With soccer stars Kaka, Landon Donovan and Carlos Vela gracing the cover of the new FIFA 11, I couldn’t pass up this new game.Latest installment of FIFA best of all.
The 18th installment in the highly successful franchise, released in December 2010, and is for all major consoles (PS3, Xbox 360, etc). It comes with up- to-date squads, newly added leagues and teams and a number of new features and perks in the game.
For instance, as the game’s motto, WE ARE 11, reference to the 11 men on a team’s side on the field, gamers can now play as the goalkeeper, a mode never experienced in earlier titles. They can do it all from saving and preventing goals from being scored and the goal keeper you play as will have what is called Goalkeeper Intelligence, where the keeper will be more aware and alert depending on the situation.
I really was impressed with this feature because now I felt the pressure of being a top goalkeeper like Iker Casillas of Spain and Real Madrid and Julio Cesar of Brazil and Inter Milan.
A unique feature about the game is its new Two Button Play system. This is for gamers who have never even inserted the game into their playing console, and this simple to master and is good for beginners. Even though I am of intermediate level, this is a key perk to the series because more younger and inexperienced players can master the game.
Players now can enter the Creation Center in game where they can do everything from create a player, upload a picture of their face and use that to create their own legend, edit squads and even
bring up and edit and upload that excellent save or once-in-a-lifetime goal to EA SPORTS’s soccer website, www.easportsfootballworld.com for all the FIFA world to see and comment.
Also, the game features a redesigned career mode where the player can choose one of three paths as a player, player manager or manager, giving the player more reasons to play for longer periods of time. The career mode features certain aspects as if you were a real player or manager, such as getting comments and feedback and even being picked for a match as a player, or taking on the payroll squad selection and firing of staff as manager. I was impressed by how many scenarios your career can be from player to promotion through the ranks.
In addition to new game features, the players in the game have been revamped with better features such as replicating the style of play and composure that their real-life counter parts portray. For example, Lionel Messi’s quickness will be exactly in the game as in real life.
Additionally, the battle for possession just got more intense with the new 360-degree dribbling and defending. Another great and realistic element of FIFA 11 is Pro Passing, where the player’s own accuracy at the control will determine whether Kaka passes it just right to Messi and a goal is scored or Cristiano Ronaldo passes it too short and gives up possession to Barcelona.
I especially liked how EA SPORTS created the players with these features, because it gives the game more realistic characteristics to each of the players.
I definitely urge any die-hard soccer fan to go out and purchase FIFA 11. I would also recommend it to anyone who would like to be introduced to the game. For not only is it the best game in the series, but it also will be a good icebreaker among friends and even for a man’s night out. I can’t wait to playing as Barcelona against Real Madrid any day of the week as long as it’s being played in FIFA 11.
