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After selling 10 million copies of FIFA 12, EA Canada could have rested on their laurels and put out a slight retread for the 2013 version, like so many other sports title developers have done in the past. Thankfully for the virtual futbol massive, EA Canada has renewed their dedication to "matching the unpredictably and drama of real world futbol."
Although the game will not hit stores until fall of this year, EA is claiming that FIFA 13 will feature the game's deepest feature set ever. No one outside of their Canadian campus has played it yet but they did clue us in on a few of the new twists that will live on FIFA 13. Check out five ways FIFA 13 might change the game, as we know it.
First Touch Control
In past FIFA games, every player from Ronaldo down to the scrub that gets no tick could handle even the most difficult passes like a Hall of Famer. From now on there will be multiple factors that come into play when handling passes on the pitch, including trajectory of ball, velocity of the pass and actual player skill and rating level. Less perfect touches fosters a better balance between attacking and defending making the game more realistic and competitive.
"FIFA 13" Tactical Free Kicks
Traditional free kicks are a major part of the sport but as the real game changes, so should the video game. In 13, players can freak walls and adjust kicking configurations to their hearts content. Last year you could choose to jump the wall only when the ball was kicked, in 13, the wall reforms and you can jump again. Players can also be added or subtracted to the wall if you want. Teams are able to cheat a little bit by creeping the wall up. Be warned, the officials will give a yellow card if you are caught though.
On the flip side, the attacking team can now execute dummy runs with up to three players over the ball, making it possible to create different angles and subsequently more dangerous free kicks.
Complete Dribbling
EA Canada likens the difference between FIFA 12's "precision dribbling" and FIFA 13's "complete dribbling" to jump from 10-direction dribbling to unlimited directions that took place between the 2009 and 2010 iterations. Only time will tell if the change is that dramatic, but on paper it looks game changing.
With 360 degrees of dribbling, players are allowed dribbling with simultaneous shielding, greater fidelity over close touches, quicker direction changes at slow speeds and most importantly, it should bring all of the advances together to work in greater unison.
The complete ball control used in one-on-one dribbling has been borrowed from FIFA Street and implemented in a different format for traditional matches.
Player Impact Engine
Last year's game was about stumbles, falls and how players impacted when they touched. Sometimes it worked and other times, not so much. Thanks to adjustments in player strength and balance, we should no longer see players making out after falling over each other.
Players also now have the ability to use their bodies to win back possessions. We will see off the ball battles where pushing and pulling is more effective, wherein FIFA 12, it could only bee seen when someone was touching the ball.
Attacking Intelligence
Not many have complained about FIFA's lack of offense but the FIFA community bitched and moaned so much about the not so intelligent AI that EA Canada decided to bolster the attacking intelligence anyway.
New positioning code improves how players analyze space and choose to go on runs. A lot of the times in FIFA 12, the attacking team was unstable when figuring out just where to attack. Apparently teams will now evaluate the entire run path as opposed to just the space around the player with the ball. This allows teammates to work smarter.
The smarter AI, which thinks plays ahead in the upcoming title, improves the flow of the game putting the team in better position for better runs with more conviction.
