What FIFA can learn from the NBA 2K series

Us Europeans are a football loving continent, it is something that we hold very close to our hearts and are, in total, the champions of. As a result, the yearly balls fest that is FIFA is always a huge event, selling loads and being lauded by critics, the FIFA franchise is widely regarded as the best sporting game in the world; only by European journalists though. Take a 5 hour trip across the pond and the biggest game out there is the NBA, or to a Europeans eyes, 'moving netball'. Whilst FIFA is the most popular and successful sporting simulator in Europe, over in America, the NBA 2K series is massive, and unlike FIFA, it introduces considerable changes with each iteration. After spending over 5 months with 2K12, playing a game of FIFA seems incredibly dull and lifeless, the 2K series just does things so much better. Here is what FIFA can learn from the brilliant NBA 2K series.....

Atmosphere

Football is all about the atmosphere, just look at the World Cup. If you have ever been to a live match you have experienced that buzz of community and passion, but on FIFA? Its pretty dead. Whereas the 2K series conveys the electric atmosphere and the excitement of the sport, FIFA seems to be very subdued. The crowd sing dully, the pitches are dull, and the presentation is slick, but rather dull, the list goes on. By taking tips from the team at 2K sports, the FIFA franchise would see a much needed improvement with increased atmosphere. In NBA 2K12, it feels like you are watching a real life match, in FIFA? It feels like your watching a D-League stinker.

Presentation
Over the years FIFA has improved its presentation and feel. It is a very classy affair, with shiny gold menus and swooshing sounds. But, when you dive into a game, the nearest thing you come to a slick slide is the EA Sports logo spinning. The NBA series creates its feeling of realism by its in-game presentation. Different replays are sponsored by different companies, player statistics pop up to show you even more information and the screen transitions are constantly changing. As a result, each game feels like a televised affair, not an arcade experience like with FIFA. If FIFA were to include new camera's, a range of replays and an overall wider array of transitions, it would become much closer to watching a game on Sky Sports, a huge step for a game which strives to be realistic.

Crowd
Every year that FIFA makes a large gameplay innovation, the crowd are always forgotten. Much like the previous points, the crowd in FIFA results in a slightly boring affair. They hardly move at all, they seem to be lifeless and when they do move, it is in perfect synchronisation. Whilst the 2K series does not have 20,000 separate animations for every spectator, the range of movements are enough for you to believe the crowd are not simply copy and pasted all over. Although this may not be a major point when you are playing the as game you take little notice of the crowd, but much like the atmosphere and presentation, it creates a more cohesive experience that makes you feel like you are watching a live match, not playing a £40 game.

We are all individuals! 

Care and Attention
In no way does the FIFA series lack a love for the game, but when compared to the 2K series, FIFA seems as loving as Freddy Krueger. One thing that the NBA prides itself on is its rich history of players, so to celebrate this, the 2K series include 'Greatest Mode' which consists of famous matches where specific players showed their true power. Classic basketball players ranging from Michael Jordan to Bill Russel each have era-specific games, all of which are full of love and passion for the sport. As an added bonus, older games have a black and white tone and simple presentation, once again making it all the more authentic. However, when compared to basketball, football blows it out of the water for history. Imagine playing famous and infamous football games as footballs greatest ever players; Pele, Maradonna, Bobby Moore, Frank Beckenbaur. Partner this with a carefully created period specific style, and you have yourself onto something truly special.

The FIFA series is great, there is no denying. Grab 4 friends, 4 controllers and a game of FIFA and you have yourself one of gamings greatest gifts. But, much like any game, there is always room to improve. The NBA 2K series is the greatest sporting franchise. I haven't even mentioned the fantastic My Player Mode, the streamlined Association and the gorgeous graphics, but small steps are the the most effective. By making these improvements, the FIFA franchise could become much closer to its real life counterpart, and as a result, become one of if not the greatest sporting simulator out there. 

LittleBigPlanet Karting? Deja Vu.

Canadian retailer Future Shop Gamer announced on Twitter yesteray that the next installment in PS3 franchise LittleBigPlanet will be a karting game. Unlike previous LBP games, LBP Karting is supposedly being developed by the team at United Front- who created last years Modnation racers- and will be released alongside a Move steering wheel. Whilst this is great news for fans of both LittleBigPlanet and kart racing games, we cannot help but feel a little dubious.

I adore Media Molecule in every way. I love the way they work, their ethics and above all their awesome creation of LittleBigPlanet. After LBP 2 was released last year, I along with many other people were incredibly excited to see what their next project was. Brimming with pure creativity, the team and Media Molecule can literally create anything they want to, and as the little darlings so Sony's exclusive rally, they would have the world at the finger tips. I'm not doubting LBP Karting, just slightly irritated that the team have not gone onto something completely original and even something revolutionary, as LittleBigPlanet was one of this generations only and most innovate titles.


Another rumour emerged this morning claiming that LittleBigPlanet Karting is actually Modnation Racers 2, but utilising the LBP name to gain extra sales. This is completely understandable to be honest and a good move but either company, but the LittleBigPlanet franchise should move on and the team at MM should try something new. It is obvious that they are sticking to what they know best and as they create the best and really only Create. Play. Share gaming franchise, but the genre defining concept deserves its own new ip and platform.

The kart racing genre is great, I personally adore it. Whether it be Modnation Racers, Mario Kart or Sonic Sega All Star Racing, a karting game can always bring a childish grin to my face. Modnation racers offered an incredibly easy to use track creation method and I cant really see a next instalment approving on something that was almost perfect. Media Molecule are the place to go for innovation, and although a new karting game would be great, we've already seen 'Karting Creation' done to an absolute tee. Other genres could benefit hugely from a LBP spark, say the stale FPS genre or even the puzzle genre. We would love to see MM try their hands in those areas, not the karting genre.


LittleBigPlanet Karting will be amazing, I'm sure of it. Unless the team at Media Molecule all get struck with an internal alien, murderous parasite, I'm pretty certain they can create the pinnacle of the Create. Play. Share genre. I, along with many others just feel they could have been a bit more adventurous, taken more risks and dived into the deep end. However, any game with Sackboy in is a stamp of innovation and originality, so heres to LittleBigPlanet Karting!

Twisted Metal Impressions

If you have stumbled onto the PSN since yesterday you may have noticed a giant flaming clown face staring at you. Yes, this is the demo for the widely anticipated new Twisted Metal developed by the infamously outspoken David Jaffe and his team at Eat Sleep Play, and after putting in around 2 hours of solid gameplay, here are my overall impressions of the demo:


The demo offers 4 different modes, a training mode for single player and a challenge mode which is simply a 'last man standing' match, with 10 other AI opponents. Sadly, there are only 2 maps on offer, but as this is a demo, this is wholly understandable. The training mode does a very good job at introducing you to the controls and how the game runs, but the challenge mode seems to be, well, too much of a challenge. Supposing a cautious gamer is going to try their hand at the challenge mode before the online, its a little unforgiving and a bit too difficult. There is a choice of two modes if you choose to play online, a classic deathmatch and a new game mode named Nuke which was shown at E3 2010. Out of both modes Nuke seems to be much more team orientated and structured whilst, although it is still incredibly fun, the standard deathmatch is incredibly hectic and chaotic.

So the game modes for the demo are overall solid, offering 3 completely different styles of play and a very comprehensive tutorial, which comes as a surprise in these modern times. In terms of a look (I understand this is a demo, but its pretty close to the final thing), the game looks great. The animations are incredibly smooth which is a god-send when the screen is filled with colourful rockets and projectiles The car models seem to be very detailed and wonderfully designed. There also seems to be an overall darker tone to Twisted Metal, much like Black, which was almost too dark. Its not exactly cel shaded, but the style is certainly very bold with a very dark colour palette. Whilst the look is certainly atmospheric, some longer lines of sights look slightly dull and brown, however, this may just be a personal preference.

The demo offers a range of vehicles, including a motorbike and even a new helicopter.

The actual gameplay is very fun and mental, which suits the game perfectly. Even after a short tutorial, you will be able to send huge flying homing missiles or even be able to utilise the amazing special attacks to great extent. There are many power ups spread around the map but a seemingly dire lack of health packs which is a mild irritant. The one main niggle with the entire Twisted Metal demo though are the controls. Do forgive me, but I have never played a TM game before so I may be completely new to the franchise's control scheme, but as a newcomer the control lay out is incredibly counter intuitive and unnatural. The use of Square for accelerate and X for sharp turn seems to be a very strange choice as most games would have the controls the other way round. Likewise, the use of the L2 and R2 buttons for firing is awkward as L1 and R1 are change weapons, resulting in a constant scramble of weapon choice and then shooting. Apart from the counter intuitive control scheme, the responses are very sharp (which is needed!) and seem to incorporate all moves nicely. 

So there we are. I understand that it is merely a demo but I think many of you will agree that it is pretty close to the final thing. I love the huge array of weapons, the awesome style and the smooth gameplay, so chuck in the amazingly deranged characters and a full rooster of modes, and Twisted Metal is a must buy release for me. Twisted Metal is bound to be a hit in the US, but over in Europe? Im not so sure. Us Europeans may find it a bit to explosive and manic, but Eat Sleep and Play, you have gained yourself one extra customer in the form of yours truly.