Our FIFA 12 review will tell you that we think the footie sim series has hit a brand new stride with the addition of some very successful new features.
It'll also tell you, however, that it hasn't been a completely painless transition with some minor cracks being created in the rebuilding process.
Not to worry though, FIFA 12 is still a top notch game and any improvements for FIFA 13 need only be slight adjustments rather than big fixes.
Here are a few things that we think would put the icing on the cake for next season's FIFA offering.
REFEREE!
Thanks to the new physics engine in FIFA 12 there are now more ways than ever to end a player's career. We've had matches with as many as two broken ankles featuring. Needless to say that while realistic physics makes for some nuanced, tactical pushing and shoving it brings more clattering and battering to the beautiful game as well.
The physicality of FIFA has been upgraded, then, but the referees apparently didn't get the memo. We've some horrific challenges that have seen stud-speared legs snapped from under a player leaving his face to smash into turf at break-neck speed.
We once studded a centre back in the thigh so hard that he flew into touch. Poor lad wasn't even on the ball and yet not a toot came from the referee's whistle. Not because the man in black decided to play advantage, but because he simply didn't deem the assault as a foul.
The physics engine makes it easier for the player to see fouls but now referees need an upgrade in the optical department to spot them as well.
Don't get us wrong, there's nothing like getting away with a blatant foul every now and then, we want the refs to be realistic not infallible but they definitely need to flag up 90 percent of the on-pitch crimes we've committed come next season.
CRAPACITY CROWD
We've said it before and we'll say it again. The players on the pitch look fantastic, the stadiums look brilliant, the commentators sound great and, with new and more authentic chants added every year, even the fans themselves sound top notch.
But boy does that capacity crowd look ugly. We're not talking Smackdown vs. Raw ugly here, where the arena audience is a bit basic and bland but still a 3D crowd that's easy enough on the eye, we're talking cardboard cut-out ugly.
We appreciate that some of the biggest football stadiums in the world can hold close to one hundred thousand but we actually think the crowds look worse this year than last year. To say the individual fans are flat and lacking detail is an understatement - they're little more than a cluster of pixels thrown onto a plank of wood.
SPITTING IMAGE
We understand why it's only the top players that get the true lookalike treatement but, to be honest, chaps like John Terry and Christiano Ronaldo are pretty much bob on right now. If their faces were put into next year's game without a hint of an update, we really wouldn't mind. Heck, we might not even notice.
Instead of going over the same handful of players with the update brush, why not give some of the lesser earners a touch up with the realism brush? It's not like it's just the lowest clubs that need a look at after all, most of the teams in the Premiership have got a squad of pretty generic looking players. If EA Sports spent the next few years slowly working its way down the leagues, it wouldn't take too long before we had the Prem and Championship at least properly catered for.
Comments
10 comments so far...
boblikepie on 7 Oct '11 said:
There also needs to be the option to make a 2nd and even maybe a 3rd team quick select at the begining of match.
Me a friend would really like to when there's 2 or 3 games in a week would like to have a quick select option so you don't have to go through your team each time. Then you'd also be able to set up different tactics for your 2nd and 3rd team or different layout and sub players. It would make the game better and also games quicker as you don't have to manually swap out your whole team when there's only like 2 days between a game
boss1592 on 21 Oct '11 said:
I want a "Be-the-Ref" mode... I'm being totally serious, I would totally love that. I mean, I'm not asking for it to be FIFA 13's main attraction, but I'm sure they could have a small group of guys cook something up. Am I alone here?
paalo on 21 Oct '11 said:
Good piece couldn't agree more about the faces and crowd,ive been playing pes 12 pc the game play is too fast and arcade like compared to fifa 12 pc,one thing they have got better though is the pes faces,my team spurs almost every player in the squad is spot on in fifa they are terrible only kyle walker is instantly recognizable,come on fifa great gameplay just take more care on the faces and crowd.
FIFAmad on 29 Dec '11 said:
I reckon this can be the year EA brings the life and soul of a real football match to FIFA. Better crowds much more cutscenes of managers, subs, crowd, stadium, players, officials etc... Have fourth officials signaling added time and substitutes. Commentators were much improved in FIFA 12 but let's improve them to another level for FIFA 13. We want excitement when we score. This can be the year we really feel the presence of a real life football match.
Plus don't forget tournament finales, make them exciting.
In career mode, more injurys to deal with, make being a manager a challenge by making players play up like Carlos Tevez. Transfers and News were much improved this year but can be made so much better, heap a bit of pressure on us. Teams need to be more realistic when I started a career with Newcastle, Man Unitedwere only coming 8th, but in my normal career mode we're coming 1st, right where we belong.
See y'all
Man United 4 life
FIFA rules
dwhlufc on 29 Dec '11 said:
As long as they update the kits I'll be as happy as a pig in muck!
Very_Silver_Ownz on 30 Dec '11 said:
I want '' be-A-fan ''mode were you play as the fan and...just watch the match and throw trash at the rubbish team
Oh and punish those rage quitters. I want them to suffer their humiliation until the whole match is finished. No quitting till I say so
TheLastDodo on 31 Dec '11 said:
I want cerain silvery cun..........erm...........other players to be forced to stay and lose LIKE A MAN when they're about to lose 10-0 instead of being allowed to bitch quit at 7-0
Very_Silver_Ownz on 31 Dec '11 said:
I totally agree with you Dodo. I mean who loses 7-0 ? That guy must seriously suck to lose that bad
vsvicente66 on 16 Feb '12 said:
I would love to see all these updates on the upcoming FIFA 13, and all the comments are great ideas, but i got ideas of my own. 1st of all I'd love for the producers of the FIFA games to update the EA servers for god's sake. Every once in a while they go down and you can't use online, which takes away all the fun in FIFA. 2nd, who wouldn't want to see the crowd go into a riot? It might waste time and ruin the game, but wouldn't it be funny and awesome to have the whole crowd run around the stadium. This might be a one to 3 time thing in a year. 3rd, i would love to see the cameramen in the game to take a look around the stadium, point the camera at the crowd, the substitutes,manager, a close up of the player/goalie, it might make FIFA look 2 or 3 percent realistic. Some tiny details could make it look more realistic than previous games. That's all i ask
NKA on 22 Feb '12 said:
Fifa has come so far with improvement. Its a fact. However, there are still a few changes that the lovers of the fifa franchize expect. Each year a new one is released, it gets better and better. THUMBS UP to your GOOD WORK.
I am a die-hard fifa fun and I always argue to protect da fact that FIFA is better than PES. It is a huge competition out there so please work harder on the following...
1. Let the Ghana national team show up in Fifa for the first time.
2. Bad player-face recognition(eg.Neymar,Ramires,Raul Meireles, Marcelo, Ronaldo looks much like him on PES12 than he does on FIFA 12)
3. Player complexion(eg.Drogba of chelsea is way darker in da game than his skin actually is.
4. Team Managers should be shown in cut scenes.
5. The tight body siuts worn by real players underneath their jerseys, should be made available in the edit player mode.
6. Ability to Create your own club in the customize fifa section.
7. Ability to edit and create soccer boots of my choice. THANX alot.