FIFA 12 Demo Out, First Thoughts and Observations: Barcelona vs Manchester City

In case you did not know, the FIFA 12 demo has launched out for the public. I was personally excited at this fact so right after school, I downloaded it.

Once the game started up, I had to do a tutorial in which taught me how "Tactical Defending" would work this year. I wanted to get right into the game play, so my first mistake was just skipping the tutorial after five lessons.

You go to the "Exhibition Mode" and there are six teams to choose from: FC Barcelona, Manchester City, AC Milan, Arsenal, Dortmund and Marseille. I chose FC Barcelona and my opponent was Man City.

Before I started the games, I noticed that the teams aren't fully finished. Barca's lineup is still missing Cesc Fabregas and Man City does not have Samir Nasri. But obviously they will change it before the release date in September 30th. 

I was not sure what to expect from this game. I never had FIFA 11 in the shelf of my bedroom so I can't really compare the two. Yet, all the hype about it made me feel like it should be the best game ever.

So here's what I got from it:

First off, the pre-game presentation is great. Both teams lineup side to side along with the referees after they exited their locker rooms. The commentary throughout the whole game felt fresh, new, and on topic.

Once I was ready for kickoff, that's when things started to get interesting. It looks so much like an actual game of soccer. I passed the ball around trying to find an opening to goal.

Later in the 21 minute, I was scored on with an outrageous header from Mario Balotelli. That's when I realized, the AI had definitely been upgraded.

They aren't as stupid as before, which I'm guessing is a good thing.

Next, I noticed that defending is a lot tougher now. Forget the days of just standing in front of the player looking to tackle; now you must not even make a silly mistake or else it could cost you dearly.

Luckily, Victor Valdes saved me a couple of times.

Another addition that I think went underrated and will probably be unappreciated is the fact that you can now control your keeper. What I mean by this is that by pressing the "back" button on the XBOX 360 or pressing the "select" on the PlayStation 3, you may now be your goalie during a bad situation.

I really think this a great addition since you do not have to rely on your goalie if there's a one on one situation with an attacker.

I lost this game and the next three, just scoring one goal. I played in the intermediate level I would always use on the FIFA 11 demo. However in FIFA 11, I would actually win, so it's evident that the AI has gotten a lot smarter.

Final thoughts on it:

Now, I didn't really see any crazy collisions or tackles but I actually just saw one great usage of the "Player Impact Engine". It does look a lot more realistic which makes the fluidity of the game great. Plus, since I'm beginning to play the demo, I'm still learning how to use the "Precision Dribbling" and hope to master this game before the release date.

This is surely a must get for any soccer fan, as I highly recommend it.

Let me know what you guys think in the comments and as always, thanks for the read!