FIFA 15, here we go again

FIFA 15 is out; but the big question is, does it really offer anything new? Yes and no; if there was ever a game to be indecisive about, this would definitely be it. While there are some improvements on the surface, a lot of the things that needed fixing in terms of the gameplay and multi-player, have gone unchanged.

Career mode received an update with the new ‘team sheets’ introduced, allowing players to create separate starting line-ups and tactics for their various tournaments, making switching before a game as simple as the flick of the analog stick. This is probably the most useful feature. However, the rest of the career mode remains pretty much unchanged.

One of the things that really bothered me was that not a match went by where the commentators didn’t bring up the World Cup.

The first game it felt great, but 10 times every game just makes for an extremely boring and repetitive experience. You’re better off switching over to French commentary and enjoying the exaggerated emotions.

FIFA’s online gameplay has been plagued by players preying on weaker gamers and using exploits within the game to win games. Defender AI and overpowered chip through balls still don’t seem to have been addressed, but collision mechanics and goalkeeper reactions seem to have been tweaked considerably making a somewhat positive impact on gameplay. EA has understandably put a lot of effort into improving and marketing FIFA Ultimate Team; that being said they really need to focus on other aspects of the game like career mode, be a pro and pro clubs.

Most of FIFA feels stale and I honestly believe FIFA would be better suited to offering players trade ins or upgrades from previous versions at discounted prices rather than forcing everyone to buy a fully priced title year after year with little to no substantial changes.