E3 2011 Hands On: FIFA 12

FIFA 12 could easily be seen as one of those revolutionary editions of the venerable football simulation series from EA Sports, with players looking back and talking about the moment when physics and realism really managed to make the franchise shine.

I played FIFA 12 at the E3 2011 event of Electronic Arts and came away impressed by how important the Player Impact System, taking together with new systems for dribbling and defense, can be.

FIFA 12 completely ditches canned animations and creates every interaction on the pitch using physics, meaning that it’s all plays out very close to a real match or something seen on television, especially when it comes to the duels seen between nimble attackers and big defenders.

It feels natural and compelling, even to a gamer like me, who enjoys the management of the game more than the actual controlling of players, and every move can have consequences, unintended, impressive or simply a little funny.

The fact that no two plays are alike makes everything more exciting and I found myself actually thinking about getting back into FIFA when it launched during September.

I also played a bit of the Nintendo 3DS version of FIFA 12, one which of course uses the three dimensional abilities of the new handheld, and have come away with positive impressions.

The game looks good and moves fast without any problems and the gain in perspective can make the game much more exciting for the player, as he begins to see how plays can move and evolve, but the 3D can quickly be tiring and I saw a lot of other players gaming on the 3DS with it turned off.

FIFA 12 is also getting a version on the iPad, with two players able to use two iPod devices in order to control the game, which I found to be a little unconventional but quickly became familiar and easy to use.