What do you think of the FIFA Soccer 12 Demo?

Jayson Young: FIFA 12's player movement and contact animations put every other sports franchise, except Backbreaker to shame. The fluidity of movement is simply amazing, especially coming off playing robotic, unrealistic-looking games like Madden and NCAA Football.

FIFA 12 achieves broadcast realism with its television camera view, top-notch commentary, gorgeous lighting and boisterous stadiums.

Teammate AI remains the FIFA series' weakest point. There's still the feeling that you have to do everything yourself, and are stuck playing 1 vs. 11 against the CPU while the rest of your team plucks daffodils and stares emptily into space.

Overall, FIFA 12 seems to be an early game of the year favorite, well ahead of the mediocre American football titles that have shipped the last two months.

Kelvin Mak: I like it, but I don't love it.

First off, it's an incredibly good looking game. The presentation is beautiful, as are the stadium and the pitch itself. Players have a variety of animations, and I especially loves the little dink passes from the more skillful ones. This is the closest I've seen in a soccer video game to visually replicate the real thing.

The new collision system is a work in progress, which is expected. I don't think anybody thought that right out of the gate EA would get this one even close to perfect. At its best, the collisions look and function great, with players tussling and tumbling when they lose balance. But at its worst, it reminded me of something of a cross between NHL 12-- smashmouth bodychecks with no fouls called-- and The Three Stooges.

Tactical defending is a solid concept, and it was the one thing I looked forward to trying out. But the execution, so far in the demo, falls just short. I found it a little difficult to contain the opposition on the ball, but that's not my main gripe as a good half hour or so in the tutorial taught me to be patient. My main problem is that the my AI teammates can get very bloody passive (read: clueless). It's sort of like the pendulum has swung too far the other way, as in previous FIFAs you wouldn't have been able to breathe once you passed the halfway line, now it seems like you get too much time. This is especially evident when the opposition enters my defensive third and on crosses. My best bet to get an AI centerback to do his job and apply pressure, so far, is to get on my knees and pray. Hopefully this is something that will be fixed by slider or tactic tweaks. But even with the missteps, this is still a necessary step forward for the series.

Speaking of tactics, it's hard to spot how the game plays when I'm playing with one eye on the clock with the three minute halves, but I see encouraging signs that not everything needs to be funneled down the wings. With precision dribbling, which was a blast to use in tight areas, I've played some beautiful interchanges with Xavi and Iniesta before sending Messi clear to slot it home. 

So after playing the demo, FIFA 12 is basically exactly what I thought it would be -- a year of necessary innovation that hasn't worked out all its kinks just yet.

Dustin Toms: I'm going to be honest right off the bat. I haven't played FIFA since '09, so I'm a little behind in the times when it comes to soccer gaming (last one I played was PES on the 3DS).

With that out of the way, I can say I'm somewhat impressed with the FIFA 12 demo. I know the franchise has been highly praised in the past, and I think that praise will continue.

The commentary is refreshing, especially after playing Madden for the past two weeks. They do a great job at keeping the game interesting while calling the match at the same time.

The tactical defense is pretty slick as well. Unlike Kelvin, I felt it was a little too easy to contain your defender. It gets more difficult as you up your level, but with skill, time and patience, it won't be hard to master whatsoever.

I wish I could go more in depth, but I haven't played FIFA for a couple years so I'm not sure what has been in the game. But it definitely seems like a good game to grab. With that said, the game is fun but not great. It feels too easy right now, but the three-minute halves don't let you get a feel for the game at all.

Caley Roark: Like my colleagues, I found a lot to like in the limited time I had to play the demo. 

First, the tactical defending, even if it isn't 100 percent effective, should make defending a bit more fun. In the past, it was too easy to ride the A button the entire game. Sure, that wouldn't have meant consistent success, but it didn't demand much though either.

The new system feels a lot better, but it also seems a little "under-tuned," for lack of a better word. I thought the tutorial felt great, but in-game, the defending seemed watered down in comparison. Like Kelvin points out, the AI doesn't help much, and you are often left trying to double the pressure while actually moving to cover someone else.

I think offense feels really good, especially the passing and the deflected shots. I felt like the AI defenders gave me too much room to maneuver, but when it came down to crunch time, I didn't ever seem to have good lanes to shoot through. Almost seemed like they were playing a "bend but don't break" defense.

Beyond that, presentation is great, but has been for a while in this series, so it didn't feel that new to me.