One of the most important things EA does with FIFA every year is make it a bit harder to achieve that ultimate realistic feel. Due to the fact that everybody wants their game to be as real as possible, this year-after-year tweak to the game is embraced with open arms. As expected, FIFA 14 takes a bit of getting used to before you actually take up the multiplayer mode – or even stepping up to play the new Career mode.
While EA has highlighted the new game by making a number of changes, like improving player intelligence and the protect the ball feature, the truth about the game’s rise in difficulty is mainly due to the fact that EA has ridden itself of the in-game auto-switch feature that players have been so accustomed to in the recent years.
This means that from this FIFA onwards, players will need to press the LB button on their Xbox 360 controllers every time they want to switch from player A to player B. While the auto-switch feature could be toggled on or off in the past, a massive number of players preferred using auto-switch to make it a bit easy for them. However, this year onwards, the feature has been removed altogether and if you are still in the game thinking that your players will auto-switch before the opponent attacker gets into your six-yard box, you are in for a tough game.
On a similar note, if this is your first-ever FIFA experience, it’s better if you play a bit of FIFA 13 first before you take up the new game. Frankly, it will be much easier making that transition from 13 to 14.
All that being said, FIFA 14 has lived up to expectations and is simply brilliant. Fans will cherish the refreshing new tiles display for the game rather than the previous list-styled options window.
From the very beginning, EA has stressed the evolution of player intelligence and how influential it will be this time around. As promised, the game’s entire tempo is dictated by the intelligent in-game beings that now make attacking runs behind the defenders, and try to occupy any free space available. At the same time, the opposition defenders react by trying to occupy the same space.
Another important detail here is the realism involved in the game with players successfully crafted in the liking of their original counterpart. While all this has been possible with the Impact Engine (for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3), it seems like the players have also slowed their reactions.
For example, when you manage to fire a successful shot that's unfortunately saved by the goalkeeper, your players will react with hands on their heads (basically, a face-palm moment), even when the goalkeeper has already introduced the ball back into play. And I did miss a few opportunities like that because my center-forward was too busy “expressing his reactions” to the miss even when the opposition goalkeeper had miscalculated his throw and gave away the ball to the player’s feet.
However, with all its realism and improvements at the helm, FIFA 14 asks you to play your game with brains rather than brawn. This means that you now have to be more methodical in your approach because the final execution move will depend on the conditions surrounding your player, not how you want it to be. This in turn makes an attacking move, if at all successful, even more satisfying.
Now, for me, a new FIFA is more about friends coming over, picking up the second controller, and starting a one-on-one game (all abuses included – especially if it’s an Arsenal vs. Manchester United scenario), rather than the multiplayer gameplay and FIFA Ultimate Team. But if you pre-ordered the game and paid for all the additional goodies, there’s no point wasting it.
FIFA 14’s Ultimate Team is as good as always. EA introduced Chemistry Styles this year with an aim to turn the Ultimate Team feature into an advanced collectable card game.
It should be said that this new chemistry is very much equivalent to the kind of gameplay features we expect from a modern RPG title, where a number of teammates together influence abilities.
For the more conventional FIFA lovers, the Career mode has also seen a number of changes, and as always, is a major treat. Those of you who take the mode seriously with all its features will be happy with the changes made to the transfer system in the form of Global Transfer Network.
The Network will offer you three scouts by default, with the rest left to you to decide how you want to use them. The maximum you can do here is set some pre-defined search criteria – for example, the kind of player (attack, midfield or defense), age barrier, special traits and more – and set your scout in the preferred part of the world where you think you will get a good bargain for a well-established player.
Spoiler Alert: When setting up a scout to find new players in any part of the world for any pre-defined criteria, try placing them in Brazil or Germany (or both – you do have three by-default scouts at your disposal). You get the best of the lot there – as if it’s a factory producing talented players year after year, just like in real life.
While they may not mean that much to anybody, some of the smaller changes and features are still an essential part of the game, because these are the things that actually add extra to you overall experience.
For example, it feels like the commentary team of Martin Tyler and Alan Smith is more fluid and responsive now. Although there were reports earlier that Manchester United legend and ITV football pundit Gary Neville would take up the microphone for the first time ever, it seems like the existing panel of commentators are doing a good job. Also, the new face detailing is impressive - players actually look like players.
To round up, FIFA 14 is not one of those games that you sit around with and hope to score a lot of goals in a short span of time. It actually requires a lot of patience and build-up play. You will probably end up missing out on the real fun of it all if you are trying to hurry through it. Moreover, diverse and challenging gameplay will be enough for fans to stick around for one whole year with the game without ever getting bored.
