After only 3 games of the FIFA 13 demo, I have to say that FIFA has made huge strides in making the game more realistic. The new attacking AI is just amazing. Seeing players make actual runs that make sense is just mind-blowing. The new, realistic, first-touch system, which has worked great, will take some getting used to, however.
Not only have supporting players been made smarter and their tactics more realistic, but opposing players have been as well. I’ve noticed that the computer is attempting tackles at more opportune times instead of just lunging in at me, and while it kind of sucks, I actually loved the fact that the computer will take advantage of the fact that I just took my right back screaming down the sideline only to lose the ball. Their striker will then make a corner run towards where the back was supposed to be.
It took me 3 whole games to score with Juventus, thanks in part to smarter AI on the defensive side, scoring showed me some areas that still need improvement. When you score, you can still do your custom celebration, but the team following you around is still dumb as a rock, but at least their hair looks much better. FIFA hair before has looked very clumpy and completely unrealistic. The crowd, as in most EA Sports games still needs to get better, when out of focus they looked like 8-bit characters, which is such a turn off to an otherwise good-looking game.
So far, I think the only thing that will really need tweaking is the smartness of players when taking their first touch. I’m not sure if this is based on any sort of stat, but I want to make a sharp turn and then pass the ball quickly, but my right midfielder, Pepe, let the ball run across his face for 2 yards, resulting in a turn over. That was frustrating to say the least. All in all, though, I can say well done, EA, I know I will be syncing a whole lot more time into this franchise.
FIFA 13 demo is out now on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. The game will be available at retail on September 25th in North America, and the 28th in the EU.