FIFA 15 injects some great ideas into the series but doesn’t quite pull them off. With the triumph that FIFA 14 was still fresh in the mind, it’s virtually impossible to ignore FIFA 15’s flaws, minor as they may be. Going along with the visuals, FIFA 15 sounds great, with impressive commentary and the series’ expected excellence in its soundtrack. It really makes the game a spectacle, and the ambiance of every match is palpable. It’s just ironic that the developers actually made the presentation a little too good.
A myriad of new animations will cause greater variety in the type of goals scored. They also mirror the multitude of different shot angles attackers have. Across many of the EA Sports platforms, certain shots tend to be rewarded on a more consistent basis. The advanced goalkeeper feature goes a long way in preventing such similarities—bitter critics might call glitches—from occurring so often.
The lack of attention given to the single-player modes is clearly because EA’s focus is on the ever popular Ultimate Team, which on the Xbox One also has the Ultimate Team Legends retro players. The community elements have been expanded again this year, with loan players now making it much easier to acquire that superstar striker you’ve always wanted. You can create dream team line-ups before you buy anyone and all the share and comment facilities mean you can chat and strategise with friends in what has become literally a game in itself.
Varying levels of handholding are available with player controls, meaning returning FIFA fans, new and veteran can modify AI and assisted player inputs to suit their own individual need. The sliders are self-explanatory, and gameplay will adjust to player skill level. The gulf between difficulty settings is narrowed by the assisted controls, meaning the learning curve for FIFA 15 is made more accessible. Higher difficulties remain borderline impenetrable to average players, but that’s the whole point of simulations; and this is where FIFA 15’s aspirations clearly reside.
As for Ultimate Team, a football sim Top Trumps hybrid and the franchise’s most popular game mode, many of the old truths remain. The gameplay is faster and more arcade-like than in the other modes, and the defenders seem more error-prone. As a consequence, this encourages online players to adopt an ugly, high-pressure, route one style of football, with an over-reliance on lofted through balls to a fast striker lurking on the shoulders of the defence – simply because this tactic is so effective. Ultimate Team is a still a fun and addictive game mode, but the beautiful game it ain’t.
Ultimate Team adds concept squads and loan players, the latter especially handy for those lacking either the funds or luck needed to acquire superstars. Loan players are only available via EA through the revamped EAS FC, where you can also share and comment on friend activity. The ability to create ideal line-ups before committing to a purchase is great pre-planning, and the share function will allow many players to learn from the best.
