As EA Sports debuted the first ‘real’ next-gen game of the franchise, with the slightly enhanced version of FIFA 14 that made its way onto PlayStation 4 and Xbox One last year hardly counting. This time around, the developers had time to focus on designing specifically for the new consoles, making FIFA 15 a marker for what to expect in the coming years.
If we’re frank, some fans of the franchise would still buy the game if the only things they changed year-to-year were the teams and kits, partly because the exclusive licences mean potential competitors like Pro Evolution Soccer have always fallen by the wayside. Nevertheless, taking to the field in FIFA 15 brings a refreshing sense of joy that has been missing for quite a while.
We were also shown an image of the world's most expensive footballer, Gareth Bale, and his FIFA player model last year compared to this year. The difference was stark, with Bale now looking like a much more athletic specimen to reflect his real body type. The player models have never really looked like the footballers of today, they were too big and bulky and half of them didn't look like they'd last an hour of running around. That's all changed and you'll be seeing slimmed down players who look like they were built for football.
The player models have also been updated, again looking better than ever before and are increasingly getting near to photorealism. The big stars such as Messi and Ronaldo are incredible both in game and in close up replays. I do have to point out though that the arms on some players look odd, making them appear top heavy and of course players further down the football pyramid will look nothing like their real life counterparts. This year also sees a full license with the Premier League – this means that all twenty clubs have their stadiums faithfully recreated in the game. These stadiums do look brilliant and it just adds to the realism that EA are striving for, even the chants from the crowd are unique to the team they are supporting. It hopefully points to future titles having even more leagues fully licensed with stadia and fans all being unique.
It also has the negative consequence of making defending much harder, much less important, and turning online games into frantic chases from end-to-end. Attack, counter-attack, counter-attack, counter-attack and on and on. What stops every scoreline ticking into double digits are improved goalkeepers, which make fewer dimwitted mistakes when it comes to shielding their near post or stopping finesse shots.
As such, defending tends to require a little more tactical thought. If you've got a midfielder free as your opponent comes screaming towards you, it's usually best to try and close him down two on one, rather than risk tackling him alone. The increase in pace also means that utilising space and dragging defenders away from an area is slightly more important as well, although we daresay that most users should be able to jump straight into the action without a second thought.
