As with every year, here in Australia we get Fifa usually up to couple of weeks before the rest of the world... God knows why, every other game comes in late.
I have collected my copy this morning and had a good play through most of the modes and instead of doing a proper review, I'll do a reference back to the demo and briefly comment on new things.
Overall, if you liked the demo, you'll ABSOLUTELY LOVE the full version. If you disliked the demo, you should give a full game a try for sure.
There were two major things that I didn't really like in the demo... some slowdowns/stuttering during corners and whenever there were lot's of players on screen, and lack of responsiveness of players...
PRESENTATION:
Well, the full version plays as smooth as a silk. 60fps, 720p only (back of the box of Xbox 360 version says 720p/1080i). So even though the game is not in 1080p like UCL was, the game still looks incredible. Most importantly is that the game never skips a beat. Having said that, not all cutscenes run smoothly, and those that are choppy are not as bad as the demo. So from graphics perspective (if we exclude cut scenes) the game is an absolute stunner. It is slightly disappointing to see cutscenes still not on par, but I'm sure most people skip them anyway.
Nets seem to have been tweaked too. I haven;t seen a ball getting "stuck" to it like it was a spider web, and they also seem more springy... However, nets are still not as good as PES' or Football Kingdom for example.
Demo had only one stadium, FIWC stadium, and it gave an OK indication of lighting engine during day matches. Some other stadiums look incredible... Night maches look really good. Better than UCL in my opinion, more realistic. The atmosphere is exceptional.
Sound is as good as it has always been with Fifa. Martin Tyler and Andy Gray do best commentary job ever in any video game to date. It is simply outstanding.
GAMEPLAY:
Now to the important bits. Gameplay has been tweaked. Especially is noticeable the responsiveness of the players. It is still not perfect, but is bloody close. Seriously, the first impression I've got as soon as I kicked off the very first match was that controls are tighter, players more responsive and that the game was 'easier' to play. After a few games I went back and started the demo... and goodness me, it was really different and irresponsive.
I think that poeple will like the controls and responsiveness. Like I said, there is still room for improvement, and they are not as tight as PES, but much much much improved from before.
A word of wisdom - READ THE MANUAL as it has some excellent points on controls. For example, you need to position the left stick to the side in order to give a swerve to your free kicks/corners/shots. However, this MUST be done WHILE YOU ARE PRESSING THE SHOT BUTTON. If you do it after the power bar has stopped, the shot will be just normal shot.
Another good tip was that all players by default "chase the ball" (EA fancy way of saying that players are on "rails"). So, by pressing L2 and R2 after the pass/cross etc... you can move players freely. And it works better than in a demo.
There are some other good tips, so have a looksy in the manual, it's worth it.
Another one was that game should be played using jogging mainly, not sprinting or with pace control. This gives far more opportunities to change your pace suddenly/or execute a trick move which gives you the edge over opponent then if you sprint constantly.
There are 5 difficulty settings: Amateur, Semi-Pro, Professional, World Class and Legendary.
MODES:
Be a pro mode is REALLY awesome and addictive. I had reservations about it, but I found myself really enjoying it. Camera works very well. I can see huge potential for online matches!!!
Manager mode is pretty much the same, you pick a team, a sponsor etc... The only addition is 3 currencies: Euro, Pound and Dollar.
Cup Mode is really what you expect, plenty of real world cups.
Challenges - I haven't tried any nor have I checked which challenges are there... YET
I haven't been able to test the game online and try new online modes as EA servers are not up and running, but I have no doubt that game will play with no lag as was the case with 07.
Fan shop gives the opportunity to purchase new footballs, 3rd kits, New arenas and players to play in arena, and celebrations.
CONCERNS:
The game isn't perfect and there are things that could have been ironed out.
My biggest concern are referees. There are not enough fouls in the game, and it seems like Ref favours very physical game. Even after sliding tackles, you are not guaranteed a foul. (This is quite a paradox, as ad boards have Fifa Fair Play all over them).
However, the rest are minor things, nitpicking really, and don't destroy overall good impression. These are:
- There are some clipping issues when crossing the ball. Sometimes, the player's foot goes through the ball.
- GK A.I. made some really ackward decisions couple of times (out of 40 or so matches). Not a biggie but still noticable.
- There are only a few ad boards in the game. Three of Fifa (Fair Play, Anti Racism, and Fifa.com), rest are EA sports, Fifa08.com, Need for Speed and that's about it. More variety would have been nice, especially since traditionlly Fifa has lots of these.
- Choice of sponsors in manager mode is SHOCKING... Seriously, whoever made up the list of sponsors is a shocker. Luckily sponsors in the game are just a gimmick.
- There are some quite good international teams missing, like Serbia for example.
Overall conclusion is that this is by far the best Fifa ever. And not just best Fifa, I'd argue that this is one of the finest football games I ever played (and I'm hard to please). The pace of the game is perfect in my oppinion, controls are responsive and quite complex (more variety), gameplay very addictive and extremely enjoyable, incredible physics engine, there are plenty of modes to keep the game going for a while (new online/offline modes), challenges, fan shop, awesome audio visuals, licences... Not sure what else we can ask for from a football game...
In my world, this is a strong 9/10 without any hesitation.
Post any questions if you have them, in case you can't wait until you play the full game.
Cheers.
I have collected my copy this morning and had a good play through most of the modes and instead of doing a proper review, I'll do a reference back to the demo and briefly comment on new things.
Overall, if you liked the demo, you'll ABSOLUTELY LOVE the full version. If you disliked the demo, you should give a full game a try for sure.
There were two major things that I didn't really like in the demo... some slowdowns/stuttering during corners and whenever there were lot's of players on screen, and lack of responsiveness of players...
PRESENTATION:
Well, the full version plays as smooth as a silk. 60fps, 720p only (back of the box of Xbox 360 version says 720p/1080i). So even though the game is not in 1080p like UCL was, the game still looks incredible. Most importantly is that the game never skips a beat. Having said that, not all cutscenes run smoothly, and those that are choppy are not as bad as the demo. So from graphics perspective (if we exclude cut scenes) the game is an absolute stunner. It is slightly disappointing to see cutscenes still not on par, but I'm sure most people skip them anyway.
Nets seem to have been tweaked too. I haven;t seen a ball getting "stuck" to it like it was a spider web, and they also seem more springy... However, nets are still not as good as PES' or Football Kingdom for example.
Demo had only one stadium, FIWC stadium, and it gave an OK indication of lighting engine during day matches. Some other stadiums look incredible... Night maches look really good. Better than UCL in my opinion, more realistic. The atmosphere is exceptional.
Sound is as good as it has always been with Fifa. Martin Tyler and Andy Gray do best commentary job ever in any video game to date. It is simply outstanding.
GAMEPLAY:
Now to the important bits. Gameplay has been tweaked. Especially is noticeable the responsiveness of the players. It is still not perfect, but is bloody close. Seriously, the first impression I've got as soon as I kicked off the very first match was that controls are tighter, players more responsive and that the game was 'easier' to play. After a few games I went back and started the demo... and goodness me, it was really different and irresponsive.
I think that poeple will like the controls and responsiveness. Like I said, there is still room for improvement, and they are not as tight as PES, but much much much improved from before.
A word of wisdom - READ THE MANUAL as it has some excellent points on controls. For example, you need to position the left stick to the side in order to give a swerve to your free kicks/corners/shots. However, this MUST be done WHILE YOU ARE PRESSING THE SHOT BUTTON. If you do it after the power bar has stopped, the shot will be just normal shot.
Another good tip was that all players by default "chase the ball" (EA fancy way of saying that players are on "rails"). So, by pressing L2 and R2 after the pass/cross etc... you can move players freely. And it works better than in a demo.
There are some other good tips, so have a looksy in the manual, it's worth it.
Another one was that game should be played using jogging mainly, not sprinting or with pace control. This gives far more opportunities to change your pace suddenly/or execute a trick move which gives you the edge over opponent then if you sprint constantly.
There are 5 difficulty settings: Amateur, Semi-Pro, Professional, World Class and Legendary.
MODES:
Be a pro mode is REALLY awesome and addictive. I had reservations about it, but I found myself really enjoying it. Camera works very well. I can see huge potential for online matches!!!
Manager mode is pretty much the same, you pick a team, a sponsor etc... The only addition is 3 currencies: Euro, Pound and Dollar.
Cup Mode is really what you expect, plenty of real world cups.
Challenges - I haven't tried any nor have I checked which challenges are there... YET
I haven't been able to test the game online and try new online modes as EA servers are not up and running, but I have no doubt that game will play with no lag as was the case with 07.
Fan shop gives the opportunity to purchase new footballs, 3rd kits, New arenas and players to play in arena, and celebrations.
CONCERNS:
The game isn't perfect and there are things that could have been ironed out.
My biggest concern are referees. There are not enough fouls in the game, and it seems like Ref favours very physical game. Even after sliding tackles, you are not guaranteed a foul. (This is quite a paradox, as ad boards have Fifa Fair Play all over them).
However, the rest are minor things, nitpicking really, and don't destroy overall good impression. These are:
- There are some clipping issues when crossing the ball. Sometimes, the player's foot goes through the ball.
- GK A.I. made some really ackward decisions couple of times (out of 40 or so matches). Not a biggie but still noticable.
- There are only a few ad boards in the game. Three of Fifa (Fair Play, Anti Racism, and Fifa.com), rest are EA sports, Fifa08.com, Need for Speed and that's about it. More variety would have been nice, especially since traditionlly Fifa has lots of these.
- Choice of sponsors in manager mode is SHOCKING... Seriously, whoever made up the list of sponsors is a shocker. Luckily sponsors in the game are just a gimmick.
- There are some quite good international teams missing, like Serbia for example.
Overall conclusion is that this is by far the best Fifa ever. And not just best Fifa, I'd argue that this is one of the finest football games I ever played (and I'm hard to please). The pace of the game is perfect in my oppinion, controls are responsive and quite complex (more variety), gameplay very addictive and extremely enjoyable, incredible physics engine, there are plenty of modes to keep the game going for a while (new online/offline modes), challenges, fan shop, awesome audio visuals, licences... Not sure what else we can ask for from a football game...
In my world, this is a strong 9/10 without any hesitation.
Post any questions if you have them, in case you can't wait until you play the full game.
Cheers.