FIFA 12 (Wii) - Review by Chris

Introduction

As we've come to expect, EA's yearly updates of their sport related titles always prop up release schedules towards the end of the year and this year is no different, with FIFA 12 taking to the pitch across all platforms. With the Wii-U set for release in around 12 months, FIFA 12 could well be the last time we see a new entry in the franchise on Nintendo's current home console and with all of the missteps in the earlier entries, you'd hope that EA would have gotten their act together and brought out the best in the franchise on the Wii for a last hurrah. Does this entry finally find the back of the net?

Gameplay

Every year has seen EA tweaking the gameplay to try and find a niche that suits the Wii's main demographics, although every tweak decidedly cements the gameplay as an arcade style rendition of the real sport rather than focusing on the realism sought in the other versions, and while there haven't been any major changes to the action, there has been one addition to try and appeal to those seeking a more realistic game. Tactical Defence, a gameplay addition which has been a staple part of the other versions for several years now, makes its debut here on the Wii and hopes to bring a more realistic rendition of how playing in defence works. While on the back foot, you'll be able to tell certain players to move to certain positions or cover specific opponents to minimise their attempts at scoring a goal. In principle it's a great idea and has worked extremely well in those other versions to date but here, it doesn't quite come off with the game sometimes selecting the wrong players to move out and cover players leaving gaps in your defence.

It's perhaps not helped by the fact that while this new tweak is aimed at adding some realism to the game, the gameplay itself is planted in the realm of arcade, allowing for what would be ambitious at best shots from 40 yards out to be able to find their way into the back of the net. It's not necessarily a bad thing that the game continues to adhere to past experiences, as they have proven to be entertaining, but it has left the game, and presumably, stranded and not knowing exactly what style it should go with. It seems that the inclusion this time is perhaps to lay the foundations for what is to come next in the inevitable Wii-U version.

FIFA City is the biggest inclusion this year, incorporating the menus into a singular mode. You'll navigate it to get to the quick play or career options but in its own isolated spectrum, it provides a nice twist on the management format as you start off with a basic town and by playing matches, beating rival cities and taking on the 100 or so challenges, you'll be able to expand your team and city until it is something to be revered. It's a brilliant little inclusion that keeps your team's progress in full view in an overarching way, rather than confining it to a statistic tucked away in one of the mode. The issue, however, is that it is essentially another addendum to the staple career options, particularly Streets to Stadium, and after the inclusion of said mode last year, it does feel ever so slightly flat and does hint that the developers are running out of ideas for interesting mode inclusions.

Obviously, the staple modes of Quick Play, Battle for Glory, Streets to Stadium as well as the option for 5 vs. 5 instead of full team matches, which again provides a much more frantic and enjoyable experience than the full team experience allowing for big tricks and plays injecting some much needed adrenaline into what can sometimes feel like a sluggish shooting gallery, are all included along with the waste library of teams from leagues all around the world.

Perhaps the most glaring omission from this year's rendition is online play, which has been shelved completely. While it is understandable to a degree, provided that this really does turns out to be the last edition of the franchise on the Wii, having what has become a mainstay mode for the last few years complete disappear from the menu is a big detractor against the game, especially considering how fluid the gameplay and connectivity to EA's servers were. The scant new additions don't really make up for the omission leading to this year's title being a step backwards over last year's gameplay wise.

Controls

Continuing last year's trend, the game comes packaged with 3 different setups for play: the Wii-mote on its own or in conjunction with the Nunchuk and the Classic Controller. Each of these setups works largely as they did in 11 so if you've had experience there, you'll likely already have a tried and tested setup which you'll want to stick with. For the large part though, to get the most out of controlling the game you'll want to opt for either the Wii-mote and Nunchuk combo or the Classic Controller as they work the best, despite some learning curve to get used to the button layouts and issues with picking out team players for passing or for the tactical defence system making its debut.

Graphics

The cel-shaded, cartoony engine which has been a stock feature of many of EA's sport franchises on the Wii in the last few years continues here in the game and unfortunately, the game is definitely beginning to show its age, both as a result of the engine being employed as well as the hardware at work. While the character models look decent enough at a distance, up close you'll start to notice the relative low quality of the models at work, which become even more evident when you move away from the bigger teams to the lesser known ones. The lack of real time shadows for the players and some poor texture work also halts any attempts at progress over last year's titles.

This lack of detail continues over the stadia which, following on from last year, are basic in design and lack any sort of polish to tidy away the muddy textures, low resolution crowds, poorly detailed backgrounds for some of the smaller stadiums and some of the seams for the polygons. It's more evident in the bigger stadiums as opposed to the smaller ones used for the 5 vs. 5 ones but overall, they're hardly making the most of the hardware on offer. On the upside, the frame rate is stable throughout, showing that there has been some back end work on stabilising the engine but it does little to wash away the taste of a rather basic looking game.

Sound

The obligatory licensed soundtrack accompanies the game and it aims to provide something for everyone. Your tastes will determine how much you'll pay attention to what is on offer during the menus but more often than not, you'll take little notice as you quickly manoeuvre to get to the action. Commentary is once again comes from Martin Tyler and Andy Gray and while the sound quality is as good as ever, the actual commentary falls flat far too often, failing to keep up with the action partly as a result of the mish-mash of realism and arcade-y gameplay. Some of the sound effects do begin to grate, particularly the sounds of the crowds thanks to being at a lower quality than the rest of the audio.

Final comments

Far from being the proper send off for the franchise on the console that many would hope, FIFA 12 takes a few steps backwards over previous efforts and still feels stuck in no-man's land, suffering from an identity crisis. While gameplay tweaks from the bigger versions have finally found their way into this game to try and make it more realistic, it still clings loosely to the earlier arcade-y roots on the Wii and never provides that sophistication that many have wanted out of the game. It'll still provide hours of fun for fans but if you can do without the updated rosters, FIFA 11 is still the best option for FIFA fans on the Wii.

Pro: 5 vs. 5 football still provides the most fun, FIFA City is a nice addition that compliments Streets to Stadium well, tactical defence addition is long overdue
Con: Lack of online play, visuals starting to show their age, gameplay seems to be suffering an identity crisis
Final score: 6.5

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