While there may be the perception from those who don’t play the game that the FIFA series is the same every year, as someone who plays it as much as I do, it is far from that. Not to say that EA don’t milk the cash cow, but FIFA 13 is the biggest step forward in at least the last three years. Features such as Ultimate Team has again been refined and upgraded in terms of layout, structure and options available to the club owner, and Career mode has introduced an International aspect that allows you to simultaneously manage club and country and also includes general ‘job searching’. Transfer fees are dependent on various issues that include both contract length and form, and now Teams that have want-away players may be willing to accept lower offers and you will receive advice over want exactly to offer, which still keeps it interesting. Players fall out with you, the club, demand a better contract and will do their best to give you managerial headaches. FIFA may have been guilty for making career mode with a top club too easy in the past, as when managing a top team, funds were excessive, buy who you like and players rarely spoke out. This isn’t the case anymore, as I experienced a couple of months of contract discussions, fallout and transfer requests with a single player and eventually I didn’t receive a suitable offer during the transfer window and keep him in my reserves.
One of the biggest improvements and one I have been championing for a long time is how players of a lower quality improve much faster, as currently in my Brentford career mode Adam Forshaw has gone up 4 on his overall and I’m three quarters of the way through my first season. This speed of improvement will encourage more people to choose lower league clubs with the capabilities of improving rapidly over a couple of seasons. EA have finally realised that good players do exist in the lower leagues, and as a Brentford fan that sees roughly thirty live games a season I know that this is the case.
FIFA 13 is all about improvements and the refining of modes, Ultimate Team is the best it has ever been. The layout is sharp and offers so many options in a single button, searching for players and playing a variety of games has never been so easy. Whether you want to play the team of the week, your friend’s squads, online seasons and tournaments or single player versions they are not only inviting but also easy to organise. The mini games between matches are amazing, allowing you to practise aspects such as crossing, shooting, passing and dribbling, and many times I found myself restarting them instead of starting the actual match. You begin on bronze level before reaching a score that grants you the ability to move up the difficulty ladder for that skill. Most will say the mini games are one of the best features of FIFA 13, and they’re easy to access later on via the main menu.
Under the heading of EAS FC Match Day you are now able to play the next four live fixtures for any chosen team, and for the top leagues in the world EA are monitoring players performances in matches and adjusting their overall rating accordingly for that to provide an ultra realistic experience. Although most features have been improved, my major criticism would be the original menu system using the ‘blades’ and that too many menus can be found within other menus. When new to FIFA 13 you might not know where to find things since there is so much on offer and it can result in getting lost when wanting to change your very important Origin ID. Seasons, Career and Game Modes should all be incorporated into each other somehow just to make everything that little bit easier to manage. The only aspect of Career Mode that now needs updating is the Youth Academy, as the scouting needs more detail and how you manage the players and their abilities also needs more options. The ability to develop your players to see whether or not they will go on to develop traits or special abilities need to be included, and overall the whole mode just needs a major update.
In terms of core football gameplay there are improvements yet again on most fronts. The first touch or lack of it is incredibly realistic; hold the sprint button before receiving the ball and your first touch will be poor; defending has been made easier with the ability to make more tackles and give away less free kicks, whilst attacking with overlapping (sometimes double) runs makes for an incredibly exciting online experience. Everything has been made harder but yet easier to do, though I am aware that sounds incredibly complicated. The online features on both the Xbox 360 and PS3 were top-notch, with neither having a particular advantage over the other.
Once upon a time Pro Evolution used to be king but it now appears to have been banished from the kingdom never to return. EA are somehow able to adjust the system a little every year, enough to force you to go back to the roots of the game and re-learn before getting back up to your usual standard. Online competition is a strong as ever, as everyone else in the football world comes to realise that this is not only the best FIFA yet, but the best football game of all time.