Simple. Take "real" to a completely new level. Which is exactly what FIFA '11 has done.
The title set the bar for sports video games for years to come and certainly has won over critics and gamers alike.
Without further introduction, I give you the full, definitive VGH review of FIFA '11.
Notable New Features
Last year's FIFA title did not emphasize game types and features, which left a lot of fans wanting more in their FIFA experience. FIFA '11 revisited the overall game experience and added some features that all types of FIFA fans can enjoy.
First off, the return of custom formations and tactics is very much welcomed by the serious gamers, much to the dismay of casual gamers who can't get the handle of creating your own set piece plays and build-up strategies to create goal-scoring opportunities.
The addition of a Replay Theater is long overdue in FIFA. Now your greatest goals and moments can be saved for you to appreciate and show-off to your friends. One tiny nusiance of this mode is the memory space. After a few breath-taking goals, you'll have to be deciding which are worth keeping in your replay library.
Another interesting addition to this year's FIFA is custom chants and songs for specific teams. Being able to have different chants and songs play during specific events in a match sounds exciting, right? Unfortunately, the prototype is lacking simplicity and the whole process of uploading and transferring your chant/song just isn't worth the one or two times you hear it in a game.
Manager Mode has been renamed into Career Mode, and has been sugar coated with a few asthetically pleasing upgrades. Such as the main hub has the look of a website, and the way you navigate through your career is a completely new feel, which may not necessarily be better, but is a change of pace from the usual run of the mill career mode.
Last, but certainly not least, this year FIFA added a "Be-A-Goalkeeper" game mode. It is the final move in the online teamplay/Be-A-Pro project that started way back in FIFA '08. With the final addition of the 11th man being user controlled, it is now possible to play full 11v11 user controlled games.
Unfortunately, this amazing accomplishment doesn't exactly mean a successful game type. While it is exciting to make that clutch save late in the game, you never see much action in the keeper position. Most games you spend running in circles to pass the time while your team has possession in the opposite side of the field. The game mode doesn't have a lot of flaws, the only complaint would be poor keeper animations for trying to defend finesse shots.
The Creation Centre
Seemingly identical to NCAA's "Team Builder" the FIFA Creation Centre adds more customization than ever to the FIFA experience. Through the easports website, players can now create up to fifty custom teams with custom kits, stadiums, club badges, and of course, players. It is a dream come true for those players who are tired of playing with the same players and teams year in and year out. Now you can create that glorious 1999 Manchester United squad that won the Treble, or the "unbeatables" of Arsenal in 2004. You'll never run out of ideas to create here.
If you have Xbox Live (which, I am assuming the only reason you have an Xbox would be XBL), you are able to download your custom teams, or custom teams of your peers, and play with them in Exhibition games, Create-A-Tournament, and Online-unranked matches. Slightly disappointing that you cannot run a career with your team, but this is the first year of the Creation Centre. I have encountered a few slight inconveniences in the transfer between web and XBL. Such as players not loading properly, whole teams disappearing, and my Xbox freezing.
Gameplay
Quite simply, the most realistic gameplay this gamer has ever experienced. Real-type physics and 360 degrees of player control makes for exciting games and very little room to blame the A.I. for mistakes. You can now fight for position off the ball, and use the player's bodies to create advantages that weren't possible in the past. Defensive timing and patience is more important than ever, and offensive creativity and agressiveness can frustrate even the most calm FIFA veteran.
New to the FIFA series is the inclusion of Personality+, which gives each player a "personality" on the pitch. How they run, how they fight, how they perform in different situations, making them seem more like their real-life counterparts. For example, players like Nemanja Vidic will go in for crunching tackles and might draw fouls from the referee. Players like Wayne Rooney will be difficult to knock off the ball, and more prone to agression off the ball. Of course, Lionel Messi will be more balanced than most players, and is more likely to draw fouls when he turns defenders.
These "personality" traits are similar to the "weapons" that have been included in American football games, however these Personality traits do not enhance the player's ability on the pitch, just how you should use the player.
Another huge, less talked about change, is the new penalty kick system. In the past you would simply hold down the shoot button and aim for a spot, with the only possibility of missing being if you overshot. In other words, penalty shoot-outs came down to luck on the goal keeper's side. Now, there is a moving bar that determines accuracy, as well as still having to aim your shots, but the odds of overshooting are drastically increased. I find myself dreading penalty shoot-outs because more than likely the user will miss at least one.
Depth
This might be FIFA's deepest and most creative game yet. The realism of the career mode can keep most FIFA fans occupied for a few seasons, as things such as scheduling changes, player tiredness, and transfers have been modified to simulate the real world.
The game retains all of the same leagues from FIFA '10, stretching from the big three all the way to the second tier of Brazilian football. For fans who love to play with different teams, this game is what you are looking for.
The popular Lounge mode is back, for those of you who are unfamiliar with this, it is an off-line "league" that you can create with your friends. This is a brilliant mode if you have lots of friends who play FIFA, and often.
Be-A-Pro is back in FIFA '11 following a great reaction from the fan base. Once again you can create your own player, suit up for your favorite club, and then take him online to play with 21 other users in a massive match. Then, you and your friends, or you can be scouted by serious gamers, can start up an online pro club, in which you can record statistics and climb to the top of the leader board to become the best virtual football team in the world.
HOW DOES IT LOOK? Brilliant. Player models are better than ever, new animations allow for a new type of look to the game. Stadiums finally get the makeovers they deserve, this game is very pleasing to the eye.
HOW DOES IT SOUND? The main menu music is yet again one of the best soundtracks in sports video games, music from English indie to German techno, there is something in this for everybody. As far as sound effects go, it is classic FIFA. The sound of boots smashing the ball, and the crowd all around you immerse you in this game.
HOW LONG WILL IT LAST? That is entirely up to the player. This game can be played all the way until FIFA '12 comes out. Once you are done conquering the world in Career Mode, you can hop over to Be-A-Pro and start your player's legacy, or if you have roommates who love FIFA, lounge mode is the way to go.
HOW IS IT PRESENTED? Like one of the best sports simulation games of our generation. Few things are more enjoyable than scoring that winning goal in the dying minutes against a rival online. The game is disciplined, outside of a few EA Server bugs.
FINAL VERDICT
I have been an avid FIFA fan since FIFA World Cup 2006, what I used to regard as my favorite sports game of all-time. FIFA brought the hammer this year, and this game is not only worth your money, but it is worth recommending to all of your soccer friends. Even non-soccer friends who are thinking about giving the sport a chance after the World Cup. While it is desheartening that another FIFA title (2010 World Cup) was released not too long ago, that does not diminish the value of FIFA '11. I firmly believe I will play this game for months to come, and I expect it to sweep video game awards.
See for yourself.
Buy.This.Game.ASAP.
This game is a multi-platform game available on the Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and Playstation 3. This review is based on the Xbox 360 version.
Fifa 11 is brilliant! Great review.
Glad to see some love for FIFA 11. It is a brilliant game
That it is!
I agree, I've spent alot of time on the EA forums since FIFA's release date and the amount of people complaining really does my head in, coming up with every single stupid bug, fault or glitch!
It's like it may have the odd bug and stuff but that doesn't take away the fact it's one of the best games to be released. And I've not had any problems with mine.
FIFA is awesome! FIFA is quality! FIFA 11 is the best football game we've had!
Couldn't agree with the above post more. FIFA 11 is fun and fresh and takes all the elements of past games and makes football as brilliant as it should be.
I think gameplay wise, this is the best FIFA game by a mile, but for some reason the online is as laggy as hell! I have a decent connection and play fine online on other games, but sometimes it will get so bad I can count 5 seconds before my player reacts to a button press!
But it's really the EA servers, not the game.
If the game wasn't lightspeed fast, it would be the perfect football experience. It is still awesome though.
game better then before!
everyone always complains about any game that comes out and the game itself is amazing even with small imperfections
I know.. the EA forum is the worst for complaints.. ever other post is people complaining and it does my head in.
It's getting better and better each year! It's funny because I was actually a PES fan up until PES 2007 then I switched to FIFA so only been playing FIFA for 3/4 years and all I do now is rave about how good it is, it was probably good back when I played PES just that I'd got so used to PES and didn't think about trying FIFA lol.
FIFA 11 in most ways is better this year. The players animations when fighting for the ball or doing a sweet kick are what I like best about the game. But they could have made manager mode alittle more in-depth because they took quite abit out of it this year.
"It's not light speed fast. You can slow down the game speed, maybe that could help?"
It does help, but it's a shame that you can't do it in Career Mode matches, only in exhibition.
The passing is what is killing me.
It's not that I am trying to make unrealistic passes.
I press up on the stick and try to pass it to, let's say, my left attacking mid. The game will then pass it to my striker who is more forward and who I don't want to pass to at all. the defense easily takes it and my whole push is wasted. this happens to me too much.
it's frustrating and is causing resentment. I really want to fix this issue so I can enjoy this game!
So far, the game seems a lot easier than World Cup. The first game I played I was up 6-0 in the first half and it easily could have been 9-0.
Time to bump up to World Class... after two games.
Didnt play World Cup so I find this game fairly difficult... Play on Pro and in '10 Id say I averaged 5 goals a game ( 5 min halves ). Now Id say I average 1.5... But its still a better game cos its more realistic..
I agree about the passing.. Pretty frustrating at times.. Id recommend trying the lobbed through pass ( LB +Y ).. Been a real savior for me..
I can't see how you can complain about such a wonderful game, everything is perfect, what they should do is update rosters in offline modes too, now even sure if they do it with online squads, sometimes it's just really not up to date and with Rooney leaving MU, I'm frustrated about having outdated rosters for my offline matches against my friend.
@Gast0rz
You do know you can update the rosters yourself, right?
The precision passing feature is a bit of a double edged sword. While I like being able to improve my passing ability WHILE I am playing the game, I also hate that it essentially chooses who you are passing to, which can shut down movements if the A.I. chooses the wrong man.
A small annoyance, but nothing I am too concerned about.
Quick question for the readers...
Do you think this game is more or less balanced than FIFA '10?
I feel like FIFA 11 worked out the kinks of balancing from FIFA 10.
I just had the most rewarding moment ever.
USA vs England.
Down 1-0.
117 minute.
Possess the ball and do smart things switch it to donovan.
Bridge split two defenders and lay a perfect through ball to michael bradley.
Slots that **** so nice.
120 minute 1-1 runs to corner and call all my teamates and 7 guys mob in a pile in the corner.
**** was so ****!!!
The celebration system is so ****!!!! CASH!!!
It's a long read..
I feel EA really let us down this year. I buy Fifa mainly for MM - I play FM alot too, but when you get a craving to actually dive in and play it doesn't satisfy you. Anyway, I feel MM was really screwed this year. I mean, they fixed the massive problem I had of last year - the -2bn glitch, that meant I couldn't move between clubs. However, I used to love finding a gem in the lower leagues and having him become a first team regular within a season, or sending my scout out to find uber youngsters that were already world-class. Now, however, they've removed this. I do miss the old manual player growth system of 08/09 which made developing players so much fun. But now I can't see the direction. Player OVR goes up and down completely randomly, and a youngster at a 75 will just stay like it for years. It's crazy.
As this wasn't bad enough, older players never change either. So, at 40, Shay Given was still an 80 OVR. A good keeper, but barely any players could be an 80 at 40 years old. As a result, when I got to six seasons in and a job at Liverpool, their first team contained a 34 y/o Joe Cole, a 38 y/o Steven Gerrard, a 33 y/o Torres and a 36 y/o Maxi. All at the same ratings they have at the start of the game. Good, even world class players, but Gerrard an 88 at 38? It aint gonna happen. Because of this, no players ever move teams and every team is just full of players that are in their late 30's. Its only worth buying established players.
To take scouting/player growth out was a mistake. It makes MM go stale after about 3 seasons, when there are no decent youth players and all the good players are getting to be to old. It needs to be back for the next one. Other than that the transfer searching system is messed up still - I'm glad they finally put in a search by nationality (even though you have to trawl through every nation before getting to a nation beginning with say, M) but transferring is ridiculous. Last years transferring was fine - but now to get a decent player the wages and prices are massive. 900,000 for a 40 year old goalkeeper? You used to be able to pick up real bargains, but now its impossible because the price or wage is too high. Which basically means unless you have a large amount of money, its really hard to find players - especially if you're in the lower leagues.
Don't get me wrong, its still fun to play with a group of mates, but I've become disillusioned with FIFA only two weeks after its come out. I do enjoy BAP still (although team mate AI is sometimes ridiculous) and I can't comment about online play, because I rarely play. But I really feel I've been schafted by MM this year.
I totally agree with you. Manager Mode is pretty much all I play, and I loved seeing players in my team progressing. I loved buying a cheap, 19 year old player with a 72 rating and watching him become a 85 a couple of seasons later. Now it only happens very rarely that players make progress and this is also a big letdown for me.
I still love this game, but I feel like the Manager Mode is missing this crucial part.
Agreed 100%. The on-field game of soccer i feel is better in Fifa 2011. But Manager Mode has gotten progressively worse since 2008 or so. I don't understand why they take features AWAY rather then add more in. Makes no sense. If it doesn't change by next year I may have bought my last Fifa game. I stopped buying Madden, a series I bought yearly like clockwork since I was a child, for the past few years for this same reason- they took features out of Franchise mode without adding anything decent to replace it except new rosters.
They need to put growth back to how it was in 06. I think it was perfect then. I enjoy the transfers I think its done well and mine is fine, just wish they wouldnt only show 50 players. And scouting definately needs to be reintroduced, its stupid taking it out. They need to make it so you scout real players though.
Is it too much to ask for fifa to have AI transfers option off and to have champions cup in the first season? thats all i want...nothing too complicated just real rosters and ability to play champions league in the first season
This is getting ridiculous.. i thought the 100 wins last year was broken and hoped they'd fix it but apparently not.
'Against the odds - win a head to heard ranked match using a weaker team' - playing as man city i have beaten real madrid, arsenal, milan, chelsea and spain, pretty sure they're all ranked higher than I am
'good form - play five consecutive head to heard ranked matches without losing' - i currently have a nine game streak but as a number of those have quit out, it's just not happened,
Quitting doesn't count.
@Onyx75
Unless you mean, broken in the context that they really just shouldn't be added due to the nature of Fifa's online play.
The Good Form achievement is becoming a pain to me. Have you all noticed that a lot of people is quiting so much matches? I hate that I win the match, and just before the Re-match screen appears, they go to the dashboard. It's good that even if they go the dashboard or turn off their console they still lose the game but I wish EA could fix that this 3-0 automatic wins counted to get the achievement.
@Mrawesome
That sound rewarding, moments like that take this game to another level! Show me something like a late equalizer that makes you jump for joy! Or something like conceding that late winner that makes your heart drop.
And yes I love the celebration system, except when my online opponents use it to add insult to their goals.
@Deceber
That's an interesting point you bring up. I did notice the player development is completely A.I. driven now, rather than EXP points you would earn in games. I'm not a big fan of that, especially since some players are destined to improve faster and farther, no matter how often you play them.
I just finished my first season with Manchester United and the progression/regression of player ratings seems on point. My older veterans like Van Der Sar, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, and yes even Ryan Giggs have dipped in rating, while my young starts like Nani and Chicarito are improving.
I'm also still unsure how I feel about my young reserves losing rating points if I don't play them enough during the season. Why would I field 60-70 overall players more than 2 or 3 times a season?
Thanks for the feedback man! Greatly appreciated.
@FSEM10
That drives me crazy as well! Having to wait a WHOLE season until I can play in Europe?? It's a let down.