Fast players in FIFA 15 don’t really have as much of an edge as they should
EA's mantra this year is 'Feel The Game', which is a marketer's way of saying they've captured the emotional and dramatic side of the sport, along with all the kicking and running. This is tantamount to cutscenes showing players dropping to their knees at a missed chance, shouting at each other when mistakes are made, pushing opponents after a bad tackle, but it does breathe life into a series that has always felt a little robotic.
For a start, all 20 Premier League stadiums are now available and prior to each match the camera will float overhead, taking in a birds-eye view of the arena. It looks brilliant and really adds to the pre-match build-up. The little improvements continue once the action gets going too. When a goal goes in for the home team, the camera jiggles ever so slightly, just how it does in real life when the crowd goes wild. Scoring a late winner for United in the Manchester derby now feels like you've genuinely brought joy to 70,000 odd fans packed into Old Trafford.
The AI will now park the bus if you play with a superior team, or alternatively run the clock down by holding the ball in the corner if the result is in their favour. We did see a few occasions in matches against the AI where 10 men were behind the ball as we attempted to break down the “Mourinho-style 17th Century” tactics. However, we would have liked to see more attention given to Team Styles and attitudes. In the build we played Liverpool, Man City and PSG all played with a similar style to their real-life counterparts, however, the other teams felt a little more generic particularly when they were under AI control. It is still too early to make judgments as the code was only 50%, but hopefully subsequent builds will show an improvement in this area.
From a defensive point of view, the player AI is now aware if it's the last man and if they are, will commit less and hold/jockey whilst waiting for support, meaning there should be less situations where you lose your last player altogether providing your opponent with an easy one on one. I can't say I saw a lot of this in practice, but assuming it's working as intended it should be more obvious online. There was talk once more of possession battles and there's a new shoulder barge animation, but the most noticeable feature in this area is possession tackles. From slide tackles, the tackler will now know where the ball has gone and immediately follow it up, meaning you can put in hard slide tackles and quickly get up to come away with the ball, a good tool for starting counter attacks.
It’s also bizarre that a game that’s supposedly faithfully recreating the beautiful game negates the pace and intensity of it. Fast players in FIFA 15 don’t really have as much of an edge as they should. And that teammate AI? Well, I know footballers are generally seen as less-than intelligent beings, but FIFA 15 makes them look like amoebas. Just once in a while it would be nice to see them get into sensible areas of space and make darting runs. Just once.
But on the other hand, they’re often comically panicky in goalmouth scrambles, and alarmingly prone to letting daisy-cutters through their legs. During a thumping early win with my Ultimate Team, I nutmegged the keeper for four of my goals. In another game, I saw Joe Hart suddenly sprint out of his goalmouth as if called forward for an injury-time corner. Which would have been fair enough, but the ball was still in play at the time, and I was 3-0 up. Soon to be 3-1 up. Meanwhile, the Match Day Live hub strengthens the growing ties between the game and the sport, giving fans the latest news updates and stats about their favourite team.
Don’t get me wrong, those tweaks don’t mean that the gameplay is awful. Far from it. It’s still fun, and on the whole, the gameplay is still as solid as ever, but FIFA 15 seems like a backwards step in the evolution of the franchise. The new animations definitely make things on the pitch seem closer to the real thing, which is nothing but a good thing, but the goalkeepers taint what is otherwise a solid experience. That and the floaty shooting. Also, the bloody penalties are still terrible as well! When are they going to fix those?
