FIFA 11 Demo

There's a time, toward the end of each year, when every soccer fan is anxiously waiting for the latest EA Sports release to come out as it always does, season after season. Each year, a couple of new things are added into the mix, along with better graphics and an extra touch of realism, all of which make the delight of gamers, at least until the next title is announced.

FIFA 11 is but an example of this cycle, one that maintains the tradition and comes bearing the gift of change, more or less. Although FIFA 10 brought some more significant modifications to the gameplay mechanics and the physics engine, this latest episode just builds up on that, which means that the new additions might not be too easy to spot if you are not a die hard fan of the franchise.

Hence, beside an update to the team rosters and a few touch-ups here and there, this is but a very large patch to the previous version, one that has been released to serve as a support beam for the series until the innovations for the true sequel are properly implemented. It is, however, just as bit as good as the previous installment, but unless you do not already own that one, there are not too many reasons to make the upgrade.

The truly new gimmick, on the other hand, is called Personality+, which is responsible for how players act on the pitch and whether they are capable of performing various celebrations, tricks or actions to drive the team toward victory. Admittedly, you can play the game without observing this feature at all, although you can see its merit from time to time, especially in the way goalkeepers reach in certain situations.

Even if the graphics are probably the only chapter that change most visibly from title to title, the fact that the series has gained so much attention over the years makes for a very difficult to distinguish improvement between these last two sequels. This is to say that the games look incredible already, so you may have trouble noticing the slightly better player animations and the refined ball behavior on the field.

FIFA 11 really shines when taken on its own, since it is one of the most advanced soccer simulators you can put your hands on at the moment. Compared to its predecessor, on the other hand, the lack of substantial improvements do not justify the new suffix, and thus not the financial effort either.