We’ve all played football games, and FIFA is probably one of the best known. With FIFA 10 EA Sports pushed the boundaries, introducing amazing new features such as the ability to create your own set pieces, limited though that is. The game also introduced things like the 360 degree control scheme, better gameplay mechanics and manager mode options which gave you greater control over exactly what you wanted to do. For all its positives it did away with a few things, like the ability to schedule training during the week.
It seems like every iteration in the FIFA series has some standard improvements such as player animations, celebrations, more intelligent AI and such. Besides these regular improvements, what more could we have in the next game? And FIFA 10, great though it is, still lacks that absolute cutting-edge realism, excitement, and “down to the final day of the season” match and game dramatics of the modern game of football.
It is getting to that time of year when you would expect Electronic Arts to announce something about the next installment in the immensely popular football series. So what features could be added to make FIFA 11 even more amazing and realistic? What features, not already in the series, are crucial for game changing success? What about the stage? The heat of the moment? Even luck?
We have a few things in mind that we would love to see in a football simulation video game to bring the virtual footballing experience alive with all the excitement, anguish and last-minute heartbreak that make football everything it has turned into over the years. So let us begin.
- 1. Referee:
First up, in order to make a football video game more realistic, the referee, who is an integral part of the game, needs some revamping. Here’s what we think needs to be done with referee AI in order to give a deeper, more gratifying, and at times more frustrating, albeit more true to life, experience.
Field of Vision: Just like in real life, the referee in subsequent installments of the FIFA franchise should only be able to make proper decisions based on his field of view. If the referee doesn’t “see” something like an off the ball foul, he can’t give it. That being said, the field of vision should also be applied to the linesmen in a football match.
Consulting Linesmen: The referee should also consult his linesmen if he is unsure about something crucial, like the ball crossing the goal or outside line, or an off the ball foul he did not “see”. He can also consult his linesmen to confirm before giving a penalty decision or handing out a red card.
Element of Error: It would be great to see an element of error in the game from the referee’s side. Recently EA Sports introduced different referees for matches. But what sense does it make if this is just for name’s sake and if all the referees give exactly the same decision under the same circumstances? Why not include virtual representations of real referees just as we have virtual representations of real football players? Some referees could brandish cards like it’s nobody’s business while others could be more conservative about bookings. Sometimes referees might book a player or give a foul or a decision for something of less offense while at other times they could look the other way on more harsh tackles.
Decision Making: FIFA gamers should be able to sway a referee’s decisions slightly if a foul has been committed. Only marginally though, and excessive appealing should lead to the arguing player getting a booking. Players should be able to appeal to the referee for a penalty, or even to hand out yellows to opposition players.
- 2. Manager Mode:
A few upgrades in manager mode are also needed in order to bring the FIFA franchise a little more towards being on par with what happens in real life.
Media Interaction: Managers should be able to interact more deeply with members of the press. They should have the ability to hold press conferences or meetings with the media and the public to address certain issues or to announce club plans, unveil newly signed players and such.
Youth System: Managers should have more information on their youth and reserve teams. If not directly, then via the reserve coach and other concerned persons. A manager should also have the chance to make the call on which youth team players he wants to try out in first team games and which he wishes to sell to other clubs.
Fired Mid-season: What happens when you are fired mid-season? The rest of the season is simulated. This should be done away with. Wouldn’t you love it if you could jump to being manager of another team mid-season? You could extract vengeance on the very team that offloaded you for whatever reason. If incorporated, this would be one of the best new features of the franchise.
Mid-season Offers: There should be offers from other clubs for a manager mid-season. Clubs should show interest in you for managing skills and you can make the jump when the season ends and your contract expires or if you are fired mid-season. There should also be mid-season offers for your players, and in turn you should be able to show interest in other players during the season if they’ve fallen out of favor with their respective mangers.
- 3. Gameplay:
The gameplay in FIFA 10 was amazing. EA Sports really took it up a notch. We thought up a few gameplay innovations of our own which just needed to find their way into the next installment of the FIFA series. But it seems EA Sports beat us to it. Well, only on a few. Among these was a “Cristiano Ronaldo penalty”. The way he pauses just before he takes the spot kick, to gauge which way the keeper might go. EA Sports included this in its 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, in the ability to take a “stutter” shot when you run up to take a penalty kick. A truly remarkable feature, it adds to the nervousness of taking a penalty kick with so much pressure mounted. So let us see what possible gameplay innovations could be added to the next FIFA game.
Deeper Set-Piece Creation: FIFA 10’s set-piece creation gives gamers a chance to throw the odds in their favor from a dead ball situation. You can make players run paths leading up to the kick, confusing opponents, disrupting formations and taking defences apart. You can then test your newly created set-pieces out to see whether they will really be effective in game situations. What we want to see in subsequent iterations of the franchise is a deeper system for creating set-pieces, giving more control and freedom. A few preset set-pieces for us to build upon perhaps.
Player Celebrations: The player celebrations in each installment of the game have been expanded. In following FIFA football games you should be able to celebrate based on the situation and the type of goal scored. For example a goal scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick should warrant a certain type of celebration while a perfectly timed cross leading to a goal should see the goal scorer run to thank the player with the assist after a short celebration in front of the fans.
Supporter Interaction: Players should be able to gesticulate in the direction of their supporters after scoring a goal or while taking a corner kick, to get them to raise the noise level in the stadium and get behind their team.
After-the-Whistle Counts: The following FIFA games should allow you to play even after the referee has blown his whistle. You should be able to kick the ball away after a foul has been given, score a goal after an offside has been declared, and do a few tricks to delay opponents from getting hold of the ball. We know this is already possible in FIFA 10 and even in 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa. But it doesn’t count. The ref should be active even after you hear his whistle, and you should be yellow carded for kicking the ball away after he has stopped play, or warned for stopping or delaying the opposition players from going ahead with their kick.
Edge the Wall: Who doesn’t want an unfair advantage in any kind of game? The EA Sports folks should include the ability to nudge the wall forward slightly and slowly. It happens all the time in football, and we would love to see it make its way into the video game. Of course, it would only work if some referee upgrades were implemented. The referee would card players for infringement if he sees it, and has already warned them prior. Also, different referees would have different reactions. And how much the wall has encroached should also be taken into account.
Real-Time Match Updates: There should be real-time match updates in future iterations of the FIFA franchise to really get you into the game and the atmosphere surrounding not just football clubs, but entire cities that support them. The score updates that wriggled into 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa are really shallow and almost make you feel like you’re being cheated. The EA Sports folks must put in more realistic stuff including early kick-offs and simultaneous match updates. That is what will truly turn the tide in football video games.
Realistic Goalkeeper Behaviour: In FIFA 10 goalkeepers are not that intelligent. They just run out mindlessly at an approaching attacker and most of the time get chipped rather easily. Every team hates conceding goals. And in order to make sure this doesn’t happen the goalkeeper AI really needs a boost. More realistic goalkeeper decisions should be incorporated in FIFA 11 in order to give the attacker a heart-pounding time in front of goal.
If you feel that there are any more things that should be incorporated in order to make the FIFA even more realistic and satisfying, let us know in the comments section below.