Apart from the blocked shots and the game seemingly getting Mannone's stats and Casillias mixed up (Mannone makes some wonder saves he wouldn't get close to in real life) it's a pretty good demo although the movement seems a tad heavy.

Really struggling to see what's changed so much with this demo. Scored some belting goals which is usually the way with the demos.

I usually reserve full opinion until I've played it against my mates, as the way they play the game - the way the game seems to be played by the majority of online people - is one of the most frustrating aspects of the game. The closing down/pressing doesn't seem to have changed, I'm not really sure if this new first touch thing makes any difference, nor does it really change how a defender will always just muscle you off the ball, regardless of how well you think you do. I'll play it on the harder levels against the CPU later to see if they actually play better, or just get given superpowers to overwhelm you, rather than outplay you.

Anyway, my favourite aspects have been the control without sprinting, it isn't as sluggish and a change in direction now seems natural, rather than robotic. Players now seem to check their runs more naturally, sometimes taking slight pauses and slight direction changes to stay onside or get into a better position. I've played some excellent through balls that now seem to give a greater chance for the first time shot, before it was all about giving the defender the best chance to intercept, now it seems to be about giving the attacker a better opportunity to shoot or score. Whether my opinion changes on this after I play my mates remains to be seen, but I've enjoyed being able to utilise space properly for once, rather than chucking out 50/50 passes that are usually fruitless. The crossing seems better, but the 'automatic player change' seems to be very poor at the moment, I'll give manual a try but it's often lagging behind, picking the wrong player and often just ignoring my smashing of L1/right stick flicks.

With regards to negatives, I've found the collisions to be inconsistent and backwards, I'm constantly making full on tackles but the player in possession seems to use me as a cushion rather than lose the ball. It sometimes feels like I'm tackling their players for absolutely no reason, as every time it's knocked away I either knock it out for a throw, knock it straight to the opposition or simply come out second best, it's a tad annoying, but the effects of losing stamina still seem non-existent, so sprinting around chasing players, whilst annoying, can probably be coped with as the opposition will have to do the same to me. I've found the skills to lag compared to when I input them, I seem to be waiting an eternity to do the most basic of things which has left me not to bother trying.

I will go on with a few more later, I've seen the teleports and I'm assuming it's a glitch, if not then the game is a write-off.

When does this happen? I can't say I've seen it and I've played a good few hours on it now. Is it where a player disappears and then reappears somewhere else? Or just the old issue of defenders catching faster strikers?

Not sure if it's the same as other people, but for me it isn't quite a teleport. Basically, the defender could be running up field, five yards away, but he'll suddenly turn and move about five yards in an instant to suddenly be in front of my player and facing him. If I can get a replay and upload it, I will, but the movement is quite ridiculous. There are scenarios where the defender catches the forward when he really shouldn't. As an example, I was Aguero before, I broke through and took a big R3 flick touch, the ball went about 10 yards in front, the defender was 3/4 yards behind but he got to the ball shoulder to shoulder with me and ousted me. I get it when a player is dribbling with the ball on occasions, but the sprinting with the ball is so 'loose', defenders shouldn't be able to catch up with a player as easily as they do. If the attacker was able to change direction and have greater control whilst sprinting, I'd understand defenders catching them, but the sprint dribble is poor and sloppy, it gives poor defenders too much of an advantage.

Having now played the FIFA demo, I still concur that it's gash.

Has anyone noticed the font on the network settings bit at the start of the FIFA demo? They are identical to the horrible PES fonts. Is this a bit of humour from EA, after the PES team cried about them copying them all year?

That's the worst kind of fanboyism there is. At least when I big up FIFA and trash PES I actually put reasons.

Finished episode 3 of The Walking Dead earlier. Damn it's immersive

Not very good ones, but reasons none the less

I've just started playing it based on your recommendation. Seems pretty good so far, even if I've got far more affinity with the other characters than the one I'm controlling. He seems such a douche.