Last week EA released their first gameplay trailer for the new FIFA 13, which isn’t exactly a surprise considering it was E3; what was more interesting is how little it actually tells us about their next instalment. Minus the defensive points, it actually appears to be the same trailer for FIFA 12 but with different wording. Compare the two trailers below; first, the one for FIFA 13:

And then FIFA 12;

As can be seen, superficially not a lot has changed; this is more evolution than the revolution of the last edition. Instead, the focus appears to focus on the physicality and nimbleness of the players themselves. Hopefully, the emphasis will be less about skills and more about the fluidity of play; if EA have learnt anything from the recent FIFA Street, it should be that skills and flicks do not equal liquid football.

Reassuringly, EA appear to have grasped what was good about the last edition and what didn’t quite work. The tug-and-pull system, probably the best of the defensive editions, has been expanded to fit the midfield tussles; now, rather than appearing to glide through the midfield, players scrap, nip and pull in the way so often seen in top level football. Although it has only been suggested, more emphasis appears to have been placed on the timing of a dribble, along with the slight body feints which fool an opponent, not the extravagent trick. Again, this is more in keeping with real football; no longer can players waltz through a defence with sharp ninety degree turns as players dive around sporadically like Saving Private Ryan extras.

Click “next” to read part 2 below…

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