Post: FIFA 13 - Series is 'Still on the Ball'
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07-24-2012, 03:08 PM
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Kellis
LoanWolf
Source: IGN // By: TeeSe7en // Tuesday 24th July 2012
One of FIFA’s sole pitfalls within its domination of poor Pro Evo in the past has been that many of the games silky-yet-subtle skills go unused by even the most proficient gamers.
Along with the unenviable task of bettering the best football game known to man in FIFA 12, EA Sports’ goal for this season is: “Capturing the unpredictability of real-world football”. And after previewing the ‘Big Five’ new gameplay features at E3 in June (Attacking Intelligence, Complete Dribbling, First Touch Control, Tactical Free Kicks and an updated Player Impact Engine) prepare to bid farewell to your social life once more, with a host of new features to electrify both casual and ardent gamers alike within the new game.
Firstly, one of the few shortcomings of FIFA in the past has been that many of the game's silky-yet-subtle skills go unused by even the most proficient gamers. FIFA 13 squashes this notion with the addition of Skill Games. Combining training ground capers from football tennis to crossbar challenge via several dinks into rubbish bins and dribbling round poles, Skill Games present a surprisingly addictive new game mode, for that rare occasion when thumping your mates 6-0 starts to get tedious.
“The design idea behind it was to create little scenarios that really focus in on one skill, whether it be passing or ground pass, lob pass, shooting, free kicks or penalty shots,” says FIFA Gameplay Producer, Aaron McHardy. “At the end of the skill challenge, [we] put you in a bit of a match-type scenario and see how well you can execute it in a game. We really think that in doing that we’re going to be able to transfer the skills you learn in the Skill Games and ultimately make everybody a better FIFA player.” But with the addition of leaderboards and with achievements, XP and trophies all on offer within the 32 bite-sized challenges, Skill Games go far beyond a FIFA refresher course for the uneducated, and will swiftly establish itself as yet another way to embarrass your pals online.
Meanwhile, Career Mode’s also gone to the next level, with the chance to manage and play for club and country. Play as Robin van Persie and you too can give Arsenal the finger before netting silverware and a multi-million pound contract elsewhere, before firing the Netherlands to World Cup glory… maybe. Fancy something a little less predictable? Why not start life as a fresh-faced starlet of Barcelona’s La Masia academy, before being shipped out on loan to the altogether unglamorous Accrington Stanley, in the hope you can dispose Lionel Messi upon your return.
Transfer dealings have also been tweaked to mimic the market more closely, with form, contract length and morale all representing a player’s true market value. You can now also meet each bid for one of your players with a counter offer, naming the exact amount it’d cost for someone to snare your prized asset. Similarly, you can now add players into any deal, so be sure to keep a keen eye on the Manchester City reserve squad as they soon could be slotting straight into your starting XI.
Elsewhere, after giving itself a cool two years breathing space to decipher just how to incorporate Microsoft’s little black box, FIFA is finally embracing Kinect's capabilities for 13. That means, in the interests of realism of course, you can now drop all manner of ‘F’ and ‘C’ bombs in the direction of the referee, just because. But despite a flurry of recent rumours that turning the air blue will see your on screen counterparts punished on the pitch, FIFA’s Line Producer Nick Channon is quick to rectify the gossip.
“I don’t know exactly where that came from, obviously it’s a slight misunderstanding,” laughs Channon. “Ultimately we do listen to what people are saying within the game, especially around decisions, but it’s more an influence within career mode, where it’ll develop storylines and we’ll actually get feedback within the game.”
In other words, swear like a sailor and you’re likely to endure the condemnation of Martin Tyler through the game’s commentary, but also get yourself a reputation of being a touchline hot-head in career mode. “We feel it’s just a little bit more immersion,” continues Channon. “A lot of things we’re doing in career mode this year is a lot more depth, and we think this is one extra thing that brings a bit more life [to it].”
Aside from flagrantly disregarding the referee Respect campaign, the in-game voice-activated controls also make use of menu options. Substitutions, camera angles and even fully customisable tactics are but one breath away. No longer will you have to commit the cardinal sin of tweaking your entire line-up midway through a crunch game on Xbox Live, you can now simply yell, ‘Park the bus’ and grind out that vital (if thoroughly boring) 0-0 draw.
What’s more, in Be A Pro, you can actually request your AI team-mates' pass, cross and shoot via the mic, with the AI players harbouring enough intelligence to ignore dodgy calls. So bark for them to whip it in when you’re 10-yards offside and they might just think better of it.
Notable in its absence though is the lack of any motion controls for the Kinect, with the FIFA team clearly cautious to jump in headfirst, at the risk of turning FIFA into a poor man’s Wii Sports.
“I think we’ll have to wait and see,” admits Producer Channon. “This is our first year with Kinect and we’re very happy with this year’s feature set, we think it’s game enhancing. We want to see the reaction to it and then we’ll go from there.”
On a crusade to get flabby gamers thin they ain’t, with Channon affirming the emphasis is to make FIFA purely a “really realistic but ultimately fun experience.” So should FIFA 14 come complete with its own set of weighing scales, ushering in Career Mode’s pre-season with a stern telling off by the gaffer, then you know it’s time to start panicking. But then again we’ve been surprised before, football is “unpredictable” after all…
Last edited by
Kellis ; 08-06-2012 at 07:19 PM.
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