When FIFA Soccer is released alongside the PlayStation Vita next month, fans of the series won’t get a watered-down, lighter version as is typically the case with handheld sports games. In an interview today with PSU, Matt Prior, producer of FIFA Soccer for Vita, said the handheld game not only features the same full single-player game modes as its FIFA 12 on PlayStation 3 counterpart, but the unique features of Vita will give players a new, rewarding experience.
“One of our main goals was to make sure it was not just a lightweight launch title,” Prior said. “We’ve seen frequently in this industry, launch titles on new hardware can be very light on game modes, and more of a tech demo of the new technology.”
FIFA Soccer (Football outside of the U.S.) represents the biggest, most ambitious game EA Sports Canada has ever put out on a handheld device. The game has all the same single-player modes, 50+ licensed tournaments, every team, player and asset as on FIFA 12 on consoles.
“Offline is identical to the PS3, which is great because traditionally handheld games are somewhat lightweight,” Prior said. Features like the popular online Ultimate Team, however, are complex and at this point will not be available on the Vita version. Online will feature the standard head-to-head ranked games and friendly matches. “You can play any user, anywhere around the world,” Prior said.
If you played any FIFA game on the PSP, you likely missed the second analog stick. While Vita’s second analog stick gives more depth in gameplay, it’s the front touch screen and rear touch surface that give FIFA Soccer more direct control. “We didn’t want to create a gimmick,” Prior said about Vita’s unique features. Instead the team looked at common frustrations found on the console version. For example, one of the common complaints from players comes from passing mechanics. The game engine dissects the analog stick positioning, power, and the positioning of players to determine where it believes you intended to pass the ball, but it’s not always accurate. With the touch screen capabilities of Vita, players can simply tap the screen to direct passes, including tapping players to direct passes to them. A single tap gives a ground pass while a tap and hold gives a lofted pass.
“Now you can’t blame the AI,” Prior said about passing. “It gives you more reward because you can build plays as you see them in your head.” The rear touch pad creates an aiming surface for shots. Tap and hold the top right corner of the rear touch pad and the striker will take a shot in the upper right corner of the net. How long you hold the touch pad determines the strength of your shot. Not interested in this new ability? These functions are not mandatory and can be turned off in the options, but Prior said once you learn how to use it, it provides a great depth of accuracy.
The front touch screen also works for set pieces, allowing players to trace their strikes and add bend and dip. On defense you can tap a player to take control of them instead of relying on the auto select gameplay features.
“It is kind of a new way to play. Especially for hardcore gamers, I think we hit the nail on the head with some features we just couldn’t do on consoles,” Prior said. “At a core level, we didn’t just want gimmicks; we wanted something that affected the core gameplay.”
The team started developing the game in August 2010 and one of the biggest challenges was taking a game, especially the engine, from a PS3 game that already pushes the consoles to its limits, and bring it to a new piece of technology, Prior said. In the future, he’s hopeful FIFA games on the Vita will better connect with the PS3 versions to allow players to take their careers on the road via a cloud saving feature.
“With this, it really has the console experience in the palm of your hand,” Prior said about Vita.
FIFA Soccer is set to release alongside Vita on Feb. 22 in North America and the U.K. and the game will retail for $39.99 USD. We’re still waiting for U.K. price points.