FIFA 14 on PS4/XB1 was a graphical improvement over the PS3/X360 versions. However it suffered from poor lighting or dullness and inaccurate colour palettes. FIFA 15 sees significant improvements on the visual front when compared to last year’s effort. The most striking difference is the new in-game lighting system that fundamentally changes the look of the turf, players and pitch items. The result is a much more photo-realistic feel to the players and the pitch (yes we keep mentioning the pitch but it’s that good). The player models have been amended and subsequently the animation rig to remove those annoying and unrealistic upper torsos and un-natural shoulders. Overall the visual clarity of the game seems to have improved with the pitch showing impressive signs of wear and tear and even grass and mud patches on player kits.
Also, the PC port’s on par with the Xbox One and PS4 versions of the game with hardware at or above recommended specs. So the focus on parity here’s well appreciated. There’s a good football game underneath all of this as the game’s still shines with your pals. It’s exponentially better when you play like gentlemen and don’t abuse fast players, OP shots or the kickoff exploit: commonplace practices in online matches with randoms. There’s hope for eventual patches ironing out the problems on the pitch. Then again we’ve seen this same song and dance annually and there’s only so much sliders can do to make the game feel “right.”
Players have been remodelled too. Pocket-lint was told that as good as they were in FIFA 14 the development team weren't quite so complementary about the graphical accuracy of players' upper bodies. That has been corrected, along with new styles for the rest of the body parts. They certainly move better. Heavier perhaps, but more like the real thing. New animations and the emotion engine that has been employed for the first time – where players react differently to play and incidents based on their moods – just make for a much more substantial game of football.
Extra animations have been added to allow players to control the ball in more circumstances, for example the ability to trap the ball with their thighs, or a favourite of mine, knocking the ball on with your head. I scored an absolute beaut with Benzema after playing a long high pass in to him. When the bounce was in danger of making him lose the ball, he just poked it back into his path with his forehead as the ball rose up. This was enough to take the speed off of the ball and bring it under control without breaking stride. I'm sure that last bit will worry some people and thinking about it now, it does have the potential to make over the top through balls even more overpowered in the wrong hands.
There are welcome adjustments elsewhere, too. The addition of loan players to Ultimate Team gives you the opportunity to briefly employ a galactico to give your team a temporary boost, though it’ll bite a significant chunk out of your in-game funds that might be more wisely invested elsewhere. Better, perhaps to employ a former great who hasn’t lost their eye for goal: I got some good early mileage out of Diego Milito, for example. It’s now much easier to tailor your tactics according to who you’re playing, too – whichever game mode you choose, you can create and customise multiple team sheets to quickly switch between, rather than having to adjust your setup before every game.
