FIFA 2011

FIFA 10 was a crowning achievement for EA Sports' soccer series when it launched last year. It took massive steps forward in both gameplay and feature set design, and while FIFA 11 doesn't quite pack the same mammoth punch of its predecessor, there's little doubt that this year's entry builds modestly on the series' rock-solid foundation.

FIFA has always been about delivering the most realistic depiction of the sport of soccer. FIFA 10 brought us 360-degree dribbling for the first time, which was a huge improvement over the traditional eight directions. We also got Virtual Pro, a feature that allowed you to create a player, put him on a team, and then watch him progress as you used him in any of the game's modes. Bringing the physicality of soccer to the forefront on-screen is another longstanding tradition for the series and one that FIFA 11 takes to the next level with something called Personality Plus.

Personality Plus doesn't just mean that players are going to display authentic emotions on the field. It's more that players that you know and love will look, run, shoot, dribble and react to physical interactions authentically. The best part? Personality Plus actually works for the big name guys of the sport. Some of the lesser-known players don't get the same treatment, and I'd love to be able to develop or assign traits to my created player, but for now Personality Plus impresses. If you're a mainstream soccer fan who only tunes in for the World Cup every few years, the benefits of Personality Plus might be lost on your lacking knowledge of the prominent soccer stars of the world.

Watch the FIFA 11 Video Review

More impressive still is the fact that FIFA 11 ratchets up the physical play and allows for even more jostles, bumps and slide tackle variations than the series has ever seen before. You'll see guys get knocked off the ball by big defenders and smaller, quicker forwards can pull off some impressive moves even without the skill moves mechanic (hold left trigger and maneuver the right analog stick). It's rare to see these moments of physicality not come through in a realistic manner, but when they falter it's noticeable. Don't worry, though, it doesn't happen often enough to be an annoyance.

Elsewhere you'll notice a new passing system that allows you to hold the pass button to target a comrade further down the field. The only issue I found was that sometimes I wanted to make a hard, quick pass to the teammate closest to me, but the passing system thought that my elongated button press meant I wanted to pass the ball further down the field. These annoyances didn't happen often enough to be a real hindrance, but when unexpectedly poor passing broke up a potentially good offensive set it was a bit of a bummer.

One issue that I still have with FIFA has to do with AI. While I think the players do a slightly better job of positioning on the field, their aggressiveness still wasn't up to the standard of real life players. Too often players wouldn't make an attempt at a slow-rolling pass because it wasn't originally intended for them, despite the fact that it was clearly going to be intercepted by the other team if they let it go by. Players also aren't all that aware of what's going on around them unless they're directly interacting with another player on the field. None of these problems are new to this year's game, but it's a shame that they haven't been corrected at this point in the series' lifespan. Here's hoping they can make the virtual players aware of everything that's going on during a game, just like real players.


Overall the core gameplay on the field is extremely solid, but much of it relies on the past accomplishments of FIFA 10. None of the new touches hurt the gameplay experience in any way, there just aren't the same amount of innovative steps forward. FIFA 11 still has some of the annoyances that have hurt past games, but the touch-ups to players' personalities reap cool benefits on the field. Plus, there's no denying that FIFA presents some of the best flow in terms of gameplay that you'll find in a sports game.

Another interesting addition to the fleet of FIFA features is the Creation Centre. It allows you to craft players, teams and tactics on EA's website and then download them onto your console. It works similarly to NCAA Football's TeamBuilder mechanic and is a very cool addition for FIFA fans. You can also create custom chants and anthems for your team either through homemade audio tracks or tunes you have on a portable storage device that's compatible with your PS3 or Xbox 360. Once they're imported you can then assign them to different situations in a game (like scoring a goal or during team introductions).