FIFA 12 Review

It’s that time of year again; the time when the latest FIFA has been out for several months and has now endured enough playing time to face a fair verdict. But before the main feature, let’s go back a few years to the time when FIFA was making its first leap to the next generation consoles. The year is 2007 and it’s October. FIFA 2008 hit the shelves and was inserted to many consoles all over the country. It was a decent game overall, but faced stiff competition from Pro Evolution Soccer 6. Over the following two years, FIFA 09 and FIFA 10 would slowly eclipse this competition and forever cement Pro Evolution Soccer into its shadow.

FIFA 10 was most probably the pinnacle of the entire series to date. The passing was fluid, the shooting was accurate, and the replay value was high. It felt uncomplicated, yet challenging; and many fans including myself felt that this was the best football game we’d ever played. The expectations for any sequel to follow this footballing masterpiece were high; and inevitably FIFA 11 fell short. The main innovation that E.A. introduced was their new passing system, which aimed to replace the ‘ping-pong’ passing system that past versions were criticised for. However this new passing system was not implemented without fault. Passes were too frequently under and over hit, and players would always have to track back in order to receive an always too weak pass. This made it difficult to produce an attack with momentum. Still, many fans enjoyed this game even though it was largely inferior to FIFA 10.

The stage had been set for FIFA 12 to come and knock the socks off FIFA 11 and restore the faith in the series. As soon as it was released, it was bought and thrust into my Playstation 3. The first thing to note about this game is that the passing issues have been addressed. It’s still not as fluid as FIFA 10, but it’s definitely an improvement. The game as a whole is fairly similar to FIFA 11, but it contains one new element. Similar to the remodelled passing system that appeared last time around, E.A.’s designers have turned their fire on the defending. The new ‘tactical defending system’ makes it much harder to tackle opposition players. Well, the word ‘harder’ is flattery really as it’s practically impossible.

Since the release of the game, tutorials have sprung up all over the internet; answering to the call of thousands of fans who have voiced their frustrations. One common factor is that a lot of players advise to avoid the use of the tackle button – ‘circle’. Surely this is the beacon that advertises the game as being poor. Any time a trick or strategy is widely proposed, that bypasses the intended use of a feature in a game; it is a primary example of bad game design. The frequently used tackle button in past versions of the game is now for last ditch challenges only; similar to the sliding tackle button – ‘square’. Players are supposed to contain the opposition team and either let their attack deflate, or get close enough to an opposition player so that your defender automatically tackles their opponent. This makes the defending in FIFA 12 almost impossible as simply tackling your opponent when you want to, is a feature that seemingly no longer exists.

The most disappointing thing is that the rest of the game doesn’t even need to be reviewed. The frustration factor of the extremely flawed and difficult defending renders the game unplayable. It’s such a shame too, because I for one always look forward  to playing the new FIFA every year; even though it seems like it’s destined to be a disappointment forever onwards.

5.5/10.

Gran Turismo 5 Review

Gamers have had an agonising five year wait between the releases of Gran Turismo 4 and Gran Turismo 5; with the mini game Gran Turismo 5 Prologue releasing in 2008. Five years is a long time for a new game to be designed; a fact that becomes even more apparent when E.A. releases FIFA on a yearly basis. Naturally we were expecting a masterpiece; a game that’s equally as good on and off the track. So, does Gran Turismo 5 live up to the five years’ worth of dreams and estimations that we’ve perceived?

Let’s start with the graphics and presentation. The graphics themselves are one of the outstanding features of GT5. The new track additions are not just an enjoyable drive, but a scenic tour; especially when driving an equally as beautiful ‘premium’ car. So, the game looks great when you’re driving in your newly acquired Bugatti Veyron around the streets of Rome, but what about the ‘standard’ cars and familiar tracks? All the returning tracks have slightly less impressive scenery (with the exception of the Loch Ness Monster on Trial Mountain) and the lower priced cars also have less impressive textures. The ‘standard’ cars also come with less damage and no cockpit view. Speaking of the new addition of damage; it’s unimpressive to say the least. Even if you crash any of the cars into a wall at a hundred miles per hour, you’ll be lucky to shift more than one polygon. However the menus all look nice, even though some feel quite jumbled presentation wise. It’s also pleasing to see the return of the jazz menu music; it’s the perfect accompaniment to relaxingly viewing your prize cars in the home garage or going shopping for a new ride.

Unfortunately, the rotten core of this game lies in the AI’s ability. The competition faced in races is pitiful. The other cars brake too much; follow each other in a well-rehearsed formation and will even kindly move out of your way when overtaking them. The main challenge in this game comes from attempting to beat a time trial or a license test, which isn’t the reason why anyone would buy a racing game. The new addition of Nascar is another disappointment. It’s near impossible to win on Indianapolis, and again the AI is a big let-down when racing in the rest of the Nascar series. All the Nascars are of almost identical statistics, but it’s no problem to get to the front of the pack and stay there for the rest of the race. Another let down is Formula 1. I was excited at the prospect of Formula 1 being fully implemented in Gran Turismo 5, after the Prologue version allowed players to race in the Ferrari F12010. However, the only official Formula 1 cars that feature on the official game are the aforementioned Ferrari F12010 and the Ferrari F12011. The concept Red Bull X2010 makes an appearance along with driver Sebastian Vettel, so it is beyond imagination why their Formula 1 car is left out; therefore the rest of the F1 line-up is made up of stock ‘Formula Gran Turismos.’

Endurance races are another problem. On Gran Turismo 4, there was an option to do the endurance races (especially the 24 hour ones!) on B-spec mode, where the computer drives for you. However all races on Gran Turismo 5 have to be done on both A-spec and B-spec mode, so the only choice is to drive the race yourself. I recommend having one person drive for the 24 hours, and another to watch your electricity meter go through the roof.

Visually, Gran Turismo 5 is a great game and the car physics are also much improved. But the challenge is still far away from the standard of many other racing games currently on the market. In fact I believe that I could have a more challenging race on the original Gran Turismo. So the series has taken huge steps forwards in graphical capabilities, but it has also taken huge steps backwards in AI capabilities. Finally if you’re going to implement a series of racing such as Formula 1; then either create a full grid or just don’t bother. Yes the Ferrari formula 1 cars are fun to drive; but that only makes you wish that you could race against similar machines.

7/10.