17 October 2010

This isn’t just any Football gaming franchise, this is Fifa...

Fifa 2011 – PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and PC

The greatest video game sports franchise returns with the latest incarnation possibly being the best ever produced, or, depending on your school of thought, this may not be your cup of tea. Forever in a tussle over the top sport with the former perfected football series Pro Evolution Soccer, these two formidable opponents have defiantly changed over the last couple of entries into their series with myself being a huge fan of PES up until i found my love for Fifa in Fifa 09. Since then, the last couple of years Fifa have unleashed the best football game in Fifa 10, a game i still play to this very day that combines the exciting nature of football along with the pick up and play aspect which gives it hours of fun with friends or with people around the world online. PES was the foundations for both of the games, creating a game that blew Fifa out of the water, creating a realistic, fun, serious attempt at a football game with combining the players who we want to play as with the grandeur of the event, in big stadiums, massive crowds and spectatorship that could very be beaten. That is until Fifa finally upped their game into creating a more serious contender with life like animations, a huge amount of real licenses of teams and leagues, along with different modes including Become a Pro and the Manager Mode and having a seriously addictive online section which was easy to use and made you within seconds of playing someone from half way around the world. And this year’s addition only takes these aspects and times them by 10 in quality.

Fifa 11, a game which seems to put PES to rest, finally, with its improved visuals with the changing of character builds where players who are slow or tall or small or skinny will act they do in real life with Crouch being great in the air but not being very fast, where Walcott is skinny being able to run very quickly but his control not being great. It’s just very detailed in how players are affected by their stats. EA use different names for their creations into how the players move and react in the game, but for someone who doesn’t normally know about video games and the termology, it just means they put a lot of effort into the individual player animations and spent time looking at the real movements of players. Along with the improved player physics, the modes have been simplified with the Manager mode now changing to include three different types with either you being a manager, a player or a player/manager, meaning that Becoming a Pro and Manager Mode have joined together to create an easy, enjoyable experience which sure is not the same as Master League from PES but it holds its own. Along with this, the online features have kept the same, and with them always being at an excellent level, you don’t need to change it. Presentation wise, it’s smoother and less jarring than before. The audio set up is much cooler, being able to put your own music into the game along with chants and things you would hear during the game. It makes for a lot of fun.

You’ll find yourself playing for hours with the game with friends or in different modes. It truly is a perfect game, sure it has improved its difficultly, making the game a lot slower but more realistic to the real game, where a 40 yard pass doesn’t always work. It will take a little while to get used to the new system but you’ll soon find a ten pass move will feel much more rewarding in the end when you score against a friend who keeps giving you stick about how your predictable. I don’t see the game improving much, maybe in terms of graphics when it moves to a new console or having lower league team’s players look aesthetically more pleasing.

9/10

Simon Childs

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