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SBI’s sneak peek at FIFA 13

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By FRANCO PANIZO

NEW YORK — A handful of reporters were given a glimpse of what FIFA13 will be all about when it is released in the fall, scoring a rare chance to play a beta test version of the video game in New York City on Wednesday afternoon.

SBI was among the groups in attendance and we can tell you that the game is looking promising. The game is as sharp, if not sharper, than last year's version in terms of aesthetics and the gameplay has been fine-tuned a bit to further resemble the realistic soccer we all watch every week.

Gone are the immaculate first touches that seemingly every player had in years past no matter what their rating was, and it is easy to notice right away. Players will take poor touches that will kill some promising attacks, which was more enjoyable than frustrating.

The other aspect that really stood out is how the noncontrolled players on your team make and time their runs. The straight forward and simple diagonal runs are no longer the only options. Now, players make curving runs and they will try their best to hold their runs so as to stay even with the defensive line in anticipation of a pass.

Passing is also less accurate, with more going astray and matches feeling more realistic and less pinball-like. Chipped shots also do not seem to be as precise as before, as the ball feels heavier and harder to accurately place when an onrushing goalkeeper comes out. Quick free kicks can also be taken now even if the ball rolls away from the spot of the foul, as the CPU-controlled teammates will pass the ball back to the spot quickly.

One play that really stood out in particular happened in my first game. I was using Chelsea and one of the FIFA13 developers opted to play me with Barcelona (there were only six different teams to choose from in the beta).

In one of my early attacks, I ran down the left with Ashley Cole while Didier Drogba was making a run in my direction with a defender on his shoulder. In a split-second, Drogba spun away from the defender and made a curving run towards the middle of the field. I hit him with the pass and it created a chance on goal for me, which felt very rewarding.

There were a couple of things that could use some more fine-tuning (and there will be, as the game does not drop until September 25). Most of the goals scored still seem to come from the forwards, breakaways still happen a bit too frequently and the impact engine, although improved, still has an occasional big hiccup. But overall, FIFA13 felt like an improved version of last year's game, with slight tweaks that have been made so far building on an already-strong foundation.

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Comments

  1. Eh, I spent my dollar on New Star Soccer for my phone, it’s so addictive I may not need FIFA even with the messed up MLS league

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  2. You do know that first touch is analog controlled, right? I have silky first touch with both of those players as long as I go away from defenders. Maybe you’re overhitting the passes too….

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  3. It would be awesome if we could have 100 stadia in the game, but it isn’t realistic. If we want high quality modeling to run along with a real time physics engine and a massive database of players.

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  4. Your choice. As of now the only reliable servers for online play are EAs. Pro Evo was good for a while but Konami’s servers are unreliable.

    Meanwhile, the rest of us will not base the decision or whether or not to pick up a new iteration with an advanced gameplay engine on a DLC pack that someone suckered you into buying.

    The last Euro game they released was an actual game, with the Be a Captain mode as a very nice extension of the virtual player mode.

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  5. I would love to see a stadium creator/editor like they had in the old Madden. Allow the online community the ability to create stadiums that are available to download, may not be perfect, but it would be fun!

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  6. I’m worried about them making the first touch worse. Seems they’ve already done that to the American players. Altidore can’t take a five yard pass without putting it ten yards past him and before you say hat sounds right, Dempsey often has the same problem in the game.
    I’d love a Concacaf. CHampions league in the game, even a scaled down version with Canadian, US, Mexico only teams.

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  7. PPL should be on there, the view is gorgeous. Other than that, maybe Livestrong should be there, everything else seems pretty bland except for RB’s shameless advertisement.
    Portland would certainly be cool too with how close and intimate it is and the baseball layout.

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  8. Allow me to carry my old be a pro achievements into the new game. I don’t play often enough to pad my ratings too much, so it sucks starting over from the moderate progress in years I buy the newest.

    Also, keep the scouting mode. Don’t break it like the 10-11 models.

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  9. You should be able to never get fired in GM mode, same as in the NHL series. I pick one of the worst sides in 4th division england and try to promote to EPL, and keep trying to up the difficulty, but if I have a bad 4th or 5th year for example, I lose a TON of work. I shouldn’t get penalized for trying World Class difficulty once I get to the top flight, and only manage a few points. Other than that, the series is brilliant.

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  10. took me forever to find it too bro..its alot better, you get promoted and relegated based on mini 10 game seasons, i love it..peace

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  11. So we basically have FIFA 10.3

    i really hope they make some BIG leaps in the next gen consoles because ever since 10 the games are better but update better, not new game

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  12. FIFA needs to start including all of the stadiums from the major European leagues. Anyone else bothered by that? Still the only soccer game I’ll ever play, though.

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  13. While I agree with you ( seriously? no RBA, Home Depot, Livestrong, RioT? Seattle) they do have 1 stadium: BC Place for Vancouver

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  14. why cant they have every single MLS stadium in it? Atleast in the US version. Would definitely make euro fan boys feel more connected to the MLS aspect of the game

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  15. If you played it you would understand.
    There was no qualifying for the Euros, just straight into the tournament. Some of the more less-glamorous sides didn’t even have their authentic kits in the game, and had made up names instead of real ones. I expect more from the FIFA franchise – that’s all.
    I was a big fan of the World Cup 2010 game that EA put out. You can play as every nation in the planet starting from qualification in the World Cup Finals themselves. Some of the player ratings and positions were lazy for lesser known sides(half the player pool would be a 62 and CMs for instance), but overall it was a good game.
    It had its quirks and frustrations like most FIFA games, but for someone like me who doesn’t go online and play every game as Barcelona, Spain, England or Man U, it was enjoyable.

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  16. I’ve been a fan of FIFA for years, and appreciate how they’ve tried to tweak the game every year to make it more realistic.
    One thing I’d like to see them improve on is how often defenders can make 30/40 yard passes up the field whie under pressure, despite their rating. Even the best teams in the world can struggle under high pressure, but mediocre defenders in FIFA were able to get out of it easily. Also, at times when under some pressure how easily they were able to pass out of the back.
    I also think its too difficult to score on headers from crosses into the box. Its probably one of the most common ways to score in football, but in FIFA its difficult. I swear its easier for me to score a “Barcelona” type of goal with quick one-two passes up the middle than with a simple cross into the box.
    I’ve never been a fan of the some of the contrived drama that will happen in games against the CPU (your ‘keeper whiffing at shots/crosses, deflections falling to the attacking side too often, etc). But I can understand it.

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  17. you know you can go to “head to head” seasons and play ranked games, and they have to use the standard rosters?

    I feel you on the Online Friendlies though and ppl creating ppl..sucks

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  18. why would buy that bro? All the teams that were in the Euro were basically already on FIFA..

    Don’t be mad at EA for that one, look in the mirror..

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  19. Would be great if they would not allow people to modify teams or players on online head to head. Nothing more annoying than some idiot playing with barcelona and still feeling the need to create “player 1” with perfect attributes.

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  20. Is the “”AI”” (I put that between double quotes b/c it’s that questionable), still consisting of modifying your players’ attributes, in game, to achieve the desired result?

    Have they fixed handballs enough where they don’t have to have a toggle to turn it off and on?

    It surely wouldn’t be the sexy way to go about a new release, but actually spending time fixing issues rather than coming up with something new and flashy would do plenty for this game.

    Do they plan on adding any new stadiums, leagues?

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  21. I believe 18 of 19 MLS teams will be available on this version, with Montreal being the only team not on the game.

    No matter how many soccer games are released in the future “Goal” from the original Nintendo will always be my favorite.

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  22. Staying as far away from this as possible. After EA released that joke of a dlc, Euro 12, for $22.50. No more money from me.

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