14 DAY TRIAL // FIFA 12 has a lot of hype to live up to, mainly because of the all new, two years under development Player Impact Engine that allows for player to interact with each other and with the ball in a more realistic manner.
A demo is not a perfect way of evaluating the way the series has changed but EA Sports has advertised FIFA 12 enough that as soon as it was playable in my own computer I quickly downloaded the demo and chose to play a few matches using Arsenal (she for not including my beloved Liverpool).
After half a dozen of matches I can safely say that the new mechanics introduced in FIFA 12 change the series significantly but that, at the same time, the impact (pun intended) of the new physicality is smaller than it seemed when seeing the game played by others and after my brief time with it at E3 2011.
It's nice to see player clashing in a realistic manner, especially when a late tackle takes place or when a promising attacking run is interrupted via physical contact with a defender.
The player now has more options both in attack and defense, although it might take some time to integrate them all into a coherent game plan.
The presentation has also been worked on, the style is now much closer to the way the Champions League is presented, although I get the sense that after a while most gamers will just skip all these nice polished bits.
The FIFA 12 demo also has some of the issues that have long plagued the series, like the fact that it's at times much too easy to get to in front of goal from wide positions without any opposition from the defenders and the way Artificial Intelligence controlled players tend to run too much around the field without passing the ball.
Take a look at how the demo version of FIFA 12 plays: