OS Roundtable: Does FIFA Get Enough Credit?

[RaychelSnr]

Quick! Name the top selling sports video game in the world. If your answer was FIFA Soccer, then you are correct. FIFA 12 has hit store shelves and it is largely receiving pretty positive feedback from consumers and critics alike. But yet, come the end of the year, FIFA will probably not be in the discussion for Sports Game of the Year on most sites -- despite quality which seems to be on par with our genres best.

So the question OS Staffers is: Does FIFA get a fair shake? Do we give the series enough credit or is it unfairly punished for being a game replicating a sport which most in this country couldn't care less about?

Find out their responses after the jump.

Read More - OS Roundtable: Does FIFA Get Enough Credit?

[209vaughn]

FIFA games have been my favorite the past few years. I've also started watching a lot of European and MLS soccer on TV too b/c of it.

Amazing game and sport. The EA Sports Football (american) franchises have not changed at their core. Its the same mechanics, the same AI, the same fundimental on the field action the past 12 years. FIFA franchise has really focused on making on the field controls that are realistic, fun, well balanced, challenging as heck, intelligent and with tight controls.

[Qb]

For me, Kelvin's opinion is the most astute. I see FIFA12 as a large step forward with room to grow, particularly in the kind of nuances that earn series like MLB The Show and NBA 2K such high praise. For instance, The Show simply oozes baseball due in large part to the famous "little things"... FIFA doesn't have that subtle depth or underlying feeling of gravitas.

[nuckles2k2]

I think sometimes FIFA gets too much credit, and not enough constructive criticism other sports titles do. The AI still makes stagnant runs or head scratching runs and doesn't take advantage of all the space and angles given, unless you manually send them on a run. The CPU resorts to the "stop and turn in circles" a little too much when you get close to them, and when they do, it's almost impossible to get the ball off of them (they're either too "skillful" or your pressure doesn't bother them in the slightest and they get off a perfect pass.) And it's infuriating how players refuse to "come to the ball" when a longish type pass is made, they'll stand there and wait for the ball to get to them and let it be intercepted, and when you select the recipient to move forward....you can't, he's literally just gonna wait for the ball come hell or high water.

Plus there's still very little variation in the CPU's attack when you're not playing the big name clubs, but that's another story.

Is it still a good game? Sure. But if Madden had similar problems, ie: players always running similar routes with very little variation and the only remedy is selecting a player during the course of a play and having him adjust his route, opposing players having an extreme amount of success with jukes, spins, and broken tackles, receivers not coming to the ball (happens from time to time on drag routes in both Madden and NCAA, but NCAA had it worst when it first came out), and the opposing team running the same handful of plays (quasi-cheesing) we'd would be, and have been up in arms ready to fight for the game we want. But FIFA has these issues and it's "meh."

Plus the online team play matchmaking options are broken. They removed, and still haven't replaced the option to make your own lobby. You have to search for a game with options that no available OTP lobby has, so it throws you into that lobby...the problem is the way the game finds matches is broken. For the past 3 FIFA's the word "any" as in any control scheme, any amount of mins per half doesn't, or any number of users doesn't mean what the human brain assumes it means...search for a match with any of the available control schemes as the option, search for a match with any of the available "mins per half" options selected, or search for a match where any of the users per half options are selected....no, since FIFA 10 when they changed the search logic, it now means search for any lobby/match where "any" is the selected control scheme, mins per half, etc. And that always defaults the time, and number of users for the OTP matches. And when you're searching for a match that has maybe more mins per half, or few users per team...you'll never find one, but it'll create the lobby for you and throw you into it....the only problem is that no one will ever join that lobby unless you either invite them, or they happen to search for the same exact parameters that you selected. And since most people just leave the "any" in all of the options, you'll never have anyone join that lobby.

I don't know what it is about FIFA, but it doesn't get the same amount of criticism from hardcore soccer fans that other games get, and I'm not talking solely in North America. There are small pockets of communities on the 'net that point out FIFA's issues (without acting childish) and the majority of boards/forums are people praising the game. Where in other sports if there's one issue in say Madden or NBA 2K, you see about 10 threads on multiple sites talking about the one issue, some constructive and some not, but the attention is there.

[nuckles2k2]

I say all of that because I agree with Kelvin about the state of FIFA, but how does it change? Where's the fans' input and criticism to actually get the game to take the next step? If everything is "OHHH WOW, I LOVE THIS GAME" then we're gonna keep getting the same game and for some inexplicable reason it just seems like the level of substantial quality in FIFA is acceptably sub par.

[misterbroom12]

This question is answered differently based on which crowd you ask. If you ask the general sports gamer who tries playing any and all sports games each year, they will praise it 9 times out of 10 for the improvements each year, especially the improving physics engines with each title. They consistently have the comparison of titles like NCAA, 2K and Madden where preset animations and warping are part of the core gameplay. If they don't understand, or care to understand, the small nuances of off the ball runs, patient build-ups and great team defense and pressure then the largely advertised changes will prove to them to be amazing works in a sports game.

However, if you look at it from the other aspect where you have the hardcore soccer fans playing the game it is a different story. Yes the physics engine is a great touch and the new defending system is a step toward realism but they pale in comparison to the missed points of emphasis if we have to have a team of users here work on custom tactics so that a Manchester United and a Burnley visibly play a different brand of soccer. I could care less about the new injury system and the depth of a great squad if they don't properly assess how to apply fatigue to players (no more than 3 years ago I wouldn't have to play a different starting line up an entire season if I didn't want to.)

So as a whole, FIFA is consistently making strides forward each year but they aren't the leaps and bounds that could be taking place if it weren't for the typical EA mistakes, bugs and glitches that haunt all of their sports titles. For the casual gamer looking to just play FIFA and win online or against their friends the game deserves all of its praise. For those who look for FIFA Manager type depth to their CM as well as noticeable differences based on the gulfs of talent differences from team to team across the world FIFA still has a bit of work to do but are proving that they aspire to get there with the titles they put out each year.

[bconngemini]

Does FIFA Get Enough Credit? If anything it gets more credit than any other sports game by a large margin. Its by far the biggest and most successful sports gaming franchise.

Its the best selling sports game of all time, and the 8th best selling game of any type of all time. As of June, 2011 FIFA 11 has sold over 15 million copies, dwarfing every other sports game. Madden can't come even close. The fastest selling sports game recorded was broken by FIFA 11...and surprise suprise the previous record was FIFA 10.

It's the most played sport game online on the planet, by a large margin with 1.8 billion online sessions for FIFA 12.

It has won 53 major gaming industry awards. It currently holds a rating of 92 on Metacritic. IGN gave it a 9.5, Eurogamer a 9, 1UP gave it a rating of A. FIFA 10 has won not 1, not 2, not 3 but 50 Sports Game of the Year awards.

Despite American objections, soccer is the biggest, most successful and most respected sport on the planet and FIFA is the biggest, highest rated sports game franchise on the planet. Not only that but FIFA is right among the biggest (top 10) games of any type. And it did all this with significant competition from PES (which is in the top 20 selling games of all time). No amount of anti-soccer bias from Americans will change the fact that humanity loves the sport and sport gamers around the world shell more money towards FIFA than any Madden, NBA2K and NHL combined.

[bconngemini]

Correction: 1.8 billion online sessions for FIFA 11. Sorry about that.