Picked the game up from JB Hi Fi (Lonsdale Street, Melbourne) yesterday evening and it is an absolute corker! I have bought each FIFA for the last three or four years and either returned it or traded them after a few weeks. This one however looks like a keeper! I have only played it for 2-3 hours before forcing myself away from the TV or I'll never get up for work tomorrow!
I won't write a review, but I will post some of the key things I have noticed:
- Melbourne is statistically the best team in the Australian A-League
- Matthew Kemp is statistically the worst player in Melbourne's starting XI (again, points for accuracy)
- Tottenham is rated four and a half stars (WTF?!?!) - can live updates edit a team's overall competance and rating?
- Stadiums have never looked better!!
- Australia's default "home" stadium vaguely looks like ANZ Stadium or even the Telstra Dome with the roof open
- It's amazing to think how we have played this game in the past without visible refs of linesmen - great addition
- Quicker players are actually able to outsprint sluggish defenders
- It's not as easy to score from crosses
- In the dying minutes of sudden death matches, the opposition keeper comes up the field for set pieces (amazing!!!!!)
- CPU makes intelligent substitution choices (ie. brings on strikers if chasing the game, defender if holding a lead)
- Referee often plays advantage and gives a yellow card for the tackle at the NEXT stoppage!! (as opposed to getting away with a bad tackle)
- Sadly it's still near impossible to score from free kicks
- Fatigue effect is still not severe enough - players can sprint for much of the game and be at about 40-45% capacity toward the end
- "Kids" by MGMT is in the soundtrack
I won't write a review, but I will post some of the key things I have noticed:
- Melbourne is statistically the best team in the Australian A-League
- Matthew Kemp is statistically the worst player in Melbourne's starting XI (again, points for accuracy)
- Tottenham is rated four and a half stars (WTF?!?!) - can live updates edit a team's overall competance and rating?
- Stadiums have never looked better!!
- Australia's default "home" stadium vaguely looks like ANZ Stadium or even the Telstra Dome with the roof open
- It's amazing to think how we have played this game in the past without visible refs of linesmen - great addition
- Quicker players are actually able to outsprint sluggish defenders
- It's not as easy to score from crosses
- In the dying minutes of sudden death matches, the opposition keeper comes up the field for set pieces (amazing!!!!!)
- CPU makes intelligent substitution choices (ie. brings on strikers if chasing the game, defender if holding a lead)
- Referee often plays advantage and gives a yellow card for the tackle at the NEXT stoppage!! (as opposed to getting away with a bad tackle)
- Sadly it's still near impossible to score from free kicks
- Fatigue effect is still not severe enough - players can sprint for much of the game and be at about 40-45% capacity toward the end
- "Kids" by MGMT is in the soundtrack