World Class Football Centre Matches a Rigged Joke

“The fix is in.” That’s all I can think as I try to play Football Centre weekly Key Matches at World Class level. It’s not just that the opponent is overpowered, it’s that the game systematically cheats. My players are suddenly sluggish to respond to inputs. A sure goal hits the crossbar AND the post. A top striker takes an inexplicably heavy touch in the box and blows an opportunity at a near certain goal. My world-class defender with speed to burn can’t catch a silver-rated attacker who somehow outpaces him even while dribbling. It’s simply incredible (as in, it’s literally NOT credible) when events like these happen in EVERY world class match — usually more than once!

These games are not fair and they’re not fun because it’s quite clear that the AI isn’t winning merely by being “smarter” or quicker (than at a pro difficulty). It wins by manipulating MY players’ performance and rendering my skill as a user null and void. It’s eerily similar to what we see in the weekly Ultimate Challenges and it needs to stop. If EA can’t code an AI that can win fair and square — by playing better football rather than handcuffing the user to a chair — then it needs to pack up shop and go home. Nobody wants to play AI that manipulate space-time anytime the user threatens to win!