As someone who plays FIFA fairly regularly during its typical release date in September, then abandons it for the slew of big releases in October/November, I always find it hard to judge the changes made on a year to year basis — because by the time the new game comes out, I’ve usually forgotten what the previous game was like!
FIFA 14 — I can’t remember the details. I don’t remember how the passing felt, I don’t remember the dribbling, I don’t remember how good/bad the AI were at making runs/defending/whatever. I just can’t remember a thing. This makes judging FIFA 15 pretty tough.
I can only go on my gut instincts.
My feeling is that FIFA 15 might end up being one of the most accessible FIFA games in a while. My blurry memories of FIFA 13/14 were that passing was difficult, dribbling was a little frustrating and — in general — most games featuring non-expert FIFA players tended to result in 0-0 draws. It was tailored a little more to ‘realism’, whatever the hell that means.
FIFA 15, from what I’ve been hearing from actual FIFA experts has a few glaring flaws — in terms of the AI specifically. I sorta noticed this — particularly when I found it fairly easy to break through lines of defence in the final third. I found that in FIFA 15, the defenders weren’t really being aware and — crucially — a lobbed through ball seemed to beat the final four a little too easily.
But when playing a casual game with my family over the weekend — which tends to be the way I play FIFA almost exclusively — these didn’t necessarily feel like problems. If anything, our ability to score easily made for more fun, drama filled games. I suspect that might frustrate some of the hardcore FIFA players among you, but I tend to think that it makes a little more sense for a game like FIFA to err on the side of accessibility.
That’s my early, totally uninformed thoughts on FIFA 15 so far. How are you finding it? Let us know in the comments below.
Comments
7 responses to “Community Review: FIFA 15”
I read something about this year’s entry favouring attacking players rather than defensive ones. I’ve actually found defending a lot harder, and have admittedly been punished from a few balls over my defenders and goalkeeper.
Over the weekend I mostly played online. Probably the highlight was one of my earlier matches when I beat a Man U player 6-2. I was down 2 goals in the first, managed to somehow equalise, and then came back in the second and knocked 4 additional goals away. Another good match was against an individual playing as Chelsea. Was also 2 goals down in that (I seem to make it extra hard for myself by conceding early all the time), and then managed to recover 3-2 and take out the win.
In regards to the overall quality of the game, I would say FIFA 15 feels like a relatively solid entry in the series. Not a fan of the soundtrack though.
I only got in to Fifa at the start of the year and had a lot of fun with Fifa 14. I quite like the change of mechanics from Fifa 14. It feels more real, defending is harder though and sometimes the goalkeepers are a bit OP.
So far not a massive fan of the soundtrack, but I haven’t played enough to hear more than probably 50% of the songs.
I’ve gotten in to Ultimate Team mode now, whereas I didn’t touch it at all in Fifa 14. I’ve quite an addictive personality and unfortunate propensity for things like gambling, so it looks like I may sink a bit of money in to buying card packs. Feels like Pokemon all over again (although I didn’t have a disposable income to waste on Pokemon cards at the time.)
The lack of comments here really highlights how the Aus Kotaku community doesn’t enjoy Fifa too much. I know it’s a good game, but I can’t muster much interest for Fifa.
It’s good fun.
I feel like there’s nothing in particular wrong with the game, but after a while it feels like the same old game. I generally prefer manager mode and typically start with a lower league team and take them to the top, but I feel like manager mode needs an overhaul.
For the first time since ’09, I’m skipping FIFA this year. FWIW, starting in the late ’90s I was a FIFA player, in the early ’00s switched to ISS/PES and then took a break from soccer games in the mid ’00s. I feel like I’m at the beginning of another break…
That’s where I’m at with NBA 2K for the first time since 2K7. Not getting this year, but will likely pick up next year.
FIFA TIL I DIE