Here we have it, another year, another football season, another FIFA. EA Sports’ yearly update to the franchise is out now on current gen consoles. For many this, as always, will be a no brainer purchase but for the first time in a while for the series faces a few questions. With FIFA 13 so highly praised as being the best football simulation ever, where does the game go this year and with the huge cloud of next-gen looming, is this just a stop gap or a truly worthy purchase?

We’ll start with things in the dressing room before we get to the pitch. As ever with any EA Sports title, the presentation is spot on. The already smooth menus from last year are streamlined further so you never need to look too far to find the mode you desire and a neat new addition this year is that the game will remember your most recently played mode and store this on the front page next time you boot up the game, making it faster than ever to get back into the action. Graphically its nigh on identical to last years effort, with EA admitting they have pretty much got everything they can graphically out of the current gen machines. This is no negative however, as the players and stadia all look great. There isn’t much change on the sound front either, with Martin Tyler and Alan Smith calling the action, however the introduction of Jeff Stelling pre and post match does add a bit more immersion to the experience. Its also pleasing to see that EA have listened to the complaints regarding the lifelessness of the crowd in previous games and they are much more vocal this year, chanting and reacting to on pitch action appropriately with boos or cheers. All of this backed up by a range of indie/ pop tunes from around the globe that whilst okay to begin with soon begin to grate so the returning feature of setting one’s own soundtrack is welcomed.

 

All the modes we have come to expect from FIFA return this year and whilst everything is instantly recognisable, there are a few minor improvements to various aspects. Online mode and Pro Clubs in particular seem to function much smoother than previous instalments and it is easier than ever to get into a match with your friends. Career mode returns with the big new addition being a new scouting ‘network’, where you can send out your backroom staff to particular areas of the globe to search for players with particular traits; good in the air, solid tackler and so forth. It’s a nice addition and can occasionally help when you are after a particular style of player, however it is nothing that could not be achieved with the good old fashioned search function of last years transfer market. Aside from that new addition it is business as usual, with you managing players performance on the pitch and their morale off it to aim for league and cup glory. Finally we have the return of fan favourite mode FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT). For those who don’t know this fantasy mode sees you trying to build the best squad possible using player cards bough from packs of in the online auction house. Coins to purchase packs are earned by wheeling and dealing on the market and by playing matches both online and offline to win trophies and leagues. It is a highly addictive mode and sees some interesting changes this year. The first of these is that player no longer have a preferred formation and instead can be applied with ‘chemistry styles’ to buff certain statistics for instance the sniper style buffs shooting and dribbling. The chemistry style buffs are most effective when a player is in a high chemistry team, playing with players from the same club, league or nation. The other main change is the ability to compare prices instantly on the marketplace with identical items. This is a bit of a controversial one, as one of the main means of acquiring wealth is through trading cards, buying low and selling high and the ability for anyone to check your price against similar items, means its not only harder to buy a bargain, but it is also harder to sell high. In any case, the mode is as addictive as it always has been since its inception and will continue to be a huge time sink for many players.

 

 

Now that we have the administration work out of the way, how does it feel when you lace up those boots and step out onto the pitch? The first thing you will notice as soon as you kick off is that the whole game feels ‘heavier’. Players no longer glide across the grass like an ice skater. This is all due to the new momentum mechanic introduced for this years instalment. Whereas in previous games players could reach top speed in a matter of milliseconds, they accelerate much more realistically in FIFA 14. This leads to a number of occasions when a slower player can beat a quicker player to a loose ball if they have already built up a head of steam and caught the faster player on their heels. The ball is also no longer magically glued to a players feet constantly, making it easier to nick the ball of lower rated players when they take a poor touch or knock the ball too far ahead. Pace is no longer the be all and end all of a good team and one of the forgotten arts of FIFA’s past comes back with a vengeance in the new instalment. For the last few years EA have focused so much on passing, flowing football and through balls that tall, strong player who were good in the air were virtually useless. Well let the Andy Carroll’s of the world rejoice, as heading is a big factor in the new game. It is far more consistent than it has been before and a combination of accurate crosser and big guy in the centre can be lethal. Pace still plays a part, as it should, but strong players are equally viable this year and they will fight and scrap for the ball and nudge smaller players aside with ease. All this additions add up to make the most realistic and balanced football simulation I have ever played. The slower pace of the game can be a little jarring at first but once you adapt you will come to love it.

 

This years game seems to have been criticised for being a collection of small improvements rather than anything truly new and innovative, but when FIFA 13was so good and highly well received, why try something too risky when refining an already excellent experience is the much more sensible option. FIFA is once again the definitive choice for football enthusiasts world wide. If you plan on getting a next gen console at launch then you may be best of waiting for that version as they are arriving so soon but for anyone else they owe it to themselves to pick up this great game. The league leaders are back in town and they mean business. We are FIFA 14.

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