Alternate Review: Fifa 14

So another year goes by and we have another Fifa to religiously play, and this years does not disappoint.

Fifa 14 promised to be big and it fires on all cylinders with excellent graphics, beautiful game play, and of course up-to-date teams. It’s not an exaggeration to say Fifa has come on leaps and bounds since 2013.

Now you’re probably wondering what position am I in to say this, and how I can afford to play this game on a student budget? Better still, how I can afford the time to play?

Luckily for me I have had a free week to play as I had appendicitis and, according to the doctor, had to ‘spend a week sat still’. Which I interpreted as being able to create an excellent ‘ultimate team’.

So this week has been spent scrutinising the game and trying out all of the new features.

The game, for me, has become a lot more realistic in its game play, which makes for more competitive matches. The players have a far heavier touch and less close control in comparison to Fifa’s predecessor. This realism is both great…and also a pain, as you can often find yourself scrapping in the midfield, constantly turning into tackles due to bad touches.

The new gameplay has made Fifa much harder to play as you have to use the skill moves to get around players, rather than the close control that was heavily relied on in previous years. This problem however is easily overcome as they have created some excellent skill moves which allow you to quickly embarrass your opponent.

I know and have felt the affect of this embarrassment the new skills can create as I found myself being destroyed regularly online. The new skill also allows you to really utilise the likes of Ronaldo, Hazard, or Messi and recreate their unique style.

Though the celebrations are still as unrealistic as ever, allowing every player the ability to front flip. There are, however, a lot of new celebrations which vary from the classic ‘school boy teaching’ style to the ‘dolphin jump’, which provide great entertainment.

In addition to this another benefit is that the wavering pace of players has become a lot less visible, which means people can no longer easily ‘pace abuse’ on Ultimate team, which makes it far more about skill rather than holding down the R2 button.  In this sense ‘ultimate team’ has become much harder as you have to fork out a lot more for the top players, as the top speeds often lead to lost control, making sprinting for long distances much harder.

However a review is only fair if we compare it to its competitor, Pro Evolution Soccer. I haven’t played pro evolution soccer, but I did play the demo, and it’s fair to say that Fifa has the blown the competition out of the water. Pro evolution’s graphics are still lagging way behind and it still feels as if you’re playing with robots as they stagger with the ball.

Overall I feel Fifa 14 is a great improvement on the previous game as it has become a lot more realistic whilst also maintaining its excellent graphics.

It is fair to say it if you are going to buy Fifa your degree may suffer, as you can easily spend hours on each of the modes, so do think carefully about your decision.

3/5 Stars

 

Luke Taylor

Review: Fifa 14

It’s that time of year again – new kits, new teams, and a new FIFA. Can your degree take the beating?

A NEW FIFA comes every year to mark the start of a new term and a drop in essay marks. Those outside the FIFA bubble argue that EA Sports aim to generate as much money as possible while holding back for future editions. After all isn’t it just the same as last year’s, but with updated teams and kits?

Not quite. When you’ve been buying FIFA games for a decade you eagerly await the next instalment – how could they make it better? 12 brought a radically new defending system and impact engine to steer the series towards true football stimulation. The biggest difficulty for 14 is that there is no real standout feature, and only in playing can you notice the subtle differences that make a cohesive improvement.

The key word in FIFA 14 is ‘variety’. Games in 13 became fairly predictable as using the same dribbling and shooting to create patterns of play. In 14 the dribbling feels much more life-like; players shift their weight according to how careful or clumsy you are with the analogue stick.

It used to be that if you came across two defenders you were almost guaranteed to lose possession; now a quick shimmy or feint will drive you through a pocket of space that average players won’t know exists. The first touch is now more important – you can’t charge into the ball or you’ll knock it too far forward, so the use of manual dribbling becomes even more important.

At times the passing can feel fairly sluggish as players take too long to receive standard balls. In 13, through balls had become almost irrelevant, but now the variety means the weight of the pass, or how you go about pressing the button, has never felt more important.

It can be equally thrilling and frustrating as you play a series of quick passes in the final third. Sometimes you’ll work a team goal unlike anything you’ve scored before, while other times you’ll be just one pass or miscommunication with teammates away. The teammates’ AI has improved dramatically, as they make clever off-the-ball runs to give you plenty of options. With a fundamentally new shooting system where balls swerve and dip in all directions, you’ll never run out of ways to score.

Matches are more carefully measured, meaning you have to be more tactical and patient. Spells of pressure are longer and more intense, especially against the computer, where you have to concentrate throughout. Although more rewarding when you finally break through, it can be very frustrating when you concede yet another headed goal.

Other minor quirks include the frequency of off-sides, and sometimes the refereeing decisions feeling more dodgy than usual. But this may be an intentional move towards more human, imperfect gameplay.

Ultimate Team introduces new Chemistry styles, where players may be labelled the likes of ‘artist’ and ‘sentinel’, adding a nice touch to the most obsessive form of the game. The new Global Scout Network in Career mode is less appealing, making transfers feel drawn-out and laborious, which coupled with the very slow calendar and barrage of emails can detract from the actual fun of playing a match.

Overall, FIFA 14 is a progression rather than a landmark. Sometimes the visuals do feel a bit outdated and the crowds still resemble cardboard cut-outs. However, the PS4 and Xbox One editions promise a new Ignite Engine, and at least until that revolutionary feature, the current FIFA 14 remains an essential purchase.

4/5 Stars

 

Matt Bugler, Online Sports Editor