FIFA 14: Why The Critics Have It All Wrong
When you look at it objectively, there’s nothing earth-shattering about a video game company (EA) releasing their annual ‘upgrade’ of one of their most famous gaming franchises albeit one they didn’t care about at the start. As long as they can reasonably improve and refresh the game to make it interesting to spend your free time on, it comes down to brand loyalty.
And if you grew up playing FIFA on your PC or favourite gaming console, chances are you’ll be interested in purchasing the new FIFA 14, which you can order here – especially if you’re going for the next-gen consoles. If you don’t have time for gaming, you probably shouldn’t.
It’s not rocket science, is it? But the debate about FIFA 14 is remarkable in how loudly the most insignificant things are made into an issue. Player ratings (why doesn’t Messi have 5-star skills?), the change of pace of the game (a marked improvement that refreshes the gameplay), old FIFA complaints about realism (it gets better every year, and our expectations go higher every year too) and just general complaints about the AI (which is why you need to play with friends to properly enjoy the game).
FIFA is, and always will be, about in-game mechanics. Those have been superior to the competition for several years now and EA don’t look like losing that lead. With FIFA 14, they have both a fresh and improved version of a hugely popular game, but they’ve also given passionate football fans a ‘refreshed’ set of tools to more accurately immerse themselves in the playing environment.
This year’s tagline goes “We Are FIFA 14”. You may or may not be FIFA 14, but there’s no denying that FIFA 14 is an improvement on FIFA 13, just as an annual upgrade should be.
Whether you buy it or not depends more on the enjoyment you get from playing FIFA (with your friends, because this is after all best played as a friend v friend game) and the time available to you rather than the price point, off-pitch features and player ratings.
If you’re looking to order FIFA 14, you can do so here. If you’ve already played the game, share your feedback on it in the comments below.
Posted: 2nd, October 2013 | In: Sports Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
