FIFA 12 Review

By Michael Brook April 10, 2012 at 18:00 pm

WHAT IS IT?

With most of the official teams, skills moves and stadiums from the console version of FIFA 12, this is a highly absorbing football sim for your daily commute. It crams in 22 international leagues, five difficulty levels and a separate management mode that lets you don a sheepskin and attempt to guide your team through promotions and cup runs.

WHAT'S IT LIKE?

While it's far from the complete console version of FIFA 12, EA's iPad app is the most polished and playable mobile football game we've played so far. It captures the feel of its bigger brother thanks to an intuitive control system and impressive visuals, and there's even the option of connecting iPhones via Bluetooth and using them as controllers.

A d-pad and three action buttons form the basis of the controls. These are either pressed, double-tapped or stroked to get your player to perform anything from a high pass to a shot fake. This and the iPad's processing power mean the gameplay is smooth and fluid, with the frame-rate rarely dropping. The graphics impress too, with the animations managing enough detail to match the console version from just a few years ago.

There are neat touches that incorporate the touchscreen too. Free kicks and corners are taken by flicking the screen, while players can be selected or ordered to make runs with just a simple prod. And the management mode, while certainly not up to Football Manager Handheld standards, adds even more value by letting you take charge of teams from 22 different leagues and take them on a ride through promotion, relegation or cup runs with your transfer nous and training regimens.

The only slight niggles are the occasionally repetitive commentary from Clive Tyldesley and the fact that the download size is a hefty 1GB. But the nuanced gameplay, variety of competitions and slick presentation mean this is the mobile football game to beat