FIFA 14 review: The game's more polished and playable, but is it still top of the table?
Dan Silver gets his boots on for the current generation of video games consoles' swansong appearance
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FIFA 14
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Each year the core offering was revised and refined, and each year senior representatives from the development team in Canada would proudly proclaim the latest iteration the best they’ve ever made, much like a veteran rock band talking up their new album as the pinnacle of their career whether it is or isn’t.
This year, however, there is a new pretender to FIFA’s throne, a rival all the more deadly given that it’s an indisputably better experience in every department, from the graphics and presentation down to the AI and the way players think and react. In fact, it makes the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game almost look shoddy in comparison.
Yes, the next gen version of FIFA 14 (for that is it) isn’t so much the elephant in the room as the bus parked across its goalmouth. The irony is that this current gen build actually feels like the series’ most coherent entry for some time.
Each of the game’s myriad modes have been buffed to varying extents, and Career and FIFA Ultimate Team players’ lives will be much less stressful following some much needed streamlining of the respective UIs. The latter’s headline feature addition is a new Chemistry system which allows you to build up specific stats for your squad members. Naturally there are applicable consumables to trade in the auction house.
That feeling of evolution rather than revolution applies once you cross the white line too. This year’s improved ball and player physics result in a more physical game in which your skill at reading play is as important than the speed in which you react to it.
Producer Nick Channon’s recent claims that you won’t need to press the tackle button anymore are more or less borne out by the manner in which defenders can push, pull and bully opponents of the ball, or intercept passes by anticipating the passage of play.
It looks - and feels - more real, with possession changing hands much more regularly and individual players’ stats having much more of an effect on play. The new True Shot mechanic - EA Sports certainly love their marketing buzz phrases - meanwhile makes it easier for skillful gamers controlling equally skilled players to score some truly spectacular goals.
Of course, realism isn’t always a synonym for fun, and some players will watch the ball shank off the outside of their winger’s boot in to touch and hanker for the more arcade-style action of yesteryear when first touches were predictably perfect and scoring was more a matter of joining the dots in the correct order.
The real problem, though, occurs when you then play the same game on an Xbox One or PlayStation 4 (which we have been lucky enough to do on several occasions now). FIFA head honcho David Rutter told us that virtual players in the next gen edition have 10 times the level of animation and four times the decision making power, and it shows. And just like playing in the Champions League, once you’ve been there, it’s extremely hard to go back.
Sensibly Sony recently announced a program where PlayStation 3 owners will be able to upgrade their current gen version of FIFA 14 for an as yet undisclosed discounted price if they purchase a PS4, while players who pre-order an Xbox One get a copy of the next gen game bundled free with the console.
Everyone else will still get a lot of joy out of what is still an extremely polished and playable football game - in fact, possibly the most polished and playable in the series' history. However, those not thinking of taking the next gen plunge might find themselves wishing there some more genuine innovations too.
FIFA 14 is released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on September 27th
Check out all the latest News, Sport & Celeb gossip at Mirror.co.uk http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/fifa-14-review-xbox-360-2295990#ixzz2fnqDM6FC
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