FIFA Soccer 12 by EA Sports Review: Another year and another FIFA game is released and for those of us that like our football played with a spherical ball it’s met with the same level of excitement as the Madden franchise is for our American cousins.

Something that comes as no surprise is how great the game looks, it’s difficult to say how much better that than last years incarnation it is but needless to say the the ‘beautiful game’ has never looked so good on a handheld device. The graphics run fast too with no slowdown even when it seems like all 22 players are crowded into the penalty area trying to scramble the ball into the back of the net.

Not that you often find yourself in that position. The new control mechanism that enables greater control then before it’s new touch controls for set pieces including goal kicks, free kicks and penalties where swiping your finger across the screen provides an excellent alternative to the standard d-pad and action button controls that are utilized throughout the rest of the game.

The controls have been tweaked a little and it doesn’t take too long to learn the new features that will enable you to dribble and trick your way around the opposition. Make things too easy for yourself though by playing on easy mode and you will be prompted to move the difficulty up a level. You are not forced to change the difficulty level but it made me sufficiently guilty and moved it up a notch.

The main part of the game is Manager Mode where you can attempt to manage and play your favorite team from 22 leagues around the world. This mode is a hybrid between the detailed football management sims and arcade style games and it’s a great combination.

The extra detail of transfers, club finances and player management add to the game but don’t take away from the fluidity of the great arcade football game that is at it’s core.

Of course you can still play individual games without the management side of the game and play a restricted multi-player version of the game. I say restricted because there is no bluetooth or wifi game mode to play FIFA 12, instead 2 players can play on a single iPad as long as they both have an iPhone or iPod Touch.

Using these extra devices they can download the free Gamepad App from the app store and use these as controllers for the game. This method is pretty ingenious and works well, however, the fact that you need 3 iOS devices to player a multi-player games makes it a little expensive. A trick that they also missed was to allow the gamepad app to be used in the single player mode, now that would have been awesome!

While the game is missing GameCenter integration EA’s own social gaming application Origin is used and via this platform daily challenges are set, these challenges sometimes include a full 90 minute game or just the closing minutes of derby game where you have to come back from a lose to turn in a win.

These challenges are great fun and as long as they keep a good variety of them it will ensure continued value is provided in the game.

Trophy’s are awarded for winning competitions and achievements can be unlocked for such things as scoring direct from and corner and not conceding a foul in a game to scoring with your goal keeper and winning a rivalry match.

The main game of FIFA 12 isn’t breaking a whole lot of new ground, but then again if you have a winning formula is their any need too.

What we like:

• Great looking smooth graphics
• Intuitive controls
• Unique iPhone controller

What to know:

• No multi-player over bluetooth/wifi
• Unique iPhone controller only for two player mode

X2 Football 2010 will feature the all new ‘Dream Team Mode’, over 150 national teams, 10 national leagures and online mutliplayer features. In the Dream Team Mode your objective is to create your own dream team by selecting initial players, abilities and then compete in tournaments and quick match modes to earn tokens. Tokens can be spent to scout for quality players to strengthen your ‘Dream Team’

Key Features

• Play More: With over 150 club teams, 30 competitions and the all new “Dream Team” mode.
• Play Anywhere: Connect with friend or foe over Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or online!
• Play Faster: With refined controls and 3GS optimizations
• Play Smarter: Against enhanced defensive and attacking player AI.

Charles Chapman, Technical Director, Said

we were always confident that X2 Football 2009 would be successful, our entire development team are football fans and this, in turn, lead to the creation of a game that met with world-wide acclaim. But we never, ever want to rest on our laurels.

We’ve taken on board a lot of feedback from users and have rewritten large parts of the game from the ground up as well as adding more features. Our aim is to ensure that X2 Football 2010 continues in the same tradition that its predecessor set upon first release.

Des Gayle, Producer, further added

with X2 Football 2010 our fans will have to play smarter against improved AI, they will be able to play faster with our 3GS optimizations and they can play more with club teams, online multiplayer, and the all new ‘Dream Team’ mode.

X2 Games Football 2010 Screenshots

Are you a fan of sports simulation genre? Are you excited about X2 Football 2010 for iPhone? Let us know in the comments below.