EA Canada’s FIFA series is set break the 100 million sales barrier with this year’s recently announced iteration, FIFA 11. With Konami developing Pro Evolution Soccer 2011, EA are determined not to be arrogant, so EA Canada look to be improving on FIFA 10 by adding some new features to the latest iteration in the highly-successful franchise, FIFA 11.
One of the headline features are Personality+ and Pro Passing systems that emphasize player attributes a bit more and make passing more realistic. According to the developer FIFA 11 will “redefine player authenticity” using something EA are calling “Personality+”, an “all-new feature that sees individual abilities reflected in game, enabling clear differentiation for every player.”
“Personality+ is the evolution of individual distinctiveness that sees a footballer’s abilities on the pitch mirrored authentically in our game, creating individual personalities in FIFA 11,”
“We have reached a level of sophistication within our game engine where footballers in our game will behave and perform as true individuals.”
“We want to use all of our player attributes more fully,” creative director Gary Paterson says of Personality+
A notable difference is that there’s a huge difference in how Andrei Arshavin and John Terry dribble, this will be clear throughout the match, also link up play will be more fluid and free flowing, the developer goes on to say:
“We had some feedback last year that it felt like strikers could still defend and tackle as well as defenders. We’re working on ways in which we can eliminate that,”
The area where Personality+ is likely to make its biggest impact, is in the new Pro Passing system, designed to lessen the effect of “ping-pong passing” which is a poison among some FIFA faithful.
“Real Madrid’s Kaka will deliver crisp, creative passes, and Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta will utilize tighter turns and close control to dribble through defences whilst Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney will hold off defenders and strike shots from distance with pace.”
“Say the pass is 20 yards and you only power up enough for 15 yards – it’s still going to go to the player, but it’s going to be a little softer, which will potentially allow defenders in to intercept it, and will at least slow down the build-up,” says Paterson.
Sounds like FIFA is shaping up nicely and looks to lock horn with Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 later this year. EA are due to show FIFA 11 at their E3 press conference next week, so be sure to stay tuned into PlayStation LifeStyle regularly throughout the event.
