Sony PlayStation 3 320GB Slim with FIFA 12 PlayStation 3

Sony PlayStation 3 320GB Slim with FIFA 12 Product Details

Released on 30-Sep-2011

• FIFA 12 - Review

  Tactical reshuffle

  FIFA played the underdog to rival football series Pro Evolution Soccer for a long time, but in the last few years it has widely come to be regarded as the pace-setter in the genre. FIFA rose to the top of the league by subtly tweaking its game to closer resemble the way PES 'did' football, while layering its own mix of official licences and some excellent gameplay innovations over the top to create a match winner.

  But rather than play it safe and simply add the expected level of polish to its latest annual release, developer EA has opted to challenge some of the conventions that football games have followed over the last decade, resulting in one of the most significant FIFA updates in years.

  On the surface the game is quite similar to last year's effort, which is no bad thing. It looks and sounds gorgeous, with great attention to authenticity. Player likeness is better than it was in FIFA 2011, the stadiums are accurately recreated and the atmosphere inside them feels like it should on a match day. The commentary, provided by Clive Tyldesly, Andy Townsend, Martin Tyler and Alan Smith, is varied and largely reactive to what's happening on the field, even if there are still a few odd one liners delivered at inappropriate times.

  Physical Impact

  The biggest changes are apparent on the pitch, where FIFA 12's new physics engine gives a realistic feel to every contact. Players' body parts react to collisions depending on the position, direction and force of the impact, making tussles more tactical and tumbles more realistic, meaning you have to mix up play and cleverly work around obstacles.

  Going shoulder to shoulder with an opponent or being caught by a trailing leg will put you off your stride, alter your direction or leave you on the deck. Generally the collision detection works brilliantly, although if you've watched any FIFA 12 videos on YouTube you'll know it can result in some comedy moments as players trip over their own teammates, accidently collide off the ball, or occasionally flop around all over the place like a fish out of water following contact.

  Defence Minded

  Defending is tougher than in FIFA 11, with as much focus placed on positioning and intercepting passes as tackling. You no longer simply hold down a button to have your player home in on the ball. Instead, you guide your man towards the opponent with the ball using the analogue stick and the pair of them jostle for possession automatically. Fail to gain it this way and you'll need good timing to perform successful standing or sliding tackles.

  You can also hold down a button in an attempt to contain an opponent with the ball, prompting your player to keep their distance from the attacker, while holding the left trigger sees you run alongside them, mirroring their every move and enabling you to attempt to shepherd them away from dangerous positions.

  Attacking Effect

  The knock-on effect is that it's easier to dribble with the ball, with players displaying better control in tight spaces, making it even tougher to stop the likes of Ronaldo and Messi and ensuring there's plenty of open attacking football. It's a little easier to score one-on-ones too, so few of our games have ended with clean sheets.

  How you perform is measured in plenty of ways, whether playing solo, against others in friendly or competitive games, or even in the updated Career mode, which encompasses managers, players and player managers. You earn experience points for every match played and level up to build status, which can be compared against others on the web and though social networks like Facebook. There are even weekly challenges inspired by real world events, such as playing as Chelsea and attempting to overcome a 3-1 deficit with 40 minutes to go, something the London club failed to achieve a few weeks back.

  The new features build on a solid base from last year to deliver a comprehensive, up-to-the-minute experience that should feel fresh all year round. With ultra-slick presentation layered over tactically deep, rewarding gameplay, FIFA 12 is a football fan's dream of a game.

  GAME's verdict

  Good:
  + Another vintage year for FIFA.
  + Lovely presentation.
  + Varied gameplay modes and stat-tracking.

  Bad:
  - Collisions can create comedy moments.
  - Commentary might still be improved.
  - Management mode could be deeper.

   

  Review by: Tom 'No.9' Ivan
  Version Tested: X360
  Review Published: 28.09.11

  Published: 28/09/2011

• FIFA 12 - Review

  The football season may have started over a month ago, but for many fans of the beautiful game, the real season starts this month with the release of FIFA 12. In keeping with what seems to be EA Sports's prime directive with their football sim - which over the last four entries has been a steady drive towards realism - FIFA 12 has arrived with a list of features geared towards making everything look and feel as authentic as possible.

  The numerous tweaks to the gameplay centre around what the developers have been calling the 'holy trinity of precision dribbling, tactical defending and the new player impact engine'. The first of these allows players a more intimate control of the ball. They can shield it defensively against oncoming opponents, and can use finesse moves to create space or thread the ball through to team-mates running into space.

  The Beautiful Game?

  Tactical defending allows players to harass attackers with team-mates they aren't controlling. By pressing the right shoulder button they can remotely 'contain' the player with the ball, while using one of their own team members to cover players who are running into space. They can also press the B-button to knock players off the ball, or grab their shirts as they try to cut past.

  The biggest difference to the on-the-pitch action comes courtesy of the new player impact engine, which allows for more realistic in-game collisions between players. When players tackle or crash into each other, their size and the speed they were travelling at is taken into account. It also stops players from briefing melding with each other during collisions as in previous FIFA iterations.

  What this all means essentially is that FIFA 12 looks and plays far more realistically than its forebears. However, thanks to the new mechanics and a much-improved AI, it also means that it's a far harder game to master than any other FIFA title. Opponents shield the ball rather than running obligingly towards the player's defenders. AI defenders clog the box, making penetrating passes and cross far harder to get on the end of. It's also far harder to score goals in FIFA 12 and early on - unless the difficulty level is dropped below 'Professional' - it may cause some initial headaches for players used to hammering their opponents in FIFA 11.

  Messi or Messy?

  However, those who persevere will find EA's latest football sim is easily the best in the series to date, and it's not just the improved, challenging gameplay which makes going back to earlier iterations unthinkable. The new Career Mode - which once again condenses Be A Player, Be A Manager and Be A Player Manager modes - is easily the best of the series. Along with much shorter loading times, it boasts more realistic management of both players and budgets as well as the drama of transfer deadline day.

  Beyond the on-pitch action and local campaigns, the developers have stretched out to offer players a more engrossing online experience. To that end, players can now join up free of charge to the EA Sports Football Club, an RPG-based social network which allows them to support their club online. Everything players do in FIFA 12 earns them XP, which goes towards the average score of the club they support, pushing it further up the FIFA 12 online league. The EA Sports Club also offers players scenarios and challenges which will be based on match events that take place over the coming season - all for no extra cost.

  Alongside this, FIFA 12 has had its ranked online matches expanded to include Head To Head Seasons and Online Friendlies. The former puts players in a league contest in which they have 10 games to progress up 10 divisions by gaining points from wins or draws against opponents. Online friendlies, meanwhile, are aimed at those players unnerved at the prospect of being beaten by strangers. It's basically a friends-only league, in which players can compete for points and cups against their mates.

  Final Whistle

  FIFA 12 is the best iteration yet of EA's world-beating franchise, packing in new, more evolved on-pitch action with robust online and career modes. It's new, challenging gameplay may initially repel some players, but those that stick with it will find there's no better football experience to be had in gaming.

   

  

  Goal:
  + Deeper gameplay compared to previous releases.
  + The physics engine has been drastically upgraded.
  + Online competition to suit all tastes.

  Offside:
  - The new Impact Engine can result in some comedy collisions.
  - The ramped-up difficulty may be too much for some.
  

• FIFA 12 beats GTA IV sales record

  There'll be champagne and posh sarnies at EA Sports this week, as evergreen footy franchise FIFA kicked off the 2012 season in fine style, becoming the third fastest selling game in UK history. Its massive first week sales have nudged Rockstar's hugely successful GTA IV into fourth place, with only Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops beating FIFA 12 in sheer sales force.

  It all adds up to a thriving multiplayer community, especially as the vast majority of copies sold were for Xbox 360 and PS3. Between them, those consoles accounted for 98 percent of the FIFA 12 boxes passing the till. The official game website has a ticker displaying how many online games have been played. As of Monday, the number was approaching fifteen million. Not bad for one weekend.

  So if you haven't got on the pitch yet, what's keeping you? Get your boots on!

• FIFA 12 breaks series records to top UK charts

  FIFA 12 has scored a spectacular debut in the UK all-formats charts, notching up by far the biggest launch numbers of any FIFA game to date.

  EA Sports' latest football blockbuster enjoyed first-week sales that were 18 per cent above the previous high watermark, last year's FIFA 11, thus propelling the game straight to the top of the official GfK-ChartTrack rankings.

  As well as being the biggest FIFA launch ever, it was also the third-biggest debut of any title in UK history, behind only the two most recent Call of Duty games.

  FIFA 12's barnstorming entrance meant Gears of War 3 - which enjoyed a massive launch of its own last week - fell to second place, with F1 2011 in third.

  The only other newcomer in the top ten was the acclaimed Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection for PlayStation 3 in seventh.

  Next week will see the launch of several eagerly-awaited games, including id Software's new shooter Rage and the acclaimed Japanese cult sequel Dark Souls.

  Published: 03/10/2011

• FIFA 12 is now the highest grossing sports game of all time

  As another weekend disappears into the rear view mirror of history, EA Sports' perennial footy game spent a fifth consecutive week at the top of the UK charts, its seventh time in the number one slot since its launch in September last year.

  That success was rather dwarfed by an even more impressive achievement: FIFA 12 has now made more money than any other sports game in the UK, ever. It's slurped up more cash than any previous FIFA title, more than every tennis game, every athletics game, even more than PDC World Championship Pro Darts.

  Few would begrudge the series its phenomenal success, and even though the feat is clearly helped by the fact that there are more consoles and gamers in circulation today than at any point in British gaming history, it's still an achievement worth celebrating.

  FIFA 12 is out now for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC and pretty much every electronic device you can think of. Yes, even your toaster.
  

• FIFA 12 breaks records with fifth straight chart-topping week

  EA Sports' FIFA 12 has claimed a fifth successive week atop the UK all-formats chart, breaking a number of industry records in the process.

  Official GfK-ChartTrack figures show that the football sim is now the highest-grossing sports game in UK history, outselling all previous FIFA titles and spending a total of seven weeks on top of the charts.

  The game's current five-week winning streak is also the second-best of any FIFA entry, behind only FIFA: Road to World Cup 98, which spent 11 straight weeks as the UK's top-selling title.

  Second place this week went to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the UK's Christmas number one, while a trio of threequels - Just Dance 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3 - rounded out the top five.

  Also riding high were Zumba Fitness and Zumba Fitness 2, Saints Row: The Third and the acclaimed Rayman Origins, marking its first appearance in the top ten with a ninth-place finish.

  This week will see the return of the Resident Evil series with Resident Evil Revelations, an all-new adventure for Nintendo 3DS.
  

  Published: 23/01/2012

• Games you can't afford to miss from 2011

  
  

  There's no denying it, we've been spoiled rotten by the flood of quality games this year. There isn't enough time in the day to get through them all! Fortunately, the Christmas holidays are here to give us a little more time to catch up on the best of 2011.

  We've hand-picked a selection of games from this year's release schedule that are all worthy of your Christmas Gaming time...

  Batman Arkham City

  

  A comic hero game that turned out to be very good? We were left speechless when Arkham Asylum was released in 2009. Even more incredibly, Rocksteady Studios' sequel managed to be even better than the first!

  Batman Arkham City sets you in a massive open world, players assume the role of a Batman imprisoned in the sprawling super-prison of Arkham City. Every nemesis you could hope for makes an appearance in the game - as well as an epic storyline offering dozens of hours of gameplay, there's a huge quantity of sidequests and missions to explore once you've put the baddies to bed.

  Uncharted 3

  

  This third outing for Nathan Drake is his grandest adventure yet. Set amongst deserts, lost cities and ruins, Uncharted 3 is a technically astonishing PlayStation 3 game that features all of the exploration, fighting and explosive set-pieces we've come to expect from the series.

  Better multiplayer, more customisation options and some of the most impressive motion-capture animations to hit gaming make Uncharted 3 an unmissable, cinematic rollercoaster. Don't miss out on one of gaming's finest adventures.

  The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

  

  If you can't get your money's worth out of a game like The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, you're very hard to please indeed! Bethesda's follow-up to the best-selling game Oblivion left players and critics alike reeling. A gorgeously rendered, enormous world stuffed with terrifying dungeons, endless quest-lines and open-world dragon fights, Skyrim packs more content into a side-quest than most games manage full stop.

  Are you an archer, berserker, magician or rogue? Whatever your play-style, there's a highly customisable role for you in this most epic of RPGs. Hundreds of hours of gameplay are here for players to gorge themselves on, all spread across a game that is likely to become one of the most fondly remembered of this generation. The greatest RPG of all time? It might just be.

  Gears of War 3

  

  Tying up all the loose ends of the previous games, this climax to the best-selling Gears of Wars franchise sees Marcus Fenix and co set out to finish the Locust Horde once and for all in Gears of War 3. Some of the most awesome baddies the series has ever seen make their appearance in this conclusion, and there'll be no shortage of sweaty palms once the fighting's over.

  Multiplayer provides endless re-playability for the game, as you team up with friends to take on wave after wave of Locust forces. If you'd rather rip your friend's face off than lend a helping hand, you can now fight as the enemy, raining horrible destruction on your whole family once the Christmas pudding's gone down.

  FIFA 12

  

  Once mocked by gamers for churning out what often amounted to little more than annual updates, EA has been on a charm-offensive these last five years or so, bringing significant innovation and improvements to their flagship footie title every single time.

  FIFA 12 sees the introduction of a far more dynamic system for defending where you can link up with an AI defender to put pressure on attackers. Head to Head seasons allow you to take part in a highly competitive ladder tournament, while simply playing the game also adds points to your chosen club. It's as addictive as ever, and about as fully-featured a sports game as we could hope for.

  The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword

  

  The perfect game to settle into while the family are having a good old row downstairs,The Ledgend of Zelda Skyward Sword will charm the pants off you with it's perfect telling of the classic Zelda tale, mixed with the best combat and world design the series has ever seen.

  Set prior to the events of the N64 (and now 3DS) classic Ocarina of Time, Skyward Sword starts off in a beautiful cloud city by the name of Skyloft. Of course, it's not long until Link's childhood friend Zelda is whisked off into the lands below, beginning a fantastic journey of world exploration, soaring flight, and devilishly tricky dungeons. Skyward Sword is a must-play for any Zelda fans, past or present.

  Published: 14/12/2011

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