By Dillon Meehan
The world’s best-selling sports game franchise has released yet another gem with the soccer video game FIFA 15. While many sports games are often criticized for their lack of new content, and seem to be just a simple roster update, FIFA 15 has improved on all fronts. EA Canada has stepped up their game and retooled several parts of the game.
Subtle and minor changes are what separate FIFA 15 from its predecessors. The player models have been rebuilt and a player’s kit is no longer just attached to their body, when a defender grabs onto an opposing striker, you can see their hand grabbing hold of the jersey and pulling them closer.
The player’s faces were modeled accurately to their real life counterparts and look nearly identical, from their hairstyle to their facial hair. A player’s ability to keep possession of the ball has also been improved. In FIFA 13 and 14, it was rather easy to lose possession of the ball and it was a constant back and forth between whomever was playing. In 15 however, due to the improved first touch, you will be able to possess the ball in those tight situations making it much easier to perfectly set up a scoring chance. However setting up a chance is only half the battle, with EA Canada making improvements to goalkeepers it is now more difficult to simply blast a shot past them and you have to give yourself the best angle possible if you want to score.
EA has also added a new aspect never before seen to FIFA, players that show emotion. After a nasty tackle or a clutch goal, players would react as they would in real life. They may shove the player who took them down to hard, or be chased down by all of their teammates after scoring the go-ahead goal in the 90^th minute. This is where the new living pitch aspect comes in to play. As the game progresses you will be able to notice the pitch start to be torn up with cleat marks or a divot after a slide tackle. When a player rifles a shot passed the keeper into the net, the entire goal frame may shake or lift up due to the sheer amount of power, just as it would in real life.
The entire atmosphere has been revamped, not only game play and graphics. The entire stadium reacts to whatever happens on the pitch. When the home team scores a goal the crowd erupts and you can practically feel their excitement. Fan bases are now given their own specific in game chants and you can hear them all in game, whether you are at Anfield or The Etihad, you will be able to tell just by the distinct crowd noise.
FIFA also made many improvements to Ultimate Team, FIFA’s most popular game mode. EA has added a concept squad feature that gives you the entire FIFA catalog of players to choose from. It also allows users to plan future transfer purchases and see how they would improve your team’s rating and chemistry. A user will now have the ability to loan a player for a limited number of games. By doing this, users will now be able to figure out which player they would want to target in the transfer market and which player fits their team better. It is a new and interesting feature that implements and entirely new dynamic to the game.
FIFA 15 is phenomenal. EA Canada took advantage of the power of the next-gen system and remains as the best sport game franchise, by a wide margin. EA needed to put out a good game. EA’s summer sales are down due to the fact that there was no golf or NCAA football game and EA Sports UFC was a complete flop. While Madden 15 was a success, NHL 15 failed to meet anyone’s expectations and was a total failure. FIFA has always managed to be successful and continuously sets a high standard. It is a must buy and is currently the best sports game on the market.