When it comes to presentation, this is an absolute winner outside of the occasional animation jerk. The announcing — from the great duo of Martin Tyler and Alan Smith — is fantastic, and is easily some of the best video game commentary I’ve ever heard. Furthermore, the game is absolutely beautiful and shows the power of the “next-generation of gaming.” Add in stadium-exclusive chants and a fitting soundtrack full of worldly artists I’ve never heard of and you have another impressive showing from one of gaming’s more realistic franchises.
The layout of the game menu does not change much except for one noteworthy feature. Now along with the other options in the start menu, you will also find a window. On this window, you will get all the live and actual updates and articles written about your favourite team (which you would have chosen in the beginning) from Goal.com, one of the world’s leading football websites. The window is powered by Goal.com and you will regularly receive actual news about your favourite team as well as an option to play the next match that your team will be playing. This way, even if your team actually loses, the virtual world could give you different results.
Yet, even then, this isn't the most outrageous example of FIFA's passing model. No, that would be the blind pass which should be risky but feels more or less as safe as a straight pass. For a game which appears so realistic, it's ridiculously jarring to watch a player spin through 180 degrees to make an inch perfect pass to a player they likely wouldn't know was there. There are few individual mechanics in FIFA as damaging to realism: the fact you can easily make these passes allows you to more or less bypass the concept of build up play. The blind passes aren't new, but the sheer pace of passing is, and sadly, for FIFA 15's balance, it's another nail in the coffin.
The new hub, which is seamless in design, allows you to quickly navigate between game modes as well as keeps you apprised of all the real news. The usual game-play options are aplenty, too. Career mode, tournament mode, online seasons, online friendlies, co-op seasons, skill games and FIFA Ultimate Team are all here. For the more hands-on approach, FIFA 15 Ultimate Team provides several options for controlling your footballers on the pitch. The casual controls give you just the basics, while the complete controls offer more precision, parituclarly with the weight and location of passes. There are touch and swipe controls too, but I found myself never really using any of them except for tapping on players to switch on defense. This is a game that cries out for a gamepad, and that’s probably the best way to play, provided you enjoy figuring out what the buttons do by trial and error.
In the end, there’s no denying that FIFA 15 is a fantastic soccer game and perhaps the best out there. However, its sterility and lack of risk-taking mars its overall impact and keeps it from getting a perfect or near-perfect score. Perhaps next year’s outing will display more creative thinking, but this game is very easy to recommend to those who must have their annual footie fix. This review is based on the PlayStation 4 version of the game, which we were provided with.
