As of today I will no longer be keeping this site updated. I've been kindly offered the chance to write/blog for the Fifa community guys over at Sweetpatch.tv and my future football and gaming musings will be posted over there rather than here. Thanks to all who have visited the site (many thousands of you) and I hope I have helped a few people out along the way. I will be leaving this site open with the links to all the Fifa 11 stuff you can find in the right-hand menu but nothing new will be posted here.
To read my first article over at Sweetpatch follow this link or to follow my new personal Engineering & Conservation blog you can find it here. As always you will also be able to find my on Twitter. Thanks again for following and making this blogging experience so enjoyable.
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29 April 2011
20 March 2011
Becoming a Legend...
During the last couple of years I've become a big fan of the football game genre where you take control of an individual player, train him up, develop from school-leaving dreamer to international soccer star. I played the Be A Pro mode extensively in Fifa 10 and the similar Captain Your Country mode in EA's Fifa World Cup 2010. However, there was something about the mode in Fifa 11 that didn't quite click; rather than a forward development of the game mode I found it mostly unplayable and can't even remember whether I managed to complete a single season!
Having made the decision to try out EA's only rival football game, PES, the Become A Legend mode (Konami's equivalent to BAP) was the first thing I wanted to try out. I confess I'm no big fan of PES, in fact every time I've tried it I've hated it and hastily turned it off. I wanted to give it a fair go this time around because of my growing disillusion with this iteration of Fifa. Would I learn to love it? Would I find it better or worse than Fifa? The answer to that is that there are many pros and cons to each game but I was pleasantly surprised by what PES had to offer.
On the pitch
One of the first things I noticed as I started to play was that PES looks and feels a few years behind Fifa in terms of player movement and animations. It's noticeable as soon as you start to play but I was quite happy to overlook this and delve deeper in to the game rather than the visual aspects, which to be fair are more than satisfactory in both games when you've grown up playing the likes of Sensi Soccer. There were a number of situations where the animations hampered the gameplay and could do with some improvement:
Having made the decision to try out EA's only rival football game, PES, the Become A Legend mode (Konami's equivalent to BAP) was the first thing I wanted to try out. I confess I'm no big fan of PES, in fact every time I've tried it I've hated it and hastily turned it off. I wanted to give it a fair go this time around because of my growing disillusion with this iteration of Fifa. Would I learn to love it? Would I find it better or worse than Fifa? The answer to that is that there are many pros and cons to each game but I was pleasantly surprised by what PES had to offer.
On the pitch
One of the first things I noticed as I started to play was that PES looks and feels a few years behind Fifa in terms of player movement and animations. It's noticeable as soon as you start to play but I was quite happy to overlook this and delve deeper in to the game rather than the visual aspects, which to be fair are more than satisfactory in both games when you've grown up playing the likes of Sensi Soccer. There were a number of situations where the animations hampered the gameplay and could do with some improvement:
- Player collisions - When players brush alongside each other the one that doesn't win the ball is stunted for a few seconds and unable to move. This used to be an issue in Fifa as well but has now been resolved with players able to battle shoulder-to-shoulder for the ball. A return to the old Fifa ways when challenging for the ball was irritating at times but you learn to live with it and do your best not to end up in that position. Similarly for aerial challenges there was no way to determine the outcome; you either won the ball or you didn't and the outcome appeared pre-determined at the time a goal kick is taken.
- Tackling - From what I could tell from a season of matches there are only 2 tackling animations in PES and these are constant no matter how the tackle is made or from what direction. One is a standing lunge and the other is a full-on slide. This wouldn't be such an issue except that on many occasions I was giving away freekicks for tackles where I won the ball or where a better animation would have allowed me to hook a foot around the ball instead of go straight through the player. There is also no variation in the distance of the sliding tackle.
- Throw-ins - Now this is one that frustrated me more than the others. When lining up to take a throw there are only 2 directions you can aim until the time you start powering-up. I lost count of the number of times I threw the ball to the opposition because of the poor animation. Even when I thought I'd mastered it I was still throwing off target. Fifa in comparison rotates your player to the direction you choose on the left stick so you always know which direction the ball is heading.
Now I've got those things out of the way I can tell you just how well I thought PES worked on the pitch. The AI was mostly impressive; a world away from the poor AI in Fifa 11. I say mostly because there were times when my team mates did inexplicable things like pass the ball in to their own net or dribble in their own box before passing to the opposition striker! Fortunately those moments were fairly rare and certainly occur less often than they do on Fifa. I had to laugh when I had a shot that was going wide and the defender did an amazing diving header to put the ball in his own goal!
My biggest bug bear with Fifa was my team mates but on PES they did more or less everything I expected of them; they made runs to the right places, passed to me only when it was appropriate, played well between themselves, defended well and scored some great goals. I was playing my typical role as a right-sided midfielder and when I went forward my team mates moved to cover me and likewise when I went deep to defend. One thing that really impressed me was that whenever I played the ball to them they were never offside, even checking their run if I delayed the pass slightly. In terms of AI positioning and movement, Fifa has a lot to learn. When you're playing as a single player you are often a spectator for large parts of the match and unlike Fifa, I was quite happy to watch both teams play, create chances and score goals. This for me is key to the longevity of the game mode, despite the issues I have with PES, Be A Legend is not only playable but also enjoyable. It was nice to see my team score a couple of goals that were later ruled out for offside which replicates the real life feeling of joy followed by disappointment, something that you don't get when playing Fifa.
There were other nice touches during the match as well. It's possible to either start on the bench or to be subbed off later on in the match which adds to the realism. When you are not playing you are able to watch the rest of the match and as I said above it's nice to be able to watch the AI play what looks like football rather than not having a clue as with Fifa. Another positive is that the manager will change formation and tactics during the match depending on how things are going; for example, take a 2-0 lead away from home and you will be told to play possession football and not give the ball away. Finally it was good to see the manager give both instructions before the match and feedback afterwards, if I had played an assist then it was commented on, likewise if I scored goals, created chances or made lots of tackles it was included in my post-match feedback. The comments were always appropriate and my match rating was always fair.
On the negative side fatigue wasn't evident at all; despite my fatigue bar showing red I was able to continually sprint everywhere and never seemed to get tired. I was forced to play a more central position than I would have liked just to get myself more involved in the match and to get in a position to ask for the ball. I was subbed far too often in the second half even if I was playing well and put in a man-of-the-match performance. I was placed in the wall for every single freekick, no matter where it was taken on the pitch. And, although this is not a gameplay problem, I was really disappointed having to play with manual controls when I am used to playing with fully manual controls in Fifa; to be fair, in the majority of cases the game read the type of pass I wanted to make so assisted passing was less of an issue. On the other hand, the number of open nets I missed simply because the game decided not to let me score was frustrating to say the least.
There are pros and cons to both Fifa and PES when playing as a single player. However, the overriding factor in the gameplay is the playability, led by the quality of the AI, and the enjoyment factor. In this respect, PES wins hands down.
Off the pitch
This again was a mix of pros and cons for me. For everything good about PES Become A Legend offline there was something that needed improvement. One major positive is that the mode has far more depth than Fifa with inclusion of elements such as employing an agent, finances and focussed training while the menus are fast and look sleek. The photo gallery was a nice touch, where the game takes screenshots from key moments in matches you have played. However, there is no description to go with the pictures and it would be better to save a short replay than a photo.
So far I've picked up on a few negatives in the mode and these unfortunately take away from the immersion. One example being that the Premierleague had no fixtures between the second week in December and the first week in February, since when has English football had a winter break? Other points include the very slow advance of the calendar and need to make two saves with every advance. Training matches were played throughout the season even through I was a regular in the first team, why would you play a friendly midweek between two league matches? There are very few licensed teams in PES so it took me a good half hour to install an option file to get all the correct teams and leagues. Kit selection could have been much improved as I had to manually choose the home and away strip to avoid clashes before almost every match. The final area that could be approved is the transition from young player to first-team regular; I came on as a sub in the first league match and started every other league match after that. As a 17 year old I had a regular place in a Premierleague club at the expense of the seasoned pros.
As with the on the pitch aspects of the game the positives outweight the negatives. At least the features are there and add depth whereas Fifa has very few things to talk about in that respect. Going forwards I can see that PES has more potential in the game mode than Fifa has.
Summary
Previously I've been very critical of PES because of what it does wrong, or not as well as Fifa. This time I went in to it with an open mind and was intent on finding the positives. Become A Legend is just one game mode but one that is important to me and one that I really want to enjoy. Both Fifa and PES have much room for improvement and it will be interesting to see how both games develop before September when the latest iterations are released. For the first time I will be looking to see what updates are going to be given to PES to see if the game is worth buying, simply because I have enjoyed BAL more than I have enjoyed BAP and can see myself playing it for a good few seasons. If Fifa can correct the problems it has had this year then that will ultimately be my preferred choice but on the other hand if PES can do enough to correct its problems and develop improved gameplay and animations then I would seriously consider picking up both games next time round. For the time being I look forward to continuing with my BAL career and trying out PES's other game modes including the much acclaimed Master League.
On the negative side fatigue wasn't evident at all; despite my fatigue bar showing red I was able to continually sprint everywhere and never seemed to get tired. I was forced to play a more central position than I would have liked just to get myself more involved in the match and to get in a position to ask for the ball. I was subbed far too often in the second half even if I was playing well and put in a man-of-the-match performance. I was placed in the wall for every single freekick, no matter where it was taken on the pitch. And, although this is not a gameplay problem, I was really disappointed having to play with manual controls when I am used to playing with fully manual controls in Fifa; to be fair, in the majority of cases the game read the type of pass I wanted to make so assisted passing was less of an issue. On the other hand, the number of open nets I missed simply because the game decided not to let me score was frustrating to say the least.
There are pros and cons to both Fifa and PES when playing as a single player. However, the overriding factor in the gameplay is the playability, led by the quality of the AI, and the enjoyment factor. In this respect, PES wins hands down.
Off the pitch
This again was a mix of pros and cons for me. For everything good about PES Become A Legend offline there was something that needed improvement. One major positive is that the mode has far more depth than Fifa with inclusion of elements such as employing an agent, finances and focussed training while the menus are fast and look sleek. The photo gallery was a nice touch, where the game takes screenshots from key moments in matches you have played. However, there is no description to go with the pictures and it would be better to save a short replay than a photo.
So far I've picked up on a few negatives in the mode and these unfortunately take away from the immersion. One example being that the Premierleague had no fixtures between the second week in December and the first week in February, since when has English football had a winter break? Other points include the very slow advance of the calendar and need to make two saves with every advance. Training matches were played throughout the season even through I was a regular in the first team, why would you play a friendly midweek between two league matches? There are very few licensed teams in PES so it took me a good half hour to install an option file to get all the correct teams and leagues. Kit selection could have been much improved as I had to manually choose the home and away strip to avoid clashes before almost every match. The final area that could be approved is the transition from young player to first-team regular; I came on as a sub in the first league match and started every other league match after that. As a 17 year old I had a regular place in a Premierleague club at the expense of the seasoned pros.
As with the on the pitch aspects of the game the positives outweight the negatives. At least the features are there and add depth whereas Fifa has very few things to talk about in that respect. Going forwards I can see that PES has more potential in the game mode than Fifa has.
Summary
Previously I've been very critical of PES because of what it does wrong, or not as well as Fifa. This time I went in to it with an open mind and was intent on finding the positives. Become A Legend is just one game mode but one that is important to me and one that I really want to enjoy. Both Fifa and PES have much room for improvement and it will be interesting to see how both games develop before September when the latest iterations are released. For the first time I will be looking to see what updates are going to be given to PES to see if the game is worth buying, simply because I have enjoyed BAL more than I have enjoyed BAP and can see myself playing it for a good few seasons. If Fifa can correct the problems it has had this year then that will ultimately be my preferred choice but on the other hand if PES can do enough to correct its problems and develop improved gameplay and animations then I would seriously consider picking up both games next time round. For the time being I look forward to continuing with my BAL career and trying out PES's other game modes including the much acclaimed Master League.
18 March 2011
Time to try something a little different...
Those that know me know that I'm well in to my football gaming and I've been exclusively Fifa only for well... for ever. There's only one rival to Fifa; PES, and every time I've picked it up to see what all the fuss is about I've hated it. You may also know that over the past few months I've become increasingly frustrated and disillusioned with Fifa 11 to such a point that I now refuse to play it! Lately I've been playing EA's World Cup 2010 game which in my opinion is a more enjoyable game to play but I really do miss the club football.
So... I decided it was time to bite the bullet and give PES a proper run out to see if I can get some enjoyment out of it. There are still 6 months to go until we see the new (hopefully) improved versions of each game land on our doorsteps and I don't like the idea of having no football gaming in all that time. I don't expect that I will be won over by PES and there are some things that it just doesn't have that Fifa does have, full manual controls being one, lower league football being another. However, I'm hoping that with an extended period of playing the game I can find enough good in it so that I no longer hate to play it, so that I can provide more constructive feedback to the developers at EA and so that I can continue to play football games without the urge to throw my controller out of the window!
The first thing I did last night after picking up PES2011 was to get all the latest updates including the Option File that gave me licensed teams and leagues, this took about half an hour but I know that without it I'd probably have fallen at the first hurdle; licensed teams and leagues are pretty important to me and the idea of playing Man Blue against Merseyside Red is a non-starter! I now have a fully updated game and am hoping to start a new Master League career and a Be A Legend career over the weekend.
There are likely to be many ups and downs as I battle to like a game that looks and feels so different to what I am used to. The experience may last a week, it may last 6 months, nobody knows but whatever happens I'll be sure to let you know right here on my blog.
So... I decided it was time to bite the bullet and give PES a proper run out to see if I can get some enjoyment out of it. There are still 6 months to go until we see the new (hopefully) improved versions of each game land on our doorsteps and I don't like the idea of having no football gaming in all that time. I don't expect that I will be won over by PES and there are some things that it just doesn't have that Fifa does have, full manual controls being one, lower league football being another. However, I'm hoping that with an extended period of playing the game I can find enough good in it so that I no longer hate to play it, so that I can provide more constructive feedback to the developers at EA and so that I can continue to play football games without the urge to throw my controller out of the window!
The first thing I did last night after picking up PES2011 was to get all the latest updates including the Option File that gave me licensed teams and leagues, this took about half an hour but I know that without it I'd probably have fallen at the first hurdle; licensed teams and leagues are pretty important to me and the idea of playing Man Blue against Merseyside Red is a non-starter! I now have a fully updated game and am hoping to start a new Master League career and a Be A Legend career over the weekend.
There are likely to be many ups and downs as I battle to like a game that looks and feels so different to what I am used to. The experience may last a week, it may last 6 months, nobody knows but whatever happens I'll be sure to let you know right here on my blog.
26 November 2010
This City ain't big enough for the both of us?
When asked to write a short article on the MCFC/MUFC rivalry for some research I jumped at the chance to take part. There is so much to talk about, so much history and passion. I decided to focus on the rivalry I see everyday and how it feels to live in a City with two clubs.
"To many people football is like a religion; they live it, breath it, eat it, sleep it and plan every aspect of their lives around it Football is a passion, Britain’s favourite past time, is it any wonder that football rivalry causes so much debate and raised tensions? There are, if my facts are correct, only 7 cities within England that share 2 or more professional football clubs and Manchester is one of them, though some would argue that Manchester United aren’t actually from Manchester at all! The others, in case you are wondering are London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, Sheffield and Nottingham.
I’ve been a City fan for a good few years, not life long I must admit (my Dad used to take me to watch Oldham as a child) though I have been a ‘closet Blue’ for as long as I can remember. I try to get to about 6 home games a season plus a few cup or friendly matches, the rest I try to watch on the tele or down the pub. Football provides a great source of debate where I work and both Manchester clubs are well represented giving a good ‘them and us’ rivalry. As I count the numbers now there are 3 City fans, 3 United fans, a Scouser and a bloke that likes to sit on the fence and enjoy the banter whilst both agreeing and disagreeing with both sides of every argument!
I suppose you can’t really understand the passions and emotions surrounding a big derby match unless you’ve been a part of it, the crowd is never as loud, the nerves are never as intense. There will always be big footballing rivalries between teams on a competitive level but nothing quite matches the intense feelings surrounding a local derby where bragging rights are at stake as much anything else; there’s nothing worse than going to work on a Monday morning only to be bombarded with comments about the weekend results. If City win and United don’t then we don’t hear a peep out of ‘them’ at all about the weekends football. However, if United win and City don’t then my God do I know about it. This is what it’s like to live in a City with 2 clubs, where else would this ever be the case!
It’s very interesting to see how different people respond to office football banter and whether they treat rival fans with mutual respect or contempt. Of the three United fans where I work they are all different in how they talk about football and how their attitudes change based on current results or football news.
I have a passion for football, all things football related; I support City, I want my local teams to win (Oldham and Rochdale), I get behind the national team and like to discuss football related media stories whether it be goals, transfers, sendings off or whatever else might be hitting the headlines that day. I’m not averse to discussing United related issues either with my United colleagues and they generally seem to enjoy to talk about City, I get the feeling that’s because we are pretty good at shooting ourselves in the foot which is a great source of enjoyment for them, obviously, grrrr. Football rivalry is good for Manchester, it promotes debate and friendly banter, it gives us something to talk about and we live it everyday. It unfortunately has it’s downsides as well because there will always be those that use it as an excuse for less friendly clashes though I expect those type of people will always find something to fight about even if football wasn’t on the agenda.
One of my colleagues, no names, appears to have no real interest in football at all, his only interest is United. He doesn’t care at all about his national side or general football news, his every opinion is tarnished with his red-tinted spectacles! If I talk about something remotely related to United then immediately I get accused of being obsessed with United, I’m “always talking about them” apparently. Comments such as that instantly kill any football discussion that is taking place and we all go back to what we were doing. I’ve never understood this attitude though I expect it is not uncommon, do people really have that mentality where they can’t see anything except what they want to see, does football really do that to them?
On the other hand there is an avid United supporter who again is only interested in United yet is not at all averse to getting fully involved in the banter, whether his team are on the winning or losing side of that particular debate. If City are doing well then he will say so but is equally as good at sticking the knife in when it hurts most (3 defeats, in injury time, just last season hurt about as much as any other football related pain I have felt). I suppose I’m similar in my approach and I was obviously delighted to rub it in when we did the double over ‘them’ back in 2008! But isn’t that what football should be about? It’s a friendly rivalry between two clubs that share a City, of course you want your team to win and your rivals to lose but this is football. Even England and Germany managed to share a football match in the Christmas of 1914 whilst a war was going on around them!
Football fans come in all shapes and sizes with a whole array of varying attitudes and temperaments. One City sharing two football clubs is a source of great debate and can bring out the best and the worst in people because football is our passion. The rivalry we share is intense but we should embrace it, give as good as you get and enjoy it. Football without passion, without debate and without rivalry isn’t football at all. One City, two clubs, one passion."
"To many people football is like a religion; they live it, breath it, eat it, sleep it and plan every aspect of their lives around it Football is a passion, Britain’s favourite past time, is it any wonder that football rivalry causes so much debate and raised tensions? There are, if my facts are correct, only 7 cities within England that share 2 or more professional football clubs and Manchester is one of them, though some would argue that Manchester United aren’t actually from Manchester at all! The others, in case you are wondering are London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, Sheffield and Nottingham.
I’ve been a City fan for a good few years, not life long I must admit (my Dad used to take me to watch Oldham as a child) though I have been a ‘closet Blue’ for as long as I can remember. I try to get to about 6 home games a season plus a few cup or friendly matches, the rest I try to watch on the tele or down the pub. Football provides a great source of debate where I work and both Manchester clubs are well represented giving a good ‘them and us’ rivalry. As I count the numbers now there are 3 City fans, 3 United fans, a Scouser and a bloke that likes to sit on the fence and enjoy the banter whilst both agreeing and disagreeing with both sides of every argument!
I suppose you can’t really understand the passions and emotions surrounding a big derby match unless you’ve been a part of it, the crowd is never as loud, the nerves are never as intense. There will always be big footballing rivalries between teams on a competitive level but nothing quite matches the intense feelings surrounding a local derby where bragging rights are at stake as much anything else; there’s nothing worse than going to work on a Monday morning only to be bombarded with comments about the weekend results. If City win and United don’t then we don’t hear a peep out of ‘them’ at all about the weekends football. However, if United win and City don’t then my God do I know about it. This is what it’s like to live in a City with 2 clubs, where else would this ever be the case!
It’s very interesting to see how different people respond to office football banter and whether they treat rival fans with mutual respect or contempt. Of the three United fans where I work they are all different in how they talk about football and how their attitudes change based on current results or football news.
I have a passion for football, all things football related; I support City, I want my local teams to win (Oldham and Rochdale), I get behind the national team and like to discuss football related media stories whether it be goals, transfers, sendings off or whatever else might be hitting the headlines that day. I’m not averse to discussing United related issues either with my United colleagues and they generally seem to enjoy to talk about City, I get the feeling that’s because we are pretty good at shooting ourselves in the foot which is a great source of enjoyment for them, obviously, grrrr. Football rivalry is good for Manchester, it promotes debate and friendly banter, it gives us something to talk about and we live it everyday. It unfortunately has it’s downsides as well because there will always be those that use it as an excuse for less friendly clashes though I expect those type of people will always find something to fight about even if football wasn’t on the agenda.
One of my colleagues, no names, appears to have no real interest in football at all, his only interest is United. He doesn’t care at all about his national side or general football news, his every opinion is tarnished with his red-tinted spectacles! If I talk about something remotely related to United then immediately I get accused of being obsessed with United, I’m “always talking about them” apparently. Comments such as that instantly kill any football discussion that is taking place and we all go back to what we were doing. I’ve never understood this attitude though I expect it is not uncommon, do people really have that mentality where they can’t see anything except what they want to see, does football really do that to them?
On the other hand there is an avid United supporter who again is only interested in United yet is not at all averse to getting fully involved in the banter, whether his team are on the winning or losing side of that particular debate. If City are doing well then he will say so but is equally as good at sticking the knife in when it hurts most (3 defeats, in injury time, just last season hurt about as much as any other football related pain I have felt). I suppose I’m similar in my approach and I was obviously delighted to rub it in when we did the double over ‘them’ back in 2008! But isn’t that what football should be about? It’s a friendly rivalry between two clubs that share a City, of course you want your team to win and your rivals to lose but this is football. Even England and Germany managed to share a football match in the Christmas of 1914 whilst a war was going on around them!
Football fans come in all shapes and sizes with a whole array of varying attitudes and temperaments. One City sharing two football clubs is a source of great debate and can bring out the best and the worst in people because football is our passion. The rivalry we share is intense but we should embrace it, give as good as you get and enjoy it. Football without passion, without debate and without rivalry isn’t football at all. One City, two clubs, one passion."
2 November 2010
Pulling the gloves on...
A couple of weeks back I wrote a little article about Fifa 11's Be A Goalkeeper mode and how I was pretty disappointed with what the mode had to offer in offline game modes. Well now I've finally got round to having a proper go at playing as a goalkeeper in online clubs mode and here's what I thought about it.
It takes a brave man to pull on the gloves in online clubs matches and face the wrath of his team mates if he makes a mistake. Maybe that's the appeal; I honestly got those similar feelings to what I had when playing in goal myself and many memories came streaming back of those heroic saves (and nightmare mistakes!).
Clubs mode gives a whole new purpose to being a goalkeeper; you're performance really matters to your team and rather than standing there watching the AI play out drab matches in front of you you get the chance to watch your team perform. You learn far more about how your team plays by watching them from between the sticks and you can clearly see each players' style, your teams' style, good moves and poor decisions alike. Watching the match is actually interesting and knowing that you have the chance to perform well and keep your team in the match on those few occasions you are called on keeps you on your toes at all times.
The night went generally well and I felt that I made a noticeable difference to my team. I conceded maybe 4 goals in about 7 matches and made a number of good saves. There were none of the typical AI goalkeeper mistakes and with me able to use my experience to position myself well I was able to cut out through passes or crosses that an AI keeper would have been unable to do. My team mates commented that I was doing well and that really helped me out and made my want to stay in goal. All in all it was a great night and playing goalkeeper in online clubs matches has really saved the whole be-a-goalkeeper mode for me. It's just a real shame that offline the mode is such a let down because online it delivers just the kind of experience I was hoping for.
Unfortunately there was an issue I noticed straight away which puts keepers at a disadvantage when faced with a striker running at them; there is an noticeable delay between entering a direction on the control and the goalkeeper moving. The delay is approximately 1 second and is constant throughout all matches, almost as though it is intentional, not the typical lag that can be found occasionally with online play. You press left, wait a second and then your goalkeeper moves left. You can learn to live with it in the most part but when faced with a striker running towards you and his ability to change direction instantly it can be a serious disadvantage. Hopefully this issue will get patched at some point but I'm not going to let it deter me from pulling on the gloves again and making the most of reliving my glory days.
It takes a brave man to pull on the gloves in online clubs matches and face the wrath of his team mates if he makes a mistake. Maybe that's the appeal; I honestly got those similar feelings to what I had when playing in goal myself and many memories came streaming back of those heroic saves (and nightmare mistakes!).
Clubs mode gives a whole new purpose to being a goalkeeper; you're performance really matters to your team and rather than standing there watching the AI play out drab matches in front of you you get the chance to watch your team perform. You learn far more about how your team plays by watching them from between the sticks and you can clearly see each players' style, your teams' style, good moves and poor decisions alike. Watching the match is actually interesting and knowing that you have the chance to perform well and keep your team in the match on those few occasions you are called on keeps you on your toes at all times.
The night went generally well and I felt that I made a noticeable difference to my team. I conceded maybe 4 goals in about 7 matches and made a number of good saves. There were none of the typical AI goalkeeper mistakes and with me able to use my experience to position myself well I was able to cut out through passes or crosses that an AI keeper would have been unable to do. My team mates commented that I was doing well and that really helped me out and made my want to stay in goal. All in all it was a great night and playing goalkeeper in online clubs matches has really saved the whole be-a-goalkeeper mode for me. It's just a real shame that offline the mode is such a let down because online it delivers just the kind of experience I was hoping for.
Unfortunately there was an issue I noticed straight away which puts keepers at a disadvantage when faced with a striker running at them; there is an noticeable delay between entering a direction on the control and the goalkeeper moving. The delay is approximately 1 second and is constant throughout all matches, almost as though it is intentional, not the typical lag that can be found occasionally with online play. You press left, wait a second and then your goalkeeper moves left. You can learn to live with it in the most part but when faced with a striker running towards you and his ability to change direction instantly it can be a serious disadvantage. Hopefully this issue will get patched at some point but I'm not going to let it deter me from pulling on the gloves again and making the most of reliving my glory days.
26 October 2010
Fifa 12 Suggestion: Online Leagues...
Hey followers, in my role as an 'EA Gamechanger' I have in the past been providing feedback to EA about Fifa and making suggestions for changes and additions. I thought it would be useful to open up debates to the wider audience and invite comments and discussion about my ideas from you; it's useful to know what is important to different people and how they perceive new ideas. I have a few thoughts lined up covering Career Mode, Clubs and Manual Fifa but am going to start with some thoughts about custom online tournaments.
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Currently the way online leagues work in Fifa is fairly rudimentary and not how many people would like them to work, hence they create their own competitions on the EA forums or through personal websites. For Fifa 12 I would like EA to give lots of attention to custom competitions (leagues and cups).
I like the new presentation and format of the online clubs menus and a similar appearance would work really well for custom tournaments. You could have a 'Competition' home page showing the league table (or similar for cup comps), the latest results, your next fixture and any messages from the competition organiser. You then have sub pages for stats and for members (with online status viewable).
The competition details should be viewable online so that people don't have to be at their console to see who they should be arranging matches with or where they stand in the competition.
There are many many user created tournaments taking place already and it would be good if EA could bring those in to the game and on to the EA website rather than them all being done individually. After all it is because of the current limitations of the online tournaments that people are having to look elsewhere. They shouldn't need to host a separate website or keep forum threads updated to do something that is as simple as a league or cup competition between friends. All stats would be tracked by the game automatically so we can see who the leading scorer is, who has the most man of the match awards and who the best and worst rated players in the competition are.
To encourage gamers to take up this way of creating competitions the competition organisers would need a good set of customization options including restricting teams to leagues, locations or star ratings, being able to set fixtures rather than players randomly playing their matches (or not), ability to kick players who aren't playing and replace them, control settings, match length and game speed.
The basic principle of this is take away the need for dedicated organisors to run their own competitions and websites and to give them the tools that they need within the game so that they can get what they want out of it. If someone wants to run an online Premierleague or Champions League or World Club competition etc then they would be able to within the game itself and all of the members (or friends of members) would be able to view the information online.
Currently online tournaments is an area that is significantly lacking in Fifa but with the right fundamentals in place and the connection with the website this is an area that could really take off and give the gamers another much needed option when it comes to playing 1v1 online matches. The beauty of it will be that anyone would be able to create and manage a competition, it could be an established gaming website, a retailer, a forum user or EA themselves.
I have already put this idea to my fellow EA Gamechangers and welcome your thoughts so that we can develop this idea in to something that will hopefully be taken on board and used by EA in the development of Fifa 12.
------------------------
Currently the way online leagues work in Fifa is fairly rudimentary and not how many people would like them to work, hence they create their own competitions on the EA forums or through personal websites. For Fifa 12 I would like EA to give lots of attention to custom competitions (leagues and cups).
I like the new presentation and format of the online clubs menus and a similar appearance would work really well for custom tournaments. You could have a 'Competition' home page showing the league table (or similar for cup comps), the latest results, your next fixture and any messages from the competition organiser. You then have sub pages for stats and for members (with online status viewable).
The competition details should be viewable online so that people don't have to be at their console to see who they should be arranging matches with or where they stand in the competition.
There are many many user created tournaments taking place already and it would be good if EA could bring those in to the game and on to the EA website rather than them all being done individually. After all it is because of the current limitations of the online tournaments that people are having to look elsewhere. They shouldn't need to host a separate website or keep forum threads updated to do something that is as simple as a league or cup competition between friends. All stats would be tracked by the game automatically so we can see who the leading scorer is, who has the most man of the match awards and who the best and worst rated players in the competition are.
To encourage gamers to take up this way of creating competitions the competition organisers would need a good set of customization options including restricting teams to leagues, locations or star ratings, being able to set fixtures rather than players randomly playing their matches (or not), ability to kick players who aren't playing and replace them, control settings, match length and game speed.
The basic principle of this is take away the need for dedicated organisors to run their own competitions and websites and to give them the tools that they need within the game so that they can get what they want out of it. If someone wants to run an online Premierleague or Champions League or World Club competition etc then they would be able to within the game itself and all of the members (or friends of members) would be able to view the information online.
Currently online tournaments is an area that is significantly lacking in Fifa but with the right fundamentals in place and the connection with the website this is an area that could really take off and give the gamers another much needed option when it comes to playing 1v1 online matches. The beauty of it will be that anyone would be able to create and manage a competition, it could be an established gaming website, a retailer, a forum user or EA themselves.
I have already put this idea to my fellow EA Gamechangers and welcome your thoughts so that we can develop this idea in to something that will hopefully be taken on board and used by EA in the development of Fifa 12.
3 October 2010
Fifa 11 Be A Goalkeeper review...
You've probably read my Fifa 11 review by now where I was very impressed with what Fifa 11 had to offer. On the pitch, when the game is played between two like-minded footballers, the game is fantastic. One of the modes I touched on in my review was the new goalkeeper career mode which has great potential for someone like myself who used to be a goalkeeper and I was very much looking forward to playing number 1. So does it deliver? unfortunately not, read on to find out why...
I start a new goalkeeper career and the season stars with me ambitiously choosing to play at Manchester City. I'm still learning the controls so make a couple of mistakes in the pre-season friendlies but nothing is said by coach. However, when I conceed a goal in the first match of the season, through no fault of my own, I am hastily dropped by the coach and find myself out of the starting 11. Here is the first problem, there are no reserve teams in Fifa 11, if you're not in the team then all you can do is simulate match results with no chance to improve your game or impress your club without being in a competitive match. A few games later I'm told that I'm being given another chance and am selected for the next match. I don't have much to do but what I do I do it well. The game finishes 0-0 and again I am dropped from the starting 11.
Already I can start to see a major problem with playing as a goalkeeper in career mode; there just isn't enough to do to ever get a good rating. The AI on both teams is too poor to create many chances and even when they seem to be clear through on goal the dilly-dally with the ball and lose possession. When you're playing as the goalkeeper you're constantly willing the other team to take shots and find yourself frustrated at not being tested properly. Even with a good performance and a couple of saves you'll get a rating of not much more than 7. On the other hand if you conceed a goal, even if it was impossible to stop, you get a rating of less than 4. With only 2 or 3 things to do in each match there just isn't enough to show how good you can be and very little opportunity to complete the goalkeeper virtual pro accomplishments.
During the matches you do get some opportunity to control how your team plays on the pitch by way of button markers beneath your players. You will typically get the option to pass to one player, through ball to another player or when you have the ball on the wing you can cross to one of the players in the middle. Unfortunately this is poorly implemented and even though you can see the most obvious pass to make there is no way to tell your team what to do; the button markers only appear briefly and rarely highlight the correct players e.g. I can see Tevez making a run between two defenders and the most obvious thing to do is give him a through ball but the marker isn't showing, I press the through-ball button anyway in the hope that they give him the ball and instead my player does a 180° turn and falls over whilst giving the ball to the opposition. The team control options whilst playing as a goalkeeper are fundamentally flawed, this combined with the poor AI decisions makes the in-game experience as a goalkeeper a very disappointing one.
So I've been dropped again and this time I'm out of the frame for 6 consecutive matches before being given another chance. Same thing happens again with me playing well enough and keeping a clean sheet but I get dropped again straight after the match. This is the story of my season. By the end of the season I've only made 10 first team appearances plus the pre-match friendlies. One of the matches I was re-called to was the home derby game against Utd, possibly the biggest league match of the season and they test a rookie they have no confidence in!
Having spent most of the season watching the calendar advance or spectating from between the sticks I've noticed a few things. Firstly, my squad only rotated players when there were injuries. Initially I thought they were rotating the squad due to fatigue or trying different tactics but it becomes clear that only injuries dictate changes in starting 11. City played the same formation in every single match, home and away, and made almost the same substitutions as well. The league does at least look realistic come the end of the season with Chelsea leading Arsenal with Utd in 3rd place. City finish 6th but this is no doubt down to the games I have taken part in not playing out in a realistic way. Looking around the leagues I note that Burnley and Portsmouth gain automatic promotion to the Premiership but Rochdale finish bottom of League 1 with only 2 wins in 46! Other top leagues around the world look believable but in both Scotland and Australia there have been zero matches played this season.
Having not done much wrong this season and barely being given a chance I'm told by the club that I need to look elsewhere, my contract won't get renewed. OK so it was maybe a little ambitious to start at Man City but surely it should be possible to choose whichever club I want to without getting booted out after one season! I look at my stats and it says I have an average rating of 5.5 despite doing everything right except conceeding 5 goals in the 10 league games I played. My stats incorrectly report that I have conceeded 0 goals and also shows my position incorrectly as RM. Presently without a club I receive a number of offers at the end of the season from Norway, Belgium, France, Netherlands, Ireland and most surprisingly from Bayern Munchen who won the Bundesliga. I had no offers at all from England, not even League 2. I decide to sign for Bray Wanderers in Ireland because they are the most likely club my player would sign for and because they offered me the captains armband for some unknown reason.
And so it starts again with pre-season friendlies at my new club and I'm already thinking it's just not worth the effort to go through another season. This game mode has so much potential yet fails to deliver on just about all fronts. I was optimistic to put on my gloves and be the hero but it just isn't possible. I'm sure there'll be plenty of opportunity to make saves in online clubs matches but as an offline game mode it lacks substance and the way matches play out on the pitch is fundamentally flawed. Even basics just as being told where to stand needs improvements because I know from my own years of experience that where I'm being told to stand isn't the best place to stop the ball ending up in the net e.g. if I stand directly on the front post when a cross comes in (as the games tells me to) then someone's going to end up scoring a header (and they do), I need to be slightly off my line and more towards the centre of the goal. I have to say that playing as a goalkeeper has been a disappointment, on and off the pitch, and that is from someone who really wanted to like this feature.
I start a new goalkeeper career and the season stars with me ambitiously choosing to play at Manchester City. I'm still learning the controls so make a couple of mistakes in the pre-season friendlies but nothing is said by coach. However, when I conceed a goal in the first match of the season, through no fault of my own, I am hastily dropped by the coach and find myself out of the starting 11. Here is the first problem, there are no reserve teams in Fifa 11, if you're not in the team then all you can do is simulate match results with no chance to improve your game or impress your club without being in a competitive match. A few games later I'm told that I'm being given another chance and am selected for the next match. I don't have much to do but what I do I do it well. The game finishes 0-0 and again I am dropped from the starting 11.
Already I can start to see a major problem with playing as a goalkeeper in career mode; there just isn't enough to do to ever get a good rating. The AI on both teams is too poor to create many chances and even when they seem to be clear through on goal the dilly-dally with the ball and lose possession. When you're playing as the goalkeeper you're constantly willing the other team to take shots and find yourself frustrated at not being tested properly. Even with a good performance and a couple of saves you'll get a rating of not much more than 7. On the other hand if you conceed a goal, even if it was impossible to stop, you get a rating of less than 4. With only 2 or 3 things to do in each match there just isn't enough to show how good you can be and very little opportunity to complete the goalkeeper virtual pro accomplishments.
During the matches you do get some opportunity to control how your team plays on the pitch by way of button markers beneath your players. You will typically get the option to pass to one player, through ball to another player or when you have the ball on the wing you can cross to one of the players in the middle. Unfortunately this is poorly implemented and even though you can see the most obvious pass to make there is no way to tell your team what to do; the button markers only appear briefly and rarely highlight the correct players e.g. I can see Tevez making a run between two defenders and the most obvious thing to do is give him a through ball but the marker isn't showing, I press the through-ball button anyway in the hope that they give him the ball and instead my player does a 180° turn and falls over whilst giving the ball to the opposition. The team control options whilst playing as a goalkeeper are fundamentally flawed, this combined with the poor AI decisions makes the in-game experience as a goalkeeper a very disappointing one.
So I've been dropped again and this time I'm out of the frame for 6 consecutive matches before being given another chance. Same thing happens again with me playing well enough and keeping a clean sheet but I get dropped again straight after the match. This is the story of my season. By the end of the season I've only made 10 first team appearances plus the pre-match friendlies. One of the matches I was re-called to was the home derby game against Utd, possibly the biggest league match of the season and they test a rookie they have no confidence in!
Having spent most of the season watching the calendar advance or spectating from between the sticks I've noticed a few things. Firstly, my squad only rotated players when there were injuries. Initially I thought they were rotating the squad due to fatigue or trying different tactics but it becomes clear that only injuries dictate changes in starting 11. City played the same formation in every single match, home and away, and made almost the same substitutions as well. The league does at least look realistic come the end of the season with Chelsea leading Arsenal with Utd in 3rd place. City finish 6th but this is no doubt down to the games I have taken part in not playing out in a realistic way. Looking around the leagues I note that Burnley and Portsmouth gain automatic promotion to the Premiership but Rochdale finish bottom of League 1 with only 2 wins in 46! Other top leagues around the world look believable but in both Scotland and Australia there have been zero matches played this season.
Having not done much wrong this season and barely being given a chance I'm told by the club that I need to look elsewhere, my contract won't get renewed. OK so it was maybe a little ambitious to start at Man City but surely it should be possible to choose whichever club I want to without getting booted out after one season! I look at my stats and it says I have an average rating of 5.5 despite doing everything right except conceeding 5 goals in the 10 league games I played. My stats incorrectly report that I have conceeded 0 goals and also shows my position incorrectly as RM. Presently without a club I receive a number of offers at the end of the season from Norway, Belgium, France, Netherlands, Ireland and most surprisingly from Bayern Munchen who won the Bundesliga. I had no offers at all from England, not even League 2. I decide to sign for Bray Wanderers in Ireland because they are the most likely club my player would sign for and because they offered me the captains armband for some unknown reason.
And so it starts again with pre-season friendlies at my new club and I'm already thinking it's just not worth the effort to go through another season. This game mode has so much potential yet fails to deliver on just about all fronts. I was optimistic to put on my gloves and be the hero but it just isn't possible. I'm sure there'll be plenty of opportunity to make saves in online clubs matches but as an offline game mode it lacks substance and the way matches play out on the pitch is fundamentally flawed. Even basics just as being told where to stand needs improvements because I know from my own years of experience that where I'm being told to stand isn't the best place to stop the ball ending up in the net e.g. if I stand directly on the front post when a cross comes in (as the games tells me to) then someone's going to end up scoring a header (and they do), I need to be slightly off my line and more towards the centre of the goal. I have to say that playing as a goalkeeper has been a disappointment, on and off the pitch, and that is from someone who really wanted to like this feature.
28 September 2010
Get your Fifa 11 Resources here...
Following a couple of weeks hard grafting I bring to you a complete set of Fifa 11 resources just in time for the games' release in the US today and worldwide on Friday. Links to the achievement guide, virtual pro accomplishments, skill and celebrations guides, stadium and leagues lists can all be found below and will be permanently available from the menus on this site. I hope that these resources are of use to many many people.
Right, time to grab a brew, switch on the PS3 and start some serious Fifa gaming. Enjoy the game everyone, would love to know what you all think about it here or on twitter and you'll be sure to hear plenty more from me in to the future. Happy gaming :)
Achievement/Trophy Guide
Achievement/Trophy List
Celebration List
League List
Skills List
Stadium List
Virtual Pro Accomplishments
Right, time to grab a brew, switch on the PS3 and start some serious Fifa gaming. Enjoy the game everyone, would love to know what you all think about it here or on twitter and you'll be sure to hear plenty more from me in to the future. Happy gaming :)
Achievement/Trophy Guide
Achievement/Trophy List
Celebration List
League List
Skills List
Stadium List
Virtual Pro Accomplishments
6 September 2010
Fifa 11 Creation Centre - Starbucks FC...
You may have seen my other team England Allstars and now I've decided to go from a proper authentic team to the complete opposite. Starbucks FC was born out of the enjoyment of Sensible World of Soccer custom teams and now you will be able to join in the fun as well by downloading this team to your Fifa 11 game; I've tried to create some very interesting characters for you to play with! Enjoy :)
CREST
STADIUM
Stad Espresso
SQUAD
FIRST TEAM (4-1-2-1-2)
Doubleshot Espresso 83 ST - Venti Skinny Latte 83 ST
Cinnamon Swirl 83 CAM [C]
Hot Chocolate 87 LM - Skinny Cappuccino 77 RM
Decaf Coffee 82 CDM
Caramel Macchiato 77 LB - Caffe Latte 82 CB - Caffe Americano 78 CB - Iced Mocha 79 RB
Cinnamon Frappacchino 86 GK
SUBS
Espresso con Panna 78 GK
Tazo Green Tea 77 CB, Cold Apple Juice 75 RB
Caffe Mistro 80 RM, Chocoloate Smoothie 79 CDM
Dark Cherry Mocha 80 ST, Black Shaken Iced Tea 79 ST
RESERVES
Chicken Panini 73 GK
Coffee WhiteNoSugar 73 CB, Full Fat Milk 73 RB
Coffee Ice Cream 78 LM, Marcelo Latte 80 CAM
Rasberry Muffin 74 ST, Albero Moccachino 77 ST
TEAM STYLE
Attacking
Build-up Speed: Slow
Passing: Mixed
Positioning: Free-Form
Defending
Mentality: High
Aggression: Normal
Team Width: Normal
Defender Line: Offensive Trap
Creation
Passing: Normal
Crossing: Frequent
Shooting: Frequent
Positioning: Free-Form
5 September 2010
Fifa 11 Creation Centre - England Allstars...
Here is my England Allstars team which is available to download as a full team in Fifa 11 and will be available to download as individual players, straight to your console on PS3 and XBOX 360. I've created each player as authentically as possible in terms of appearance, attributes and traits. I'm very happy with the end result and I hope to get some good feedback from everyone once Fifa 11 is released and you are able to play with my team. Thanks for all the contributions.
Note, it isn't yet possible to use gamerface to get the players looking like their real life counterparts so I have chosen the defaults that look as close as possible to reality. If gamerface is added at some point then I will add the real faces as well.
You can now bookmark the team for download by visiting the creation centre and searching for the team 'England Allstars.'
Note, it isn't yet possible to use gamerface to get the players looking like their real life counterparts so I have chosen the defaults that look as close as possible to reality. If gamerface is added at some point then I will add the real faces as well.
You can now bookmark the team for download by visiting the creation centre and searching for the team 'England Allstars.'
CREST
STADIUM - THE OLD WEMBLEY (Stadion Olympik)
SQUAD
FIRST TEAM (4-4-2)
Kevin Keegan 86 ST - Gary Lineker 86 ST
John Barnes 84 LM - Bobby Charlton 92 CM [C] - Duncan Edwards 89 CM - Stanley Mathews 92 RM
Eddie Hapgood 85 LB - Bobby Moore 87 CB - Billy Wright 84 CB - Jack Charlton 84 RB
Gordon Banks 89 GK
SUBS
Peter Shilton 83 GK
Tony Adams 83 CB, Stuart Pearce 84 CB
Paul Gascoigne 85 CM, David Beckham 85 RM
Alan Shearer 84 ST, Geoff Hurst 84 ST
RESERVES
David Seaman 81 GK
Terry Butcher 82 CB
Martin Peters 82 CM, Alan Ball 83 CM, Tom Finney 86 LM
Michael Owen 84 ST, Jimmy Greaves 83 ST
TEAM STYLE
Attacking
Build-up Speed: Balance
Passing: Mixed
Positioning: Organized
Defending
Mentality: Normal
Aggression: High
Team Width: Wide
Defender Line: Offensive Trap
Creation
Passing: Normal
Crossing: Frequent
Shooting: Normal
Positioning: Organized
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