While at EA Sports open house I, along with fellow staffer Trevor H, had the opportunity to play FIFA 13 using the new Kinect functionality that has been added. As we started to play around with the game using the new Kinect feature I was worried that it would be just a gimmick; however, as we got delved deeper and played a couple of games (MLS – Vancouver Whitecaps vs. L.A. Galaxy) we started to see how the Microsoft’s Kinect actually enhances your gameplay experience. Using the Kinect allows you to bypass menu screens as you don’t have to pause the game to manage various aspects of your gameplay.
The Kinect allows you to focus on specific areas as you play, and they are as follows:
Substitutions
- You say “Substitution” and a overlay will appear to allow you to sub a player. You say what position you want to sub and then select your player. You can even simplify it by just saying something like “sub striker” and the striker is subbed. This allows you to not have to say which player position on and then player position off, cutting even a few more steps out.
Formations
- You can call a formation change by saying “Formation”. You then simply say which formation you want that is assigned to a specific number. e.g. Formation 1 is 4-4-2 or Formation 5 is 3-4-3
Tactics
- You can change your tactics by saying “Tactics” then saying which tactic you want to use (e.g. offside trap, swap wing, team pressing, etc). You can also shortcut it to menu and just say “Counter Attack”.
Custom Tactics
- When you say “Custom Tactics” you can set those tactics that you like, or use most, to the custom menu. You can shortcut it too and say “Custom Tactic One, if you know which tactic you have assigned to it.
Mentality
- By saying “Mentality” you can change how your team is thinking, from attacking, balanced, or defensive. You can short cut each command too by just saying which mentality you want without having to do the two steps.
Be a Pro: Player
- When playing Be a Pro, you can use voice commands for specific actions. You can call for a regular pass (say: pass the ball, to feet, pass it), call for a through pass (say: through to me, play it through, through ball), suggest a shot (say: take a shot, shoot, have a shot), keeper charge (say: keeper charge), suggest the player clear the ball (say: get it out of here, clear it), send a player on a run (say: go run a ahead, on your horse, go go go), and call for a cross (say: front stick, near post, back stick, back post).
Interact with the Referee
- This one is simple. You may not like a call, and you may yell a word or two at the TV, which the Kinect will pick up. This will affect how the referee looks at your team and may influence what he will and will not let go in gameplay.
As I played against both the CPU, and fellow staffer Trevor H, I really understood how the Kinect functionality could really pay off for those diehard FIFA players as it adds a level of simplicity to the team/player management, and not having to stop your match and go into a menu to do many managerial things is a something that many will appreciate. The Kinect integration essentially allows you to keep on playing without any break in the gameplay experience. Some may find this hokey, but I think once people give it a try they will appreciate what the Kinect allows you to do when managing your game.
Of course the implementation of the Kinect in Be a Player mode is gimmicky at times, but there are some instances where it just makes sense. I can’t count how many times in the past where I have yelled at my TV when playing ANY sports game, and when playing FIFA, some of the things that are now assigned to the Kinect during the Be a Player mode just makes sense as I know that I have yelled those same things at the TV in the past (e.g. Clear the ball, pass it through). Once you yell a few of these things and the Kinect registers them and the scream becomes an actual action on screen, you too will see how it makes so much sense. Good for EA for not trying to go overboard on the Kinect functionality and allowing the developer to ust the Kinect in such a way that it only enhances the game.
