First touch control

The new first touch control system will revolutionize the way you receive the ball. Control will become a matter of skill rather than something automatic. In FIFA 13, trapping and controlling the ball are influenced by variables such as positioning, responsiveness and the attributes of the player receiving the pass. Improper control of the ball could let your opponent in or cause the ball to run out of play.

This change is similar to when tactical defending was introduced into FIFA 12. Even experienced FIFA gamers were annoyed at first by the switch but mastering it felt oh-so satisfying. It’s likely to be the same with first touch control in FIFA 13, and hopefully, like tactical defending, there will be an option to turn it off, if you need time to get used to it.

Attacking AI

The lack of options and opportunities when attacking was one of my main problems with FIFA 12. The AI (artificial intelligence) of the attackers has been improved in FIFA 13, and players will now move around intelligently depending on their location, what’s happening in the build-up and where the spaces are.

In addition, some attackers will be better than others at avoiding being caught offside, while others can perform smart tactical movements to punch holes through for the wingers or fullbacks to run onto.

Impact engine

The impact engine is the technology that’s designed to make collisions between players more realistic. This engine has been enhanced in FIFA 13 to remove bugs. It includes a new series of animations to enhance the realism even further.

There will be better jostling between players, who can now use their shoulders and arms to help shield the ball or to tackle an opponent. Physical challenges affect speed too in FIFA 13, with attackers being slowed or thrown off balance slightly if they get knocked while in possession.

Dribbling

In FIFA 13, the ability to go past an opponent with a simple change of direction disappears. New moves and refined touches are introduced that allow you to select to use the inside or outside of the foot. This will be a real delight for technically-savvy FIFA players, and will bring more skill into beating your man.

Tactical free kicks

With free kicks in FIFA 13 you can have to three players around the ball. You can now create new patterns and unpredictable kicks, fake shots, and drag players out of the wall.

From a defensive perspective you can add players to the wall, or instruct one of them to come off to intercept a rebound. You can also sneakily move the wall forward a by a few inches. However, if the referee notices this, you risk getting a yellow card.

Graphics, career mode and multiplayer

FIFA 13 brings some tweaks to 3D modeling of players’ faces through the use of Dimensional Imaging. The resemblance to the computer characters’ real-life counterparts is therefore even more accurate than ever.

FIFA 13 boasts an extensive career mode, in which you assume the role of coach, player and manager of your team. In terms of online multiplayer, EA has promised – without yet revealing details – an important update to the Head to Head season.

Overall, FIFA 13 promises to be one of the most comprehensive, realistic soccer games we've seen.

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Like all the FIFA games, FIFA 07 is about as realistic as it gets for soccer sims since it has the licensing to use the names of real players unlike its closest rival Pro Evolution Soccer. FIFA 07 was something of a watershed for the franchise however because it involved a complete overhaul of the game engine meaning you need to employ real world tactics and think like a real player and manager in order to win matches.

The sound effects were significantly improved with realistic chanting and fan songs plus for the first time, FIFA 07 featured a new online mode that enables you to play against real-life supporters of other teams in the EA Sports Interactive Leagues. The realism even extends to a real-world schedule i.e. when they play, you play. The graphics meanwhile were good for the time but they now look rather dated.

The gameplay in FIFA 07 was improved with more intelligent AI that make your players play and act more realistically on the pitch, the way they find space and the way they pass and shoot the ball. If playing isn't enough, then you can take on the challenge of Manager Mode where you can buy and sell players, set wage thresholds and make important tactical decisions. However, this is relatively limited especially when you compare it with FIFA Manager 2012.

With over 10,000 players in 27 leagues around the World, FIFA 07 set the standards that we see today in FIFA 12.

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What's changed in PES 2012?

Changes in PES 2012 are largely centered around gameplay and team play, allowing players to make the most of tactical opportunities. Among the changes in PES 2012 are:

- New AI engine for a more realistic team play experience
- Attackers and defenders move as a more cohesive unit, allowing players to force mistakes
- New cursor-switching system allows players to pick a team mate anywhere on the pitch
- Improved jostling system and more realistic player collisions
- Other changes including improved animation, more player styles, enhanced lighting effects, improved dead ball system, and more

How does the new AI system work?

Always known for putting gameplay first, many of the changes in PES 2012 are to the game's artificial intelligence. Teammates and opponents are designed to act in a more authentic way and be tougher to beat. Five key areas have been focused on - overlapping runs, diagonal runs, dummy runs, zonal defense, and zonal marking.

A new off-the-ball running system in PES 2012 opens up new opportunities and gives you greater control of your team. Using the right analog stick you can select an off-the-ball player and make him run while still retaining control of the player with the ball. The controls for this are fiddly and hard to get used to but well worth persevering with because it allows you to find openings or drag defenders out of position to create space.

The defensive improvements in PES 2012 are impressive too, with teams now holding formation much better when under attack. Defending feels more intelligent. It's no longer enough just to hold a button down to apply pressure to an attacker and rob the ball. With PES 2012 you need to make sure you position the defender in the right place first then time your lunge with precision.

The combination of improved AI of the attacking unit and the susceptibility of defenders in one-on-ones seems to make it easier to create chances in PES 2012 than previous versions, meaning less low-scoring games than before.

What else is new in Pro Evo 2012?

As is the norm with ever Pro Evolution Soccer update, graphics in PES 2012 have been enhanced and the player likenesses are very authentic in some cases. Animations are slicker and the game has a very rounded feel which seems smoother than FIFA.

This second demo of PES 2012 isn't representative of the final version of Konami's soccer sim, but it does give you a good feel for the new gameplay aspects. You can play a ten minute match, choosing Tottenham Hotspur, Bayern Munich, Rangers, Club América or Internacional. You should check out the challenge-based Training section of the demo to get hands-on coaching on the new controls within PES 2012.

The setup screens and tactics configuration menus in PES 2012 seem more streamlined than the previous version, which would be a good thing because setting up your team in Pro Evo can be a notoriously laborious process. We'll have to wait and see in the final version if these straightforward tactics menus are retained.

Conclusion

Some people will say that Pro Evolution has lost ground to FIFA over the last three or four versions. PES 2012 certainly closes the gap on FIFA, though, adding some intelligence to Pro Evo's trademark arcade gameplay.

With a raft of gameplay and AI improvements, PES 2012 is shaping up to be an excellent entry in the long running series.

If you want a trip back down memory lane and to see how Pro Evolution Soccer has evolved over the years, you can download demos of most of the old versions of PES on Softonic. Check them out here:

- Pro Evolution Soccer 4
- Pro Evolution Soccer 5
- Pro Evolution Soccer 6
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2009
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2010
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 (purchase only)

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In recent years, the FIFA series has developed into a worthy rival to Pro Evolution Soccer, and in fact many will argue that FIFA 12 is a more complete soccer experience than PES 2012.

What's new in FIFA 12?

Building on the success of recent years, FIFA 12 introduces three main developments: precision dribbling, tactical defending and the player impact engine. These all - and especially the latter of the three - have a major impact on the gaming experience.

What does this mean?

The impact engine has arguably the greatest impact on gameplay, and it really changes the dynamics of tackling and contact in the game. FIFA 12's impact engine makes tackles look and feel much more realistic, and will no doubt result in more player injuries! When two players jump for a ball in the air in FIFA 12, they will no longer always land together perfectly, but may fall depending on the contact made with the other player.

Defending in general has been refined, and it's not longer possible to just hold down the 'pressure' button and expect the nearest defender to squeeze up and snatch the ball from the attacker. In fact, do that in FIFA 12 and you can seriously mistime the challenge and allow the player through. Timing is everything in this new tactical defending system, and while it's frustrating it's ultimately more rewarding when you start getting it right.

When dribbling in FIFA 12, you do feel in much more control than previous versions. Getting past defenders is more enjoyable as a result, and neat tricks seem easier to pull off.

How realistic is FIFA 12?

Very. As always, FIFA 12 is fully licensed so you'll be able to play with your favorite players and clubs, and the game will follow the summer and winter transfer windows, so teams will mirror their real life counterparts.

Graphics have had an incremental improvement, and animation is also better than last year's game. The full version of FIFA 12 will also have a big online component, with a much greater social element. Support Your Club League Tables will exist, allowing your performances with your favorite teams to contribute to their community standings overall. EA is also promising to keep FIFA 12 fresh with real-world soccer news.

What's in the demo?

The FIFA 12 demo gives you access to Manchester City, AC Milan, Olympic Marseille, Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona and Arsenal. The options are fairly limited, and settings such as choice of ball, weather and length of the halves are not incorporated in this demo. All other aspects of the game are also missing, so you play just one practice game, but it still gives you a good impression of FIFA 12.

FIFA 12 is an incredible soccer gaming experience which is as close you can get to playing a real game of soccer on your PC.

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Having been blown away by the previous version of FIFA, we found it hard to imagine how EA could possibly improve its slick soccer sim. However, after a few matches of this demo version it’s clear that the changes aren’t merely cosmetic.

Refined gameplay

The enhancements to the gameplay in FIFA 11 make it feel a lot more like real football. The new Personality+ system means that players move and act as they do in real life. This means, for example, that Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney will charge around after the ball when he’s not in possession; while his strike partner Dimitar Berbatov is more content to stand around waiting for something to happen!

Other tweaks to the AI help to make FIFA 11 the most enjoyable version to-date. For instance, on crosses, it’s now normal to see more than one player coming up for the ball. You’ll also notice that the players are a bit faster than they were in FIFA 10.

Another important change in FIFA 11 is the ability to control the goalkeeper, which feels very natural and adds an extra element to the gameplay.

Handballs are introduced for the first time in FIFA 11. When a defender is positioned in the line of a shot he may stick out his hand to block it. The frequency of handballs is a little higher than it would be in real life, but you can disable them, or define that they don’t occur in penalty situations.

FIFA 11 also features a more refined passing system, giving you more control over ball distribution. The Pro Passing feature lets you measure passes more precisely by weighting them. The repertoire of passes has been beefed up too, and you can now perform swerve passes, flicks, driven lobs and apply backspin to balls.

One of the changes we didn’t like is the new penalty kick system, which is based around a power-bar. Stopping the pointer in the right place is very difficult because it takes a while to respond to your button press. This makes scoring penalties in FIFA 11 a difficult thing to do.

Graphical tweaks

At first glance, FIFA 11’s graphics don’t look that different to the ones in the last version. Once you start seeing replays or close-ups, however, you realize that player likenesses are now more realistic. EA modeled player faces using photographs, and facial expressions are now more varied and change according to the player.

Another neat addition to FIFA 11 is the ability to upload your own audio for use within the game. You can record your own chants, add audio files of actual team chants, and define the music that a team runs out to.

Game modes
FIFA 11 is still stacked with lots of game modes, including officially licensed leagues, exhibitions, training and Be a Pro. The one significant change this time out is the rehashing of the Manager mode, which is now known as Career mode, and integrates with Be a Pro. This is now more involved in that you start out as a player before becoming a player coach and eventually a fully-fledged manager.

These interesting new features, combined with super intelligent gameplay, make FIFA 11 the quintessential soccer sim.

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EA Sports World Cup is a Windows 7 theme with which you can easily customize the appearance of your operating system, while showing off your support for your favorite football team in the South Africa World Cup.

Being sponsored by the popular game developers, the EA Sports World Cup theme features images from their latest title 2010 FIFA World Cup – instead of real pictures, which some users might have preferred.

EA Sports World Cup includes 10 images with different football-related scenes, including the trophy that all the teams are dreaming about.

Decorate your Windows 7 computer with the EA Sports World Cup theme and enjoy the competition!

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Considering the amount of money EA must make from FIFA 10, it's amazing that the games publisher has chosen to release FIFA Online as a free game. It's not as fully fledged as the latest incarnation, and graphically it's more similar to FIFA 08. Not that we're complaining though!

FIFA Online includes a multitude of different game modes. You pick your favorite team from a large selection of leagues and clubs (all with real life player data) then you must lead that side to glory. You can play single-player leagues, online tournaments with strangers, friendlies against friends, and even choose to play in the FIFA World Cup 2010 tournament.

FIFA Online has a lot of depth to it. There's a fairly detailed management mode in which you must set formations, negotiate contracts, deal with player injuries and suspensions, and more.

In it for the money

Of course, EA didn't make FIFA Online as a goodwill gesture to players. It made it to make money. Players are invited to buy tokens that are used for everything from unlocking certain game modes to helping a player to recover quicker from an injury.

Of course, the polished 3D graphics, full voice commentary and the sheer size of FIFA Online take its toll in terms of system requirements. You'll need a decent processor (upwards of 1.8GHz, ideally) and a fast internet connection if you want to avoid lags and frame rate.

It's still in beta stage, yet FIFA Online already shows signs of ushering in an exciting new generation of football games.

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While it's visually not far removed from its predecessor, the FIFA 10 PC demo will demonstrate some "under the hood" changes that really improve the game. The biggest is the introduction of 360 degree control. Your players no longer move in just eight directions, but whatever way you want. This makes control a much more subtle, and gives you greater flexibility and the ability for much more creative play.

FIFA 10's player animation has been totally revamped - they move with real character now and dribbling looks great. Your teammates have also had an intelligence upgrade, making them act more naturally, and thus less likely to do what you want them to.

FIFA 10 management has also been upgraded, perhaps in response to the richer experience in the Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer. FIFA 10 players now come with 'ambition', which affects their decisions - if your team is full of defenders, it might be difficult to convince another to join, as not playing much is rarely what a player wants to further his career.

A cleaner and more subtle game than its predecessor, FIFA 10 is quite an improvement, and another step towards a totally realistic football experience.

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The answer, in short is: a little. The graphics in FIFA 09 have been refined, with more photo-realistic captures of the superstars of soccer, and some great new animations both on and off the ball. The presentation of the game is as exquisite as ever, with new match intro sequences featuring the players warming up in the tunnel, crowd chants specific to each club, not to mention the cool new 'widgets' system on the menu pages, where various online and offline stats are displayed at all times. Unfortunately, it was impossible to test the commentary in FIFA 09, as it's not included in this demo version.

In terms of its gameplay, FIFA 09 offers a smooth ride, although there are few changes to the way the game handles other than a few new tricks and the addition of more realistic collisions. I could've done without these clashes, as sometimes it takes your player a long time to get up after a heavy hit. In fact, one of the new gameplay enhancements in FIFA 09 is the physical presence of some players, which means large defenders are more likely to bundle you off the ball, requiring more cunning to get past them.

While this demo of FIFA 09 is limited to four-minute demo matches between a choice of six clubs, the full release looks set to really raise the bar in terms of its online modes. I'm particularly excited by the new Adidas Live Season mode in FIFA 09, where player information is updated dynamically depending on performances in real life.

FIFA 09 is undoubtedly a great soccer simulator, although unless you're particularly interested in the online aspect of the game, you may not see a great deal of benefit in upgrading from FIFA 08 (other than, of course, the updated transfers).

Whether it'll prove better than Pro Evolution 2009 is a matter of extensive debate, but FIFA 09 is definitely the best version in the EA series to date.

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UEFA Euro 2008 plays virtually the same as FIFA 08 aside from a few tweaks. For instance, there's a new 'flick' mode for free kicks (and penalties), where you control the power and swerve of the shot using your right-analog stick. It's certainly an improvement, but still too fiddly and difficult to master.

Other additions to UEFA Euro 2008 over FIFA 08 include in-game player ratings which update in real-time depending how each individual is performing, and improved collisions, trapping and goalkeeper AI. You even get to see the managers' reactions to goals, free kicks and near-misses.

Aside from the gameplay changes in UEFA Euro 2008, there are a couple of new game modes. Captain Your Country sees you take the role of your team's skipper and influence the other players while you're out on the pitch, and there's a new online mode called Battle of the Nations.

Of course, all the official stadiums, real players, kits, balls, haircuts, etc. are there, and UEFA Euro 2008 features 52 European teams. Of course, there were only 16 teams at the 2008 Euro Championships, but by increasing the number EA has helped to add more depth and longevity to this title.

UEFA 2008 is a great international soccer sim. However, if you already have FIFA 08 it's probably not worth getting

Download UEFA Euro 2008 Demo in Softonic

There are people who like to play soccer and people who like to focus more on the strategic side of it. If you're find yourself in the latter, you're going to enjoy FIFA Manager 08 a lot.

FIFA Manager 08 is EA's latest version of their successful soccer managing franchise. You'll be in charge of the soccer team of your choice, picked up from a huge list of professional soccer leagues. The game features an impressive level of detail, to such an extent that you end up feeling overwhelmed with information. As an example, FIFA Manager not only covers the professional side of your life as a soccer coach, but also enables you to create a personal profile with pictures of your kids.

In all, FIFA Manager 08 is probably one of the most complete soccer managers available, but on the downside, it can take a long time to learn how to play it and therefore, be able to enjoy it.

Be a soccer manager and control your favorite team right from your PC.

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Everyone knows there are two types of gamer - those that love that Pro Evolution Soccer, and those that prefer FIFA.

Until recently, I'd have told you that those in the latter camp are a bunch of idiots who don't know anything about either computer games or football. Since the last couple of releases of the EA game though, I've shocked myself by becoming increasingly impressed with FIFA (largely because it's becoming more like Pro Evo, I would argue). FIFA 08 is by far the best release to date and it seems that the game has finally come of age.

FIFA 08's gameplay is more fluid than ever and thanks to some tweaks to the shooting mechanism, defending pressure, player attributes and even the influence of air pressure, it's now a very realistic simulation of the beautiful game. The graphics are smooth, detailed and well animated and the commentary and crowd effects make it seem just like you're watching it on telly. Always having the benefit of licensing on its side, FIFA 08 has a staggering 620 teams from 30 leagues, and a total of more than 1,500 real players at your disposal.

The management mode from the previous version stays, and FIFA 08 has introduced a new feature that I've been wanting from a football game for a long time. The so-called "Be A Pro: Co-op Season" mode sees you create your own player profile, then play just as that player for the season in a team with your pals, or with others online. It's an interesting experience that gives you the opportunity to prove how good you really are at the game and develop your skills as an individual player.

With the usual slick presentation and infinitely customizable options, Pro Evo 2008 is really gonna have to go some in order to top FIFA 08.

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The latest edition of the most popular football game ever is here - Pro Evolution Soccer (known in Japan and the Americas as Winning Eleven) is a football computer and video game series developed by Konami (KCET).

It is very popular in Europe, due to the realistic and playable gameplay. Partially as a result of EA Sports' affinity to purchasing exclusive rights for their FIFA series Pro Evolution Soccer games have traditionally lacked the sheer volume of licences present in EA's offerings, with the most notable absences being the FA Premier League, and more recently , the German Bundesliga (football).

Pro Evolution Soccer 6 promises to 'embrace the beautiful game' with more tricks and an overall more attacking mentality, with players encouraged to take people on. More licensed teams are included along with new boots, hairstyles and an improved Master League. More licenses are included, including fully licensed international kits with England, Spain and Italy to name a few (as well as the ever present Japan license). The French Ligue 1 Orange is now fully licensed plus more club licenses, including Manchester United, Olympiakos and Bayern Munich.

A Bundesliga licence was supposed to happen but Konami were forced to remove the Bundesliga licensing, which means the Bundesliga will not be present in PES6, not even as a series of unlicensed teams.

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Putting this aside, the creators of Sensible Soccer 2006 have tried to stay faithful to the original game. Unlike most others, they have also made a point of not trying to make it overly realistic and hence avoid going up against the soccer giants that are FIFA Football by EA, and Winning Eleven by Konami. The result is that you have twenty two hilariously disproportionate players zipping around the pitch making crazy fifteen yard sliding tackles and taking some wild banana shots that occasionally end up in the back of the net. Sounds pretty much like the original!

The controls remain as simple as ever with buttons for shoot, pass, and sprint. For shooting and passing, the longer you hold, the further the ball will go. The system used for sprinting is such that each player has their own energy bar which is meant to last the whole match. Once the bar runs empty there’s no going back, so use it wisely. To unlock extra features like alternative team strips (e.g. Union Jack shorts) you have to finish the tournaments, and there are plenty of them to keep you occupied for a while.

When it comes down to it, Sensi 2006 is fun for a kick-about and should stir up some nostalgia for anyone who had played the original. However there were some strange warped graphics during our tests and as fast as this 3D incarnation is, it will never be as slick as its predecessor from almost a decade ago. What makes it worth a look is that it will appeal to absolutely anyone, football fan or not, thanks to the healthy mix of comedy with high tempo gameplay.

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EA proves it just can't get enough with 2006 FIFA World Cup, and apparently neither can the paying customers who continue to get excited and fork over their hard-earned cash for yet another FIFA Football title that promises to bring the realism and emotion of the World Cup to their living room.

2006 FIFA World Cup brings the world cup in Germany to your PC.

However, once you get down to the pitch you suddenly notice how jagged everything is when compared with the beautiful graphics that had you drooling in anticipation when you booted up the game.

You decide that graphics aren't what make a game and get stuck in to the match proper. The speedy pace of play in 2006 FIFA World Cup reassures you that this is a game worth having, but you quickly find that it gives you the same experience as the regular FIFA 06, and for that matter, 05.

What's going on? Those rascals at EA have done it again. Taken their successful franchise, slapped on some new packaging and suckered us for our naivety.

What's more, it lets the developer experiment with ideas that may just revolutionize future releases. For example, there is a new penalty-taking system in 2006 FIFA World Cup that accounts for players under pressure with the shot becoming slightly more difficult the longer you delay.

There's also the new shooting engine, whereby holding the shoot button doesn’t adjust the power, but the trajectory of the shot. The power comes from the position the player is in as he takes the shot and whether he's moving, stationary, or under pressure from opposition defenders.

These innovations really do make interesting changes and for most people will be an improvement on what came before.

Unfortunately you've got to do this with the present-day players and this takes away from the feeling of authenticity of the experience.