FIFA 08 PS2 developer blog #03

Sept 12 2007

Marcel Kuhn, FIFA 08 (PS2), Producer
First of all, I want to thank all of you for taking the time to read my last blog (Gameplay – Control and Freedom), and even more for posting responses.

For today, let’s have a look at Custom Formations and Club Specific Formations, which areboth new features in FIFA 08.

We wanted to implement team personality in FIFA 08, so we added Club Specific Formations. What this means is that our database team and their editors researched the real world formation of each club featured in FIFA 08. The result is that in FIFA 08, every club has a different formation.

For example, in the real world, multiple clubs may play a 4-4-2 on paper, but their formations vary a lot once they enter the pitch. Some teams might play with more offensive wing backs, others play with a diamond in the middle, or stagger their strikers rather then have them in-line. Every match-up will be slightly different based on the chosen formation, and we hope to increase the tactical awareness of the users, who will have to react to the different formations in order to be competitive. Also, we feel this feature has added another level of authenticity to FIFA 08 that we’ve been missing so far.