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FIFA 12: The Pro Clubs Debate
Now, I’m a big fan of the FIFA series of games. Those of you who follow my posts and the Podcast will know that I am an avid supporter of the FIFA franchise (only once did I slip over to the Pro Evolution Soccer darkside). Every year I get excited about the prospect of a new FIFA game and what features they’ll introduce, what gameplay they’ll fix from the last game and whose ugly mug will be plastered on the front of the box. With FIFA 12 it was no different. I can sing the praises of the FIFA 12 game; I believe it is EA Sports best attempt yet at a “football simulation” and there are many promising factors about where the franchise is heading in the future in terms of gameplay. However, one minor thing still haunts me to this day. The source of many debates and hot-worded Xbox Live Messages revolve around this question, ANY or No ANY?
Personally, my Pro Club plays with an ANY (to those of you who are clueless, an ANY is a player nominated to control the rest of the team that aren’t your online friend/s). Obviously, this shows that I am in favour of people on Pro Clubs playing with an ANY. My argument for this is as follows.
- Mano-a-mano – Two teams with an ANY are going head-to-head. The ANY’s individual skill, the team’s ability to work effectively as a team and the team’s tactics go head-to-head. It’s about that sense of gladiatorial competition, the right to say that you are better than the person you are playing.
- Ridiculous AI technical ability – If you play Pro Clubs, you probably know how I feel. A team without an ANY has a striker up front. The ball is situated in their own penalty box. Said striker puts his hand up to call for the ball. A seemingly bumbling defender swivels on a six-pence and delivers a rocket of a pass, flat trajectory and all. Said striker gratefully takes the once in a lifetime pass into his stride and is on the counter attack immediately. Wash, rinse, repeat.
- The sense of being cheated - I may be the only one, but whenever my Pro Club plays a team without an ANY, Lady Luck seems to err on the side of the AI. It’s as though the AI has it’s own pride, it’s own hunger to win. So, low and behold, bounces start going against you, the referee appears to be on the opposition pay-roll, the post and crossbar start to look that little bit thicker. It’s nice that EA Sports have included this sense of having the “rub of the green” in the game, as a modern game of football does, but sometimes the coincidences stack up into an all too common occurrence, game after game.
- Inhuman reaction times – The AI has a faster processing speed than a human brain. When that ball is rolling over the line, an ANY’s brain has to process the image of the ball and then tell the correct finger to depress the correct button at exactly the right moment. The AI sits back, smokes a cigar, maybe catches up on its correspondence, knowing that it has the processing capabilities to deal with the panic. Hence in those button-bashing panics, the AI has the upper hand over the human ANY player.
- AI, Master of the defence system – The new defence system EA Sports introduced in FIFA 12 was supposed to introduce “Tactical Defending”. Basically, you were supposed to jockey the person on the ball, waiting for the precise moment to stick a foot in and take the ball from him. Every gamer had to learn a new way of playing and defending in FIFA 12. However, a team without an ANY do not have to worry about this (unless their Virtual Pro is a defender, of course). Instead, the AI, master of the new defence system, constantly maintains the optimum position to defend a situation, doesn’t react to step-overs and other flicks a human defender may react to (which would open space for the attacker), but instead sits back and thwarts carefully laid passing movements. With 5 at the back, this wall of master defenders looks nearly impossible to penetrate.
- Masters of the air – Not only does the AI have amazing defensive skills, it also has the uncanny ability to out jump even the tallest attackers, winning headers 90% of the time. Pair this with their inhuman ability to spot a pass and then make it, all in a split second, it adds up to quite a formidable counter attacking weapon.
I could go on with more reasons, but I’d end up ranting myself into an early basket case. I have thought about how EA Sports could balance the Pro Clubs game mode in a fairer way. I used to think that making a player play as an ANY in the Pro Clubs mode would solve the problem, but that would drive some players away from the game. Instead, I think a search filter option would benefit the balance of the game. This would allow clubs with an ANY to search for games with other clubs playing ANY and vice-versa, thus restoring harmony and fair competition to the Pro Clubs world. Hopefully, EA Sports will listen to the gaming public before making any decisions on FIFA 13. Who knows, they might even take away the “Be a Goalkeeper” mode. Oh well, one can dream I guess.
Review: Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer (Xbox 360)
Writing this review is hard for me, as it involves me having to eat a huge chunk of humble pie. It’s common knowledge that I hate the Mass Effect franchise and absolutely loathe the games, but something in the recently released Mass Effect 3 demo made me change my mind (and eat said pie) – multiplayer.
Whilst the multiplayer in Mass Effect 3 borrows it’s genetic makeup from the Horde mode template (fight back waves of enemies with 3 of your pals) it does introduce some rather exciting and re-playable aspects that other games have not considered. Firstly, the RPG system used in the multiplayer is a great idea. Most modern multiplayer games, such as Call of Duty and Battlefield use levelling systems to keep the player hooked. What Mass Effect 3 does is allow the player not only to level up in a conventional way, but to choose in what way their character is improved (be it a quick boost to your overall shield or a power upgrade for your Singularity power). Experience points (or to you and I, XP) are earned by killing enemies, completing objectives and basically surviving the 11 rounds and getting your armoured butt out of that hell hole. XP is then spent on upgrading your powers, which differ with each class and race.
That’s another thing about the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer; you have characters, much like a conventional RPG game. Within each class category (e.g. Sentinel, Soldier, Infiltrator etc,) you have 4 different characters of different race and sex. However, you only start out with a few of these characters unlocked. With these characters, you have a few customisation options to make you stand out a little bit within your squad of 4, such as armour colour and fancy pants lights.
In terms of unlocking new characters, this is done in the same way that you come about new weaponry – unlock packs. By completing objectives in multiplayer missions you earn credits, which can then be spent in the store. The store contains unlock packs, which, when bought, give you a random set of goodies like extra ammo clips and Medi-gel (Especially good if you die often) – very much like a pack of trading cards. With a more expensive pack, there is a higher possibility of gaining rare weapons and characters. Rare weapons are obviously more effective in taking down enemies, so saving up that little bit extra to get a better unlock pack really is worth it.
The actual gameplay in the multiplayer is refreshingly different. Although it does just involve waves of enemies coming at you, with a few “search and destroy” type objectives thrown in for good measure, the game works well. A full game, if completed properly, lasts for about 25 minutes. In these 25 or so minutes, you are presented with a decent variety of different enemies, ranging from your lowly grunt foot soldiers, to massive mechanised battle machines. This variety of enemy means you really do have to work with your team mates, even before the match begins. Thinking ahead and strategising about what classes and powers complement each other really does add more flavour to the multiplayer experience.
A few issues I do have about the gameplay is the movement and cover system. The cover system works 9 times out of 10; however, there are moments in the heat of battle where you are automatically snapped into cover for no logical reason. This usually results in a premature death. Moving about the map can sometimes feel a little sluggish and sprinting in a straight line is an art form you have to learn to master. Apart from these niggling issues expected from a beta, everything else works spectacularly well. The aiming system works as it should, with shots being registered correctly. I haven’t had any issues yet with lag and the host migration works well when a host leaves the game.
Overall, if you’re still sceptical about the Mass Effect universe, as I was, you should just try the demo for yourself. Even if you just play the multiplayer for Mass Effect 3, you won’t be disappointed. Who knows, you could be pulling a chair up next to me, sharing my delicious humble pie.
Mass Effect 3 is scheduled for release on March 9, 2012 (EU) and March 6, 2012 (USA).
Skyrim: 20 Minutes of RPG Heaven
Thursday, 22nd September, 2011
I’m waiting in line. The queue stretches around the whole of the Skyrim booth. About 30 people sit, staring at the Samsung goliaths in front of them. It’s like they’re jacked into the Matrix. In a sense, they were. Whilst I wait, patiently I might add, I see a plethora of different stories unfolding next to me. Even though these people all started at the same time, at the same point, with the same races to choose from, all the screens could well have been showing entirely different games. One guy is sprinting around pouring fire from both of his scaled Argonian palms. Another guy struggles to fend off a pack of wolves, crying out to no one in particular as he hits the sneak button by accident and gets mauled. One girl stares blankly at the screen, fire glowing from one hand, a sword in the other. She hastily lays waste to a rabbit that dared cross her path.
