The latest instalment of the famous FIFA franchise arrives on the iPad. And we have a stab, or rather a kick, at playing it. When it comes to sports games, not too many have the kind of following that EA’s legendary FIFA Football series has. So you can bet that when we got our hands on the latest edition of the game for the iPad, our expectations were on the high side. Mind you, getting it is a bit of a task – the game is a massive 1.03GB download. But once you get it and start it up, your first feeling is likely to be one of joy – for FIFA 12 does look very good indeed.
We are not going to get into the “console-like” graphics nonsense, but suffice to say that the game looks as good as any we have seen on a mobile device and better than most. Yes, the crowds look terribly wooden (and the commentary is so cliche-ridden, you would think Ravi Shastri was doing it), but the players look bigger than in previous versions and you actually feel closer to the action than you did in FIFA 11. Anyway, you are likely to be too engrossed in the action to notice this right away.
And like all sports games, it is in action where FIFA 12 comes into its own. Yes, it has a manager mode where you can just sit behind the scenes and pull strings, but it is on the pitch that the fun REALLY is, and where we spent most of our time with the game. Our experiences were, to be honest, mixed. Yes, we love the fact that we have access to so many official leagues and players (22 leagues, 500 teams, blah blah) and that player likenesses are about as good as we have seen on a tab – Rooney looked like Rooney, even though Stevie Gerrard made my wife wince (and she likes him!). But the control system frankly left us just a bit confused.
EA has tried to bring in elements of touch instead of relying totally on onscreen control buttons. Now, in principle, that is not a bad idea, but in actual implementation, when you are asked to hold down a direction key and swipe up or down the screen for something to happen…ah! We messed around with the concept for a bit, but found ourselves going back to the onscreen controls and having heaps of fun. Mind you, we still favour Pro Evo’s onscreen button set-up. It has fewer buttons to worry about (the D-pad and two buttons) whereas FIFA 12 throws a D-pad and three buttons at you. What’s more, unlike in FIFA 11, the buttons are lot more closely clustered together, and although they are bigger, we still took some time to stop hitting the ones we intended to miss.
Different combos lead to different moves, but our policy was to keep it simple, knock the ball around, and boy, it sure yielded results. Using the onscreen buttons also makes it a lot easier to play standing up – if you intend swiping for those dips, curves, and special moves, find a seat and lean the iPad on something! Another touch the game brings is the option to use your iPhones as controllers, keeping the screen totally uncluttered by your fingers. While handy, we preferred playing the game on the tablet itself, as pulling out two gadgets for one game seemed, well, a bit silly. But yes, a very good option if you go toe to toe against and opponent, which you can on local multiplayer. The pace of the game has also been slowed just a tad – so you can actually think before you pass/shoot/tackle/sprint/whatever. That is something we really like.
So, how do we rate FIFA 12? In terms of looks and teams and player likenesses, it is a very good football game. No, we do not like the controls that much, but if your are a FIFA addict, they are unlikely to come in your way. Massive download, yes. Worth $8.99? If you are a FIFA franchise fan, yes. Best football game on a tablet? We will let you know after we have tangled with Pro Evo 12.
A gentle tip: do NOT try to play this for too long on your iPhone 3GS or original iPad. Both devices will start stuttering after a while.
Get it from: iTunes App Store
Price: $8.99
