On the eve of the launch of FIFA13, the Balls.ie team were privilidged to speak to David Rutter, EA Sports producer who played a huge role in the creation of the game.
Here are some of the talking points.
What are some of the innovations in the new game?
First in defense, the ability of a defender to actually push and pull and opponent…you can actually shove a player until he get a bad touch. Very engaging and a great way to defend this year. The other way is a way we call skill games. So in the pre-match area where it would usually just be you and the goalkeeper, and you’d be trying to score goals, this year we’ve created a suite of features that allow us to introduce control mechanics to players that are new to FIFA. Learning how to pass, shoot, free kicks, crosses. There’s three tiers. We’ve unlocked this thing called The Challenge. Our advanced users can compete against their friends.
Can you discuss some of the features around international management?
We’ve very much allowing for international competitions within the game. We’ve found that what we call Career Mode is one of our most popular offline game modes. An amazing amount of games are played in Career Mode. The ability of a player to manage an international team is a really big thing for us. But there’s another thing – with Career Mode, it has to be engaging and fun. Taking on the job of an international is a fulltime job and something that people at the peak are offered. Players will have to be on the peak of their career rather than a newbie simply getting the job. You’ve got to be good at Career Mode to get there and then you’ve got to take it on.
Your online virtual pro is held on the server. This allows us to scrutinise their progress. There were pretty freakish ones online at some points last year but this will make it fairer online. It was one of the most requested features.
Who have you tested the game with?
We’ve had the Belgian U-21s test the game. We get loads of feedback from Jay Boothroyd of QPR. Over the past few years, it’s become really common to get contact from football players about the game, who turn up at our launches not just for PR but because they love the game.
Can you discuss some of the control functions?
"This year we wanted to remove that near perfect control, and introduce a system we call First Touch Control.
"Attacking players had much more time on the ball but players felt they weren't getting enough support from the AI as they were expecting. A lot of the work this year has gone into that Attacking Intelligence. Lots of committed, direct and decisive runs. Instead of players running aimlessly around the pitch, ignoring the vast amounts of space, they will look to exploit them with authentic runs.
"Passing it out of defence in a Barcelona fashion is not as easy this year as the new control system affects outcomes in both attack and defence. This year you'll have to think a bit more tactically about it and maybe just clear it in those positions."
FIFA13 goes on sale on September 25.
