Gamescom 2011 Hands On: FIFA 12

What it is: FIFA 12 competes with Madden NFL 12, also from EA Sports, for the titles of the best sold and most coveted sports simulation in the world of video games.

It might already be past August 15 but it seems like an eternity for all the fans who are interested in picking up the game so spending time with it is the highlight of many a player's Gamescom 2011

How it is: The first thing one notices when playing FIFA 12 is the presentation, which brings the game closer than ever to the real life feeling of watching a football match.

This year the commentary has received special attention, with those in the booth better able to read the flow of the game or to comment on dynamic events like certain players returning from injury.

The Player Impact Engine, which has been in development for about 2 years, is the big pure gameplay change and it allows the game to gain physicality and move closer to the real world than ever.

The entire game feels transformed with all the canned animations gone and players actually get entangled and trip over each other on the pitch.

Dribbling has also been made more dynamic, allowing players to just nudge their stick in order to launch impressive moves from the players they control, as long as they have the skill and are free of any interference from pesky defenders.

The graphics of FIFA 12 are also sharper than ever and EA Sports is saying that they are going to do another pass on the game before launch to tweak the animations and the faces of the more famous players.

When and on what: FIFA 12 will launch on September 29 on platforms like the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3, the PC, the Nintendo Wii and a host of mobile devices.

We have a special page with all our Gamescom 2011 coverage.