Previews

Hands-on with FIFA 12 on iPad and iPhone

Kickin' it

Hands-on with FIFA 12 on iPad and iPhone
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iOS
| FIFA 12

Let's cut to the chase: the coolest thing about FIFA 12 on iOS is the controls.

As we revealed last month, the game lets you play multiplayer matches on your iPad with two iPhones as controllers. Essentially, the iPad is your game screen and the iPhones are the joypads.

Compatible with all iPhone and iPod touch models, the control scheme gives you a virtual joystick on the left and three contextual buttons on the right. For instance, while you possess the ball, you can pass, shoot, or throw.

We briefly tried the Bluetooth-based setup at E3, and it worked great during our more extensive hands-on this week. The game is also playable directly on the iPod touch, iPhone, and iPad, but we definitely think the device syncing is worth the effort.

Represent your color

FIFA 12 has literally every team and player in professional football. All the team colors and footballer faces are accurate to greater or lesser degrees, and the animation is fluid.

Equally impressive is the on-going audio commentary lifted straight from the console version. The honest, often biting commentary adds spice to the matches - particularly if you're on the receiving end.

We're itching to get more hands-on time with FIFA 12 when it hits the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad this autumn, to see whether it has the depth and quality to take on genre leader First Touch Football.

Damon Brown
Damon Brown
Damon Brown has been speaking the mobile game gospel since 2003 for Playboy, New York Post, and many other outlets. Damon writes books when he isn't busy gaming or Twittering. His most popular book is Porn & Pong: How Grand Theft Auto, Tomb Raider and Other Sexy Games Changed Our Culture.