Hands on with FIFA 11 for iPhone

You can’t accuse EA’s premier football series from resting on its laurels.

It seems like every time the opposition pulls off a stunning trick, like intelligent player movement in the midfield or tight, adaptable virtual joystick controls, EA is there in the stands, making notes like a disgruntled national team manager.

This comparison does FIFA 11 a disservice, though, as there are quite a few new features in this latest iteration that opposing team managers are sure to be taking notes on as well.

We went hands on with an early build of the game earlier in the week to find out how the squad is shaping up.

I played FIFA 11 on an iPhone 4, with full support for the device’s increased screen resolution even at this early stage in development. There were a few kinks in the animation – more specifically, the cut-aways of the players running onto the pitch or taking a throw-in were in slow motion – but in general the game looked stunning.

The smooth motion-captured animations and detailed graphics could even be mistaken for a miniaturised home console version – a significant step up from all the other football titles on the device.

Part of the reason the graphics look so much better than before is to be found in the new ‘360 degree’ movement system, plainly taken from the home console release.

This leads to a generally more fluid sense of movement, with players having to knock the ball gently to the side when making tight turns rather than suddenly switching directions.

The most interesting new feature with FIFA 11 is in the controls.

The most basic of these is in the ‘tap to switch’ mechanism that made its first appearance in World Cup. This can now be ignored for the more standard button-press, with ‘switch’ taking up the third-button slot if your team is on the defence, and ‘through ball’ should it be on the attack.

More important, from an attacking perspective, is the ability to touch and drag another player off the ball, which initiates an attacking run forward.

The movement in the midfield did seem improved from the previous version in general – midfielders no longer shimmy along with the man on the ball - but this new ability makes it far easier to launch counter-attacks and through-balls should you time it correctly.

Elsewhere, the game has received a major boost to the amount of content over FIFA 10. As well as individual star players like Messi or Ronaldo having their own separate tricks (activated by double-tapping the virtual joystick in a direction), there are now 500 officially licensed teams to choose from and 50 real-life stadia to play in.

Team management has also been tightened up, with more formation options and the ability to select individual kick takers.

Interestingly, the ‘tap to switch’ mechanic also makes an appearance during dead-ball situations, allowing for picking out specific players in the mass of bodies around the penalty area (although the window of opportunity is tight to say the least).

A disappointing feature for pocket gamers is the lack of any form of multiplayer at launch. EA has assured me this will be added to the game in an update later down the line, but it's disappointing that it won’t be included from the off.

Despite this, FIFA 11 is shaping up to be a serious contender in the rapidly expanding iPhone football league. We’ll see if it hits the back of the net when it jogs out of the App Store tunnel next month.