Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 has finally given EA Sports and their FIFA series a run for their money. In any other year, we would say they are neck and neck and that it was a fair fight.
However, FIFA 12 is a significant improvement from last year’s masterpiece, which drew rave reviews from just about everybody. If FIFA 11 was an A then FIFA 12 is surely an A+. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and Konami is forced to go back to the drawing board. Did I mention that FIFA 12 has already received over 20 awards for this title, has a North American experential tour, and an insane sales history?
So what is so great about FIFA 12? Where do we start? Well the gameplay can only be described as perfect. The stadium models, game intros, and commentators are all world-class.
The online modes are unbelievable, especially with the ridiculous amount of FIFA 12 fans that are always online. When we logged on there were 76,8050 people involved in online matches with a total of 246,801 players online. It is safe to say that you will never go without quality competition.
Our love affair with the Career Mode just got a little bigger. Management is now easier and more importantly more realistic. You will no longer see MLS benchwarmers going in the transfer market for millions or a ridiculously low budget to run the team.
You can now manage a scouting network and a youth academy, which allows you to develop the next generation of famous footballers at your club. This is a nice touch that adds depth to the overall game experience.
The EA Sports Football Club and the Ultimate Team (included on the disk) feature make this a game that you lose yourself in. You sit down with FIFA 12 saying you are playing just one game and the next thing you know a couple of hours have passed. FIFA 12 is a game that you will want to play over and over and for a long time.
We didn’t feel that a perfect rating was deserved because FIFA 12 lacks licensing for the UEFA Champions League and Copa Libertadores. If you want to play in either of these tournaments, you better check out Pro Evolution Soccer 2012. That is about the only thing we can complain about. Can Konami finally catch up to EA Sports in the soccer business? Can FIFA 12, the greatest soccer game ever created, get even better? We will have to wait until next fall to find those answers.
Score: 9.9/10
We like to keep things simple here at ISN. We use a 10 point scale for all of our reviews with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest. This fits in with many of the gamer-specific sites out there on the Web and provides a system that is easy to understand.
