The release of FIFA11 is getting closer, and the excitement is really starting to build up around the game. Besides some sick tutorials being posted online from the game, the new features seem very exciting, including even goalkeeper control. While the features are always a big talking point of a new EA Sports Fifa release, the graphics are sometimes even more important because they provide as a benchmark of improvement from year-to-year. Since this is a football shirt blog, I’ll focus on the kit design from EA Sports this year for Fifa11, and what improvements have been made in the game since last year in terms of graphics and details.
Here’s a screenshot of Wayne Rooney in the 10/11 Manchester United Home Kit in Fifa11: (click to enlarge all photos)
Besides looking fantastic, it’s getting a little bit scary how realistic the design is getting in these games. If you make that screenshot a little smaller you couldn’t really tell it’s an in-game screenshot. The detailing on the players has been taken to the next level, and the differences are noticeable. Compare this to Fifa10 with almost the exact screenshot:
(Click the image to enlarge it to see it properly). In full view, you can see the improvements from Fifa10 to Fifa11, not only on the face, which is a really big improvement. The Manchester United home shirt is a lot better designed, looking more realistic. Notice the creases in the shirt in both pictures. While in Fifa10 they still looked very game-like, in Fifa11 it looks more like a realistic crease, being deeper and darker. The use of shadows is also a lot more appropriate in Fifa11, notice the shadow on the right side of Rooney which fits perfectly with the lighting coming from the left side. It’s just a lot more realistic in general. The same can be observed on the shorts, where the detail is quite amazing compared to Fifa10.
The detailing even on the socks is a lot more crisp and accurate, showing that EA really didn’t slack, especially for the big clubs.
However, there’s one part that EA Sports got wrong (so far) with Fifa11, and that’s the boots:
While the boot detail is fantastic and spot on compared to previous versions, EA haven’t updated the boot styles to the newest boots… at least in the early screenshots. The boots of Wayne Rooney are the T90 Laser Elites, and the new version looks very different from what he has on in that screenshot. So they’ve done a good job with detail, but not such a good job with keeping up with the latest boots. However, the detail on the T90 Tracer football is fantastic, and they really got that spot on. It’s even the EPL ball for the new season, looking very realistic. But the boot issue seems to be only with Wayne Rooney, here’s a screenshot of Andres Iniesta’s Nike CTR360 Maestri Elite boots on Fifa11:
Not sure then why they haven’t updated Rooney’s boots yet, but for the other players it seems that the change has been made. For example, here’s a screenshot of Kaka’s boots, the Adidas Adipure III in blue:
Also love the detail on the Real Madrid socks in the screenshot above. Looks really realistic. So EA Sports have done their homework with the boots at least, minus the Rooney boots which maybe is an older screenshot and hasn’t been changed it. I’ll give EA the benefit of the doubt on this one. Here’s Kaka and the Real Madrid 10/11 Shirt:
The detail on the Real Madrid kit on the whole in the screenshot above is amazing. Notice the same attention to detail with the creases that I mentioned earlier from the United Rooney preview. The bends are really realistic looking, and the shadowing is fantastic. There’s even an equal amount of detail put in the grass, which is pretty cool. Although this isn’t exactly how it will look like on every screen, you can be confident that you’ll see these details in HD if you have that.
One kit that EA Sports have gotten spot on is the 10/11 Liverpool Home Shirt. As I described in the post about this kit, Adidas have done a great job with the design by using the triangles of different shades to give another dimension to the shirt itself. EA Sports have understood why Adidas created the shirt this way and in the screenshot above (click it to view full size) they showed exactly what the design does on the shirt by adding the shine coming from the light. The white triangles basically sparkle in light on the new Liverpool shirt, which EA captured quite well on the preview above. Fantastic detailing. You can notice the shadowing on Mascherano as well, as he is bending down slightly.
Check out the detail on Hugo Lloris of Lyon: (click to view it full size)
The level of detail on this screenshot is also very amazing. Going from the Nike Tiempo Legends Elite (which are the new ones), to the gloves Lloris is wearing, to the grass itself, the detail is just impeccable.
Also in the screenshots is this pair of Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly II’s, worn by Nani. These boots actually don’t exist in a full black-out pair, so I guess the designers over at EA decided to make a pair that they liked more. I wish Nike actually made them, they look sick, but they’re not flashy enough to be Merucial Vapors, so I doubt we’ll ever see that… unfortunately.
The final screenshot shows some of the attention to sponsors and the small details that you might first not notice. The sponsors really look great on the shirts in Fifa11, even when they’re placed on the back, as you can see on the left of the picture with the Bordeaux player. The shadowing and attention to creases is also fantastic in this screenshot as well, so you can expect that to be pretty consistent in the game.
The conclusions we can draw are:
1. Fifa11 has improved on graphic details vastly since Fifa10
2. More work needs to be done on football boots for the game
3. Shadowing is spot on and more realistic compared to previous versions
What do you think of Fifa11, are you excited to see it live and play it? Soccerlens had the opportunity to play the game and review it ahead of the general release, check out our FIFA 11 review and share your thoughts below!
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