FIFA 15 can stir the passions of football like almost no other game
Every year EA Sports has the ability to pleasantly surprise us in its choice and application of improvements to FIFA. We are massive fans of the next-generation versions of FIFA 14 and genuinely thought we'd seen the closest the franchise could get to an accurate game of football without detracting from the fact that it is a playable and fun game. FIFA 15 happily and clearly shows that there is still some wriggle room with that concept.
On the 30th of May, EA showed off an early build of FIFA 15 and I went along to have a look. All of these experiences are from the Xbox One and PS4 versions of FIFA15. One thing to sort out straight away is that the PC version of FIFA 15 is the same as we'll see on the Xbox One or PlayStation 4. This is actually a massive step when you consider how long it took the PC version to catch up to Xbox 360/PS3 recently. Perhaps it's related to the architecture being used by the newer consoles being closer to PC, perhaps it's not, I've honestly no idea, but nobody cares why and how, it's great news for PC players.
From our first moments with it the development teams tagline of “feel the game” was evident. One of the primary foci this year was to provide the emotion and intensity of the modern day game across the globe in various arenas. To achieve this a new emotional intelligence system has been implemented that dynamically connects the emotional relationships of all 22 players on the pitch in real time. Based on the match occurrences you will see players respond and react with a range of over 600 different emotional reactions. Teammates and opposition respond to missed chances, poor control, bad challenges and various other on the pitch situations.
In fact, weight and momentum play a bigger part in general. Ground passes are zippier, particularly over longer distances, meaning you have to be more accurate with them to keep play flowing. Players now use all parts of their boots to nudge, flick and lay the ball off, although you will have to get used to giving them a touch more power. Stringing together a few first-touch passes is hugely satisfying, particularly because it often feels on the edge of all falling apart, a bit like pulling off an improvised combo in a beat 'em up.
It’s moments like this that highlight one of the biggest problems with annualised sports franchises: FIFA 15 is so keen to show what it’s doing differently, that its changes are more in service of the feature list on the back of the box than the quality of the simulation itself. My celebratory response to a last-minute Sebastian Giovinco volley which finally broke a stubborn Sassuolo rearguard action (their Park The Bus strategy proving frustratingly efficient) is testament to how FIFA can stir passions like almost no other game. But even with some sensible investments this season, it’s a little way short of its best form.
FIFA 15 is decently generous with its card packs, and returning fans will get some nice bonus packs, so getting a competitive team together takes no time at all. Creating your dream squad, however, will likely take lots of luck, pack and player purchasing, and real cash if you’re impatient.
Every FIFA player knows that once you accidently change your player as a through ball passes by you that there is no hope in chasing the attacker. For some reason EA still hasn’t fixed the static defending when you change your player. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to change to the closest defender to the attacker, only to see your defender seemingly get stuck to the ground and stop moving while the attacker runs through. After all these years, surely they could have something implemented to stop it from happening. I beg of you EA, stop this madness.
