FIFA 14: Aiming for satisfaction

There’s addiction, and then there’s EA Sports’ gaming franchise, FIFA. Every football fan looks forward to the slick football game every year. This year is no different. Details about the new features are out, and you have to look no further to learn more about them.

While FIFA 13 aimed for unpredictability, EA wishes to induce satisfaction in the gamer through its next iteration. The marquee features are true dribbling, pure shot, protecting the ball, realistic ball physics and myriads of changes to career mode and ultimate team.

In every previous FIFA, one could only change their direction at an angle of 22.5 degrees while at full sprint. FIFA 14 changes that; you have more control on the ball even when you are sprinting. Players like Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and Eden Hazard are known to beat their man by suddenly changing their direction at full throttle. That’s what EA are aiming to recreate.

Pure shot is a complete overhaul of the shooting mechanics in FIFA. Gone will be the days where players like David Silva shot with perfect accuracy even though Stoke City’s bulky Ryan Shawcross was bullying him into the stands. Now, players have to find the perfect moment to shoot. One has to find space, otherwise the shot will be hit with an awkward animation, and is unlikely to be successful. This feature brings FIFA ever closer to realism. That translates to players not unleashing cracking volleys even though there was literally no space to even move their legs. This, in my opinion, is a very welcome change.

Protecting the ball is exactly what it sounds like. On paper, the feature doesn’t sound game changing. After all, the feature has been in previous FIFAs, but the difference is that nobody ever used it while attacking to bide time. It will be activated with the Left Trigger (LT), which will make your active player shield the ball from the defender as your teammates make runs to startle the opposition. This feature certainly benefits big, bulky forwards like Didier Drogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. It’s finally time to counter defenders like Vincent Kompany shoulder-to-shoulder instead of the one-dimensional system where you nearly always tried to wriggle your way out of their grasp.

Another alteration to the core gameplay is ‘teammate intelligence’. Granted, FIFA 13 did a stellar job at breathing life into your teammates, as they made runs in and around the field. It still comprised of defenders acting capriciously. Going for the ball at awkward moments and suddenly closing down the nearest attacker as the game literally gifted you an opportunity to score. All this is going to change. According to EA, in previous iterations, the defenders could only calculate their moves in single frames. Now, the defenders will be able to think more broadly and understand complex situations as the single frame barrier has been removed.

In reality, the ball doesn’t move with a flat trajectory. It swirls and dips and rises according to the shot and wind direction. EA aims to capture that essence of the game. Taking a page out of FIFA 13’s unpredictability and fitting it right into the middle of FIFA 14. This is sure to gather outcries of elation, as dazzling shots which would dip and rise are possible. The angle and space matter as much as the player’s skill and technique, which will determine the elevation of the shot.

I’m going to say it. FIFA 13’s career mode was near perfect. Nearly everyone in the community appreciated it’s new transfer system and overall execution. The only thing that lacked life was scouting and interface. Scouting was ponderous at best, whereas the interface looked dated. The scouting has been induced with new life, as now one can aim to find players with certain traits. The old formula of longer the search, better the player still holds ground. But, the new visuals now bring it to life; there is increased semblance to the scouting interface which, in turn, makes it more intriguing. The career mode screen has been converted into Windows 8 like blocks for easier navigation. It certainly looks more radiant and user friendly.

Other changes will be announced gradually, and you will find all about them right here.

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