EA have punted a set of new Fifa 13 screenshots over the internet crossbar, to land squarely in our laps in the writing-about-games crowd. Here we are, passing them back to you for an informational throw-in. Read on for Gary Neville-style analysis, albeit with less sexualised groaning.
French team Lyon, here. Enduring Championship Manager legend Kimmy Källström still plays for them, and has a hell of a left peg. Hopefully he'll be able to use it to take the ball around players in Fifa 13's promised upgrade to player dribbling.
First touch is the big change this year: deft players like Fabregas will be able to snap the ball back and forth between defenders' legs; lumbering donkeys will have a tough time bringing a trickling pass under control without hoofing it out of touch. Bonus thing: Xabi Alonso looks a hell of a lot like Mark Wahlberg
I assumed PSG were still mediocre, but I've just checked and they finished second in Ligue 1 this year – making them acceptable candidates to showcase Fifa 13's new unpredictability in this shot. But to stop frustration in an unreliable back line, line producer Nick Channon told us, the game will be " predictable unpredictable ". Somewhere, that logical fallacy has exploded a robot.
Frank Lampard, stop watching Kalou's foot! There's more important things to deal with, like the threat of an imminent, leg mangling tackle. Fifa 12's impact engine gave birth to fantastically improbable scenarios where tackled players jiggled, fell, and backflipped into each other. Sadly, Fifa 13 promises to fix such weirdness. It's probably for the best .
An alternate reality where Bayern Munich's Neuer saved Drogba's last-minute game tier-upper in the Champion's League final. Or, just a game someone's started between Chelseas and Bayern Munich with nothing on the line. Either way, EA want to highlight how specific players can lean further on their specific talents: Messi's dribbling, the Drog's towering strength, for example.
Roberto Soldado - or Bobby Sol, as I've known him as ever since he was my star forward in Fifa 09's Ultimate Team mode - is an inveterate goal poacher. He's not the fastest or dribbliest of players, but give him a touch of the ball and he'll stab it past most keepers. Here's hoping Fifa 13's new accurate touch system makes him as much of a weapon as he was in previous games.
It doesn't look world's away from Fifa 12, to be honest. But that's Fifa's curse: having clambered over footballing (Americans: "soccer") cold war rivals Pro Evo a few years ago, vast changes are not only unnecessary, but could upset the delicate balance of excellence that's meant myself and Graham have crammed two games of Fifa 12 in at lunchtimes for the last four months. Fun fact: Badstuber has a saintly twin named Goodstuber.
I'm running out of Fifa 13 features to tie into the screenshots released, so I'll just tell you about my theory that Aaron Ramsey - pictured getting a head on the ball here - is the clone of late footballing star Alf Ramsey. I'm assuming Aaron's creators had a plan to call subsequent clones Ben, Chris, Dave, and so on all the way up the alphabet should their prototypes fail, but nailed it on their first try. Good going, science/football boffins!
