UEFA EURO 2012

UEFA EURO 2012 showed up as DLC for FIFA 2012 in May 2012, timed to coincide with the end of the Premier League season and the anticipation building around the actual tournament. EA knew exactly what they were doing. Fans needed something to fill the gap, and EA was ready to sell it to them.

The problem is what they sold. At 1800 MS Points or $19.99 on PSN, this was among the most expensive DLC on the market at the time. For that price you got all 53 UEFA member nations (24 of them unlicensed with fake players), 8 official EURO 2012 stadiums, and the new Expedition Mode. What you did not get: qualifying rounds, a new soundtrack, or Captain Your Country Mode.

The missing qualifying rounds hurt more than it sounds. Without them, the tournament blazes through faster than any previous UEFA or World Cup release, and replayability takes a real hit. Expedition Mode is EA’s answer to that problem. It has nothing to do with the actual EURO 2012 tournament. Instead, you take a squad of reserve scrubs and work your way through European national teams, earning their players with each win, opening new matchup paths as you go. It is a decent enough mode and it does add hours back to the package, but it feels like a workaround rather than a feature.

The honest summary: UEFA EURO 2012 is a functional, enjoyable add-on for people who were already deep into FIFA 2012 and needed more football in their lives. For everyone else, the price was hard to justify and the omissions were hard to ignore.