FIFA 12

[Spee]

Manager Mode and simming the vast majority of games makes it possible.

[Cymbols]

Kinda avoids the point of Fifa mind, simulating games.

[The Quasi Juice]

Might as well play FM then. I never understood people who sim through whole years. I occasionally sim a match when I'm one day away from the transfer market opening, or if I'm close to the end of the season and I don't need the 3 points anyway.

[Walker]

Emnes, my top scorer and my most played player (he has only missed 2 or 3 games) told me he wants to leave. Owners stepped in a fast tracked his sale to Everton for 6M. I appreciate the extra money, especially when I will most likely be promoted at the end of the season, but fuck you Emnes, I wanted to take you to the Champions League and you ruined it for me.

I'm probably going to finish this season then start again so I can do a diary.

[Benji]

I suck at this game. Sorted the defensive practice, but putting it into effect in the actually game is a whole other story. Also, I suck at scoring.

[Liam]

I suck at this game. Sorted the defensive practice, but putting it into effect in the actually game is a whole other story. Also, I suck at scoring.

My problem seems to be that when I think I've got it sorted, I then get butt raped in the next game. Had two 1-0 wins on the bounce, and proved I could actually score by coming from behind twice to draw 2-2 with Stoke. My next game will probably see me getting walloped.

[MDK]

I'm finding that patient build up play works for me. My usual tactic of playing it down the wings doesn't really work, so I have to fashion chances from short passing play.

[Summers]

On just playing the demo a few times I'm much, much, better using the new defensive style. I think I've almost decided I'll pick FIFA over Pro when I can be bothered to buy one of them.

[Liam]

Not trying to suggest I'm a one man team, but after 15 games with Fulham, I've scored 21 goals. Gilardino, who I bought at the start, has scored 17 of them.

[Baddar]

Considering I'd been doing better in CM with my nephew, I started my own as United yesterday, in the hope I'd deal with it a bit better. Ugh.

I almost won the first three games, but ended up drawing them all against WBA, Spurs and Arsenal. Against Bolton, I went 1-0 up in the 10th minute. By the 28th? 4-1 down.

Apparently Kevin Davies can dribble the ball like Messi and waltz through my entire defence...twice.

[Baddar]

Considering I'd been doing better in CM with my nephew, I started my own as United yesterday, in the hope I'd deal with it a bit better. Ugh.

I almost won the first three games, but ended up drawing them all against WBA, Spurs and Arsenal. Against Bolton, I went 1-0 up in the 10th minute. By the 28th? 4-1 down.

Apparently Kevin Davies can dribble the ball like Messi and waltz through my entire defence...twice.

[MDK]

So I was playing against the CPU last night and I send a thru ball to my winger who runs onto it and promptly collapses like a house of cards without being touched. The ref stops play, I sub him off and there is a drop ball... wtf? I wasn't expecting that. I tried to have a shot at goal but it made me kick it into touch.

[Baddar]

Yeah, players can pull up with injuries now. I had the CPU pull up with a hamstring injury, and the ref stopped play when my striker stayed down holding his shoulder, which he dislocated. :/

[-A-]

Happened to me when I'd just played a ball over the top, putting a striker through on goal. Camera pans back to an opposition player down injured back in my box. Game restarts with a drop ball and my player punts it straight to their keeper. I'M SUPPOSED TO GET THE BALL

[Baddar]

Is there anything that they added actually working? Collision engine is terrible, ball going back to the wrong team after an injury, and don't get me started on the 'quick' throws. Players fail to pick the ball up half the time, when it's right next to them...

[-A-]

This version seems to have had more problems than most. Gameplay tends to be subjective, but the interface and structure of the game is riddled with bugs.

1) Web app was unavailable when it launched and then again after the game itself launched.

2) You're quite often left unable to get into UT with a generic error message.

3) If you want to play a game, the interface can hang before kick-off, leaving you in a ridiculous stand-off with an opponent you haven't even played yet to see who loses their DNF.

4) The control glitch is back (though possibly only on PS3.) Opponents can take control of the players on your team and use them to score own goals and get sent off. You have the choice of fighting on and having a raft of players suspended for the next match or quitting and losing potentially 1000s of coins through DNF.

5) Watch list is sometimes empty even moments after you've put items on there. Entering this screen directly after a match can cause a lock-up.

6) Player stats don't work. Games don't count seemingly at random (even when you somehow manage to complete a game.) The option to sort your players by different stats doesn't work.

Edited October 6, 2011 by -A-

[Summers]

All this negativity comes with me on my way to buy it. >_>

[Spee]

Might as well play FM then. I never understood people who sim through whole years. I occasionally sim a match when I'm one day away from the transfer market opening, or if I'm close to the end of the season and I don't need the 3 points anyway.

Well, I enjoy it. It is one but one small aspect of the game which EA have greatly improved on from last year's iteration. I've also done it as an experiment to see how things change (or not) a fair few years' in and whether or not it makes a difference if your overall squad is rated as, say, 4 1/2* who you put in the first team.

Several things I have pretty much concluded from doing this are:

1. Essentially, how all the teams are rated at the start is where they stay regardless, e.g. you will never see a Chelsea or a Man Utd being relegated unless you're in charge of them yourself.

2. As a consequence of 1., the same very small group of teams are always promoted and relegated (most easy to see in the English leagues as they have two more divisions than any of the others). You could argue that this happens in real life but I would point to the example of Blackpool's surging late-season push for the Championship play-offs in 2009/2010 as an instance where a team defied the odds.

3. Usually once a season, a team in your league will be taken over at complete random. They will have a cash injection of over £100m but it won't have any visible effect on where they finish regardless of who they buy in the transfer window, particularly if they are in the mid-table area, cf. 2.

4. Even on normal Pro difficulty, the board have somewhat high expectations of your team. After surviving relegation on the final day from the Premier League but winning the FA Cup, I was expected both to win the Europa League and league title the very next season with next to nothing in the way of a transfer and wage budget.

In spite of these issues, it still is a lot better than the one in 11 but clearly still a work-in-progress.

[Herr Matzat]

Wow, the first time during day time that the browser version of UT works!

[Walker]

Nearly had Mikel Arteta for 1,200 but then as soon as my bid went through loads more came in and he shot up to 6,800 in a matter of seconds. I haven't won a single auction apart from strips yet, and none of them have sold so far. I suck at FUT