FIFA 11 made a little bit of history this week when EA Sports revealed the game had become the fastest-selling sports game ever.
The FIFA series is one of the most consistent and best-selling in the industry but even this performance is slightly staggering.
Around 2.6 million copies were sold in North America and Europe in the few days since its release. It is an astounding figure when you consider FIFA releases can be quite similar, and there was the 2010 World Cup edition a few months back.
The European markets were particularly impressive, with best ever starts in a number of countries. It bodes well for gaming in general in this part of the world. EA deserve plenty of credit for the work they have put into FIFA 11.
There are, as usual, minor alterations that bring FIFA closer and closer to being the ultimate football gaming experience.
That may be a brave claim with gaming technology accelerating but it really is a fantastic release. There are little to no flaws and when 2.6million people are enticed enough and have the faith in the EA Sports to give them value for their money 12 months on from FIFA 10, it really shows they are doing something right.
The brightest new feature is ‘Personality Plus’ (yes, a bit of a cringe-worthy name but they’ve had worse!).
It differentiates between footballers, breaking down the attributes and making it as realistic as possible. The player’s real skills are reflected in his performance and this leaves it to the gamer to get the best out of them.
For the bigger names in the game you get the most realistic reflections of their true skills and it really shows it in the gameplay. The body movements and techniques are there as per usual and it isn't something to take for granted.
It is a complex feature in theory. But it’s exactly the type of thing EA produce to make you want the latest title in the series.
I really like the new passing system. It’s a bit trickier and you can’t just bang off pass after pass to try and break down the opposition.
Long-range passes take a lot of practice but they improve your range of ball distribution and there is nothing more satisfying that carving open a defence with one.
Again, it’s about realism for sports titles. You want to be challenged but not deterred and FIFA 11 provides the perfect formula. There is always lasting appeal from the careers modes in FIFA and I’ve no doubt I’ll be playing this until when we get close to the release FIFA 12. I wonder what EA will do next?
Rory Houston
