We play through the near final build of FIFA - could it be the best yet?
Previewing games can be a funny business. You're either under the watchful gaze of the developers themselves as they unveil their progeny for the very first time or part of a scrum of people keeping one eye on the game at hand and the other scoping out to see if the lady with the tray of tiny burgers is coming any nearer. In the best case we get to play in the office, although that's with the constant interruptions of the phone and under the guilt of leaving an untended inbox.
It's all a far cry from games' natural habitat - a room full of friends on a lazy Sunday afternoon, everyone feet up and juggling slices of pizza, cans of beer and controllers – but that's how we got to enjoy the near-final code of FIFA 11 this weekend.
Away from the din of developers reciting feature lists and the overpowering stench of excitement from a convention's show-floor, it's possible at last to really see how a game is shaping up and coming together. We've already been through what's new, but this, at last, was a chance to see what really works.
FIFA 11's not got the benefit of one big new feature to wow people with – there's no game changer like the 360 degree dribbling that was introduced last year, nor the myriad headline improvements of 09 that helped establish FIFA as the premier football game series. What it does have is refinement and polish alongside countless little advances that do their very best to eradicate any of the faults of FIFA's past.
There's none of the dumb-headed positioning from your A.I partners, none of the moments of crass stupidity from your keeper as he lays the ball off into the path of the opposition and none of the frustrations from another cheap chipped goal. Instead, there's a whole load of quality. Passes are now more technical, requiring a little more thought and a lot more care before spreading the ball around the field, and wide play is now more likely to be rewarded with a crisply met header than before. The result is a game that's much more reliable than before, and one that steps even closer to aping the flow of the real thing.
It's got a lot more character than before too. Part of that's from the new suite of animations as players stumble and falter in their pursuit of the ball, and part of it's from the improved likenesses across the board. "But Phil Neville looks grotesque" protested a friend. Yes. Yes he does.
The way the personality of each player is reflected in how they play is the most impressive thing, however. On the squad selection screen players have symbols by their names signifying their special attributes; Torres, for example, is both a Speedster and an Acrobat, meaning he's more likely to perform the spectacular in the box and can sprint with gusto. Gerrard, meanwhile, is a Crosser, Playmaker and Engine among other things, a complete midfielder who can perform at his best for almost the entire 90 minutes. Learn a team well enough and you'll soon know who can do what and tailor your play accordingly. It's all the more gratifying when you know the team from what's just happened on Saturday afternoon.
There's some more surprising ways that the personality plays out on the pitch. Different referees now officiate the action, each one with their own character; some will reach for their top pocket if you so much as glare at an opposition player, while others will happily let everyone kick seven shades out of each other before so much as awarding a free kick.
Some additions aren't as welcome though. For the first time handballs are introduced, and it's unsurprisingly infuriating especially given the frequency with which it occurs. Penalties are often given against you through no fault of your own, and if we weren't so placid (or, more truthfully, sedated by the blend of warm beer and mounds of melted cheese we'd just imbibed) we'd have destroyed a controller or two. Thankfully it's optional and defaulted off. We'd recommend you leave it that way.
Otherwise it's looking like another exceptional outing for FIFA. There's a lot more to discuss – we've yet to scratch the surface of either the new career modes or put a serious spell between the sticks – but all that will come in the full review in the next few weeks.
