slightest sight of goal is given. Not only are their on and off ball characteristics captured to perfection, their celebrations are tailored to their real life antics.
Speaking of new additions, who could forget FIFA’s amazing announcement about Be A Goalie Mode. Yes, for the first time, you will be able to take control of the goalkeeper and judging by the tutorial which made it online, it doesn’t look all that difficult to control. Finally we will be able to have those 11 v 11 online matches we have all been begging for. You know there’ll be achievements and trophies based on such a dream too. The recent demo allows you to get a brief preview of how the mode works, allowing you to take control of the keeper in the practice arena.
Realism is the key word here. The changes make it even closer to the real thing than we ever imagined or thought possible. While PES 11 demanded a complete revamp to keep up with the EA steam train, FIFA 11 merely requested some fine tuning to keep the engine well oiled. It seems the developers have gone one stage further this time around however and from what we’ve seen so far, we can only begin to imagine what will be implemented in the next instalment.
FIFA 11 hits European consoles next Friday, October 1st
