For obvious reasons the next gen FIFA 14 is the best looking football game that you are currently going to feast your eyes upon, and so it should, it is a next gen title after all. Everything from the action on the pitch and off it with the dynamic crowds has set a new high standard. On the pitch, I have never seen grass looking so lush, if you were to zoom in when controlling a replay; you would be able to pick out each blade with absolute clarity.
The players look and move more lifelike than ever before. Even if the camera isn’t angled to see the players face, just about every football fan should be able to identify a player just by his body movements at distance. With that being said, all the top teams players have been created with great likeness and detail, but some of the lesser teams have been neglected somewhat.
I know it would be very time consuming, but one day it would be nice to see more player likeness for some of the ‘lesser’ top league teams. Don’t get me wrong, I know miracles cannot be performed, but as a Villa fan (hey, someone’s got to support them), I think it would have been great to see our captain Ron Vlaar with his likeness, as too with our keeper Brad Guzan. I think that just about any supporter of the none top teams would also like to see their captain with his authentic likeness and perhaps an extra key player or two.
Great attention to detail has been given to what may appear as lesser details to some, but it’s those combinations of the lesser details that can make the biggest of difference. The way the player shirts pull and move or an opposition player tugging on their shirts is done with absolute realism (well as realistic as a video game can be). This is something a friend picked out straight away when he saw me playing, and that friend isn’t even a football fan.
You can also see the despair on the players face as he misses an open goal, the pain as he endures a crunching tackle or the dismay of an outstretched goalkeeper as the ball flies past his finger tips into the goal. They say a picture can say of thousand words and whether it’s the joy of volleying like Robin Van Persie from 30 yards out or a goalkeeper being on the receiving end of that valley, a player’s face can ‘almost’ say a thousand words in FIFA 14.
There are also no cutscenes in the next gen instalment of FIFA 14, now this may not sound like too much of a big deal when reading these words, but when you see the none cutscenes in action, you can see why this greatly benefits the game and will be a key element with the series going forward. During previous FIFA games, when the players make their way onto the pitch, a substitution is being made, celebrating a goal by doing that peculiar Daniel Sturridge dance or the Peter Crouch robot, this was all done via a rendered cutscene.
Now everything you see in the next gen FIFA 14 is all real time and it helps give the game much more fluidity as the transitions look far more natural than ever before. The crowds in this FIFA 14 have also had a revamp and as I’ve mentioned, there now called dynamic crowds. What this mean is that each fan is individually created and move on their own free will, depending on what’s going on with the on-pitch action. In previous games you will see seemingly endless amounts of clones that will all move in sync, this is no more. They all jump and wave individually, and this looks great when the ball hits the back of the net and as a result the crowd becomes more hyped as they cheer on their beloved team.
With all the subtle improvements made to the next gen instalment of FIFA 14, the audio is among my favourite. Yes I know the visuals have been improved, along with all sorts of gameplay enhancements, but nothing screams authenticity more than quality match commentary and hearing real crowd chants coming from the stands. As the action on the pitch picks up or at times lack of, the fans will respond. A game with little goal mouth action will have a flat crowd that even Tottenham Hotspur fans would be ashamed of. On the other hand, an action packed match will have the Anfield crowd singing Liverpool’s ‘You’ll never walk alone’ anthem.
The crowd will remain active throughout each match, but they will take it up a level if they are entertained, just as in real life. Along with each fan being individually created for the stands and with all of them not acting in complete sync, the next gen FIFA easily contains the most life like crowd antics that you are ever going to currently see in a football title or any other game that features a crowd for that matter, until the next FIFA or PES next gen games arrives that is. I for one cannot wait for that moment.
The commentary pairings of Martin Tyler & Alan Smith, and Clive Tyldesly & Andy Townsend (International games) make their returns. If you visit the options, you can select which commentary pairing your want to hear should you want to make the desired change. During my many hours of playing so far, I haven’t noticed a great deal of recycled words of wisdom, something that has always been noticed from previous games. Though I’m sure that will change with the increasing hours that I put into FIFA 14. Something that fans of Sky Sports News Soccer Saturday will appreciate is the match introduction made by Jeff Sterling and when you are playing a Career match, you will be receive live updates on the scores from other games by the likes of Alan McInally, which all adds to FIFA 14’s authenticity.
Prior to the release of the Xbox One and PS4, much had been said by EA for their all new Ignite Engine and now we get to finally see it in motion and the benefits are clear to see. One of the main benefits of what the Ignite Engine will bring is something that EA are collectively calling ‘Elite Technique’. Elite Technique brings a whole host of player animations that you would not perhaps see in last gen instalments, it’s a bold statement, but it is something that is backed up by the in-game antics on and off the pitch. Players will not move and react more like their lifelike counterparts. Players will chip the ball; get nudged off the ball, flick the ball with their chest and shoulders, and lunge into tackles more varied than ever before and more. Again this may seem like a relatively small detail, but it’s certainly something that football fans will notice and appreciate.
Also now multiple players from two to five or even more will challenge for an aerial ball, something that was restricted to often two at a time with previous instalments. This makes aerial challenges less predictable than ever before and offers more of a challenge to the attacking player challenging for a ball in the air, when surrounded by opposition defenders in a crowded penalty box. This offers a greater satisfaction when you glance the ball with your head into the top corner to give your team the lead.
Goals scored will now also be more unique and you will be far less likely to score clone goals. An example of this is when I scored a spectacular 35 yard swerving and dipping long range effort that rifled passed the stranded goalkeeper into the top corner with AC Milan’s Kaka. This is something that I have yet been able to replicate and to my annoyance, the Kinect camera wasn’t connected, so I was unable to upload my stunning goal for the FIFA online community to see. Dam you sods law…dam you!
If there is a couple improvements that I would love to see made in future FIFA instalments are the manner in which you take set-pieces. The same formula has always remained within the FIFA series for some time now, in which you reply purely on your judgement and the power bar. Now I know many will see this differently as were all each to our own, but I would love to see the FIFA series adopt the way you take set-pieces as you do in the new Pro Evolution Soccer 2014.
If you have played PES 2014 then you will now that their new set-piece mechanic gives you much more precision and freedom to deliver the perfect free-kick or corner. Of course not everyone liked this new feature, so in PES 2014 you had the option to turn the bendy directional arrow on or off, so I would love nothing more to see this option implemented in future FIFA games.
Something else that I would love to see in future FIFA games is stadium DLC. For years we have seen the same stadiums continually and rightly so (with the odd new addition), as the mass market must be appeased and not everyone can be pleased. But at least for the top tier leagues, i.e. the English Prem, La Liga, Serie A and so forth, it would be amazing if you could purchase DLC for the stadium of your beloved team. I would certainly love to purchase Villa Park via DLC sometime after FIFA has been released, as I’m sure fans of other clubs with their teams stadiums missing from the game would love to do the same.
The FIFA series has always offered great value, but with FIFA 14 that value has promoted up a tier. Even though I have started up a new career and an Ultimate Team, it’s the quick exhibition match that I keep playing most of all. Being able to jump into a match with your desired team and opponent will always be my first point of call. That’s not to say that I won’t play anything else, because I most certainly will, as I have done with all previous titles. I guess on my part it’s the need to fine tune my skills before committing to a certain mode.
The new and improved Career mode that will keep me busy (and hopefully you) for almost as long as I want it to and that’s not even considering having both the careers of player and manager. Veteran fans of the career mode will almost instantly feel at home, but there is a new emphasis when it comes to scouting and will play an even more vital role than ever before. Now you will have to vigorously scout for potential buys as you search for the up and coming bargain of a lifetime.
You must assign your scouts to your desired region, with the player specifics in the hope that they will come back with the news of the player that you have longed for. This won’t always happen and often you must persevere in your golden pursuit. If you are playing as a bigger club it will be relatively easy for you to approach a player from a top team, but scouting is even more vital when managing a less well known team. So when you find that wonderkid from the lower leagues or an up and coming Brazilian, it will bring you even more satisfaction knowing you’ve acquired a true bargain after many unsuccessful scouting missions.
As with real life, those successful wonderkids will likely be approached by a bigger team at some point, but if you can make a tidy profit on the sale, the money can be reinvested into building your squad for the future. Whether you play as a manager or player (which can lead on to a management role towards the end of your career), this mode in particular will have as much life as you are willing to put into it.
The Ultimate Team will also keep you incredibly occupied as you strive to perfect your ultimate dream team. As with previous games, improving your online FUT will often come at a cost when competing against online gamers, should you choose to keep your squad topped up via the many DLC packs. Exclusive to the Xbox consoles and the Ultimate Team mode, is the inclusion of the FUT Legends, which will allow you to add legendary players of yesteryear to your dream team. This extra feature is a clever move made by Microsoft and I’m sure has helped sway some gamers minds in decided to buy either the PS4 or Xbox One version. The names included on the list are Pele, Gary Lineker, Paolo Maldini, Denis Bergkamp, George Weah and more.
Then on top of those modes you have the skill games to really perfect your skills in which you will be rewarded a bronze, silver or gold award, depending on your performance. Then of course you will be able to compare your skill game scores to your fellow friends and gamers, which adds a whole new level of addictiveness. You also have Pro Clubs which will have you create a team with friends which accommodates 11vs11 to take on other Pro Club gamers across the world. Seasons will allow you to play head to head with online gamers or compete in a 2v2 co-op season. There’s so much bang for your buck in FIFA 14, that it’s almost impossible to list every feature without it getting a little tiresome. Which to be honest, that’s not a bad problem to have when reviewing a game and especially one that you’ve purchased yourself.
The next gen instalment of FIFA 14 may not be leaps and bounds above the PS3 and Xbox 360 counterparts, but it’s a step in the right direction and there’s more than enough subtle, yet crucial improvements made for any FIFA fan to warrant an upgrade. The next gen FIFA 14 is a clear case of a game having many minor improvements, which make the biggest of difference and when you throw all of its packed modes into one bundle, you’ve a football game that is as prolific as Lionel Messi after a Red Bull drinks binge. From improved visuals, player animations and behaviours, the vibrant crowds and more importantly the gameplay tweaks made here and there makes FIFA 14 an essential next gen purchase for any football fan.