As is the standard at this time of year, the September/October months roll around and like clockwork, EA Sports releases another iteration of FIFA.
Many people have said that there aren’t many changes to speak of in each of the versions for the people who don’t play the game religiously but this version is finally one where you can tell them that they are completely incorrect.
Aside from EA Sports using the IGNITE engine on most of the other formats now, the game itself has been substantially improved on the field. There is much better collision which causes players to react differently to almost every situation. Currently, I’ve spent a lot of time playing the new FIFA and have probably seen just a few animation repeats which, given the amount of football I’ve played, is awesome. The improvements don’t just stay on the field either. The career mode has been made so much better and easier as the team management window is much more user-friendly. Players will now be able to adjust team sheets to have a number of different formations or changes where you can issue a second string side to face off against a much weaker team. Obviously the purpose of this is to rest your main squad should you take part in a number of competitions.
The players have also now been issued with an “instructions” tab that you are able to go to and edit in order to fit your style of play. It allows much more customisation in the game and when you are playing through season after season, you are easily able to capitalise on the strong points of your team.
FIFA 15 works with pure ebb and flow as everything feels like it moves fluidly from one area to the next. The commentators will talk about previous performances of teams, making special mention for certain players. They will also talk about history, the last time these teams met, what the result was and how certain players performed. With the introduction of new commentary comes the introduction of new technology too. Goal line technology is finally a feature in FIFA 15 where should the attempt at goal be too close to call, technology is brought into it. The only thing I feel that could be lacking is the implementation of the white spray that the refs use to mark off walls and free kick zones.
Other than the obvious gameplay performance increase in game, there are many other aspects of the that have been improved wholeheartedly. Many of the main players from the big teams have had their facial recognition increased so much, that at certain times you will struggle to differentiate between FIFA 15 and real life football. At times throughout the game, you will hear the player’s screams of elation and frustration as the realism has been pushed to a new level. All the while when you play, the game is making little clips for you to check out from time to time. When a ball goes out for a goal kick, in the duration that the keeper goes to get the ball, you will be shown the last goal, or see the camera focus on a player who narrowly missed. These are the small little nuances of football that FIFA possesses this time around. It brings you so close to the action that you can almost taste it.
With the flick of the D-pad, you can continue to press forward the attack or “park the bus” in front of your goal. It’s something that has always been around in FIFA games but has never really been a major aspect of the game for the casual player. I’m glad that EA has given more focus to the on-the-fly adjustments in FIFA 15 and I think when used properly, they can be really rewarding.
Unfortunately when you dealwith so many players, teams, results and collisions, there are bound to be a few minor bugs here and there and if history has shown us anything, it’s that EA Sports doesn’t really care for updating the single player portion of the game. If you make a substitution during half time, you will sometimes see the striker standing by himself for a fraction of a second while the substitutions take place. As was the case with FIFA 14, I was stricken by an abundance of injuries over the first few weeks of my career. I’m not entirely sure if the Liverpool players are just prone to injury, but having five injuries in my first five games for the second year running can’t possibly be just coincidence.
Another disappointing thing in the game is the transfers during career modes once again. EA has kept the old disaster that is scouting which, while it may appeal to some, just doesn’t work for the simplicity of the game. I get it, EA Sports, I really do, you want people to take time in scouting players and picking the right players that will be a good fit for the team. Having most of the players not show ratings though, is a bit silly. I don’t need to hire a scout to tell me that someone like Edinson Cavani is a good player but sadly, the only ratings you will see are from players that have been publically put to loan. In my opinion, world class players should easily show ratings because they are the types of players that anyone can see on television constantly as well as be able to judge their skill set and football level.
Complaining aside though, EA Sports has always done a fantastic job with the music for FIFA and FIFA 15 is no different. There are a number of popular songs that work so well in the menu systems, some of them hits, some of them due-to-be hits. It’s almost as if EA Sports has a bunch of record producers sitting around deciding what the next big hits are going to be and then including them into the game.
Thankfully EA has popularised a lot of things that people really loved from the last game. The skill training is back again and more enjoyable than ever. It seems the developers decided to keep all the fun ones and add in even better ones, while trimming away the boring and useless.
The team management screen was something that took some getting used to but in the end, it was a gamble that paid off for EA. Moving from the old and perhaps archaic team management screen is a brand new one that is fresh and more fitting of the title.
Obviously a lot of this review is just nitpicking because FIFA 15 is a fantastic title and a game that is as always, much better than the previous generation of FIFA. I’m very pleased that EA decided to include the IGNITE engine in the PC version as well as the old-gen consoles and I think the result of their hard work is seen by almost every gamer. Strangely enough, for those who were following the development of FIFA throughout the year would have heard of all the weird and wonderful things that EA Sports has put into the game and strangely, it all kind of just slips away from the mind. The crazy thing is, you will pick up the little changes the more you play and every time you see a new keeper animation, or two players jostling on the pitch, you will think about how much the game has improved from last year. There have been so many changes to the actual gameplay this year that things seem so much more real than ever before and I think that this FIFA may be the FIFA to get. If you are a FIFA fanatic, you will no doubt already have sunk 20 hours into the game, if not more. If you enjoy the odd game of football and will sometimes play the game at a friend’s place, then this FIFA is one to add into your library.
FIFA 15 is a sleek, new addition to the football franchise and EA Sports has done a fantastic job in improving the most critical areas on the field and off the field. A game of FIFA 15 is now almost as good as a real game of football.
Score: 85/100
FIFA 15 was reviewed on a Windows PC using an Xbox One controller.