For many people Soccer is a lifestyle and not just a hobby – fans of the sport live, eat and breathe ‘The Beautiful Game’. EA Sports has continuously tried to bring its video game up to par to the same standard to which fans hold this sport and its many stars. FIFA 13 is certainly not just a roster update to last year’s excellent FIFA 12, as it takes the series to new heights with enhancements and improvements that are felt throughout the entire game.
EA Sports has developed an exceptional understanding of Soccer and its fans who are also gamers that have rising expectations with each new entry into this extremely successful franchise. Players familiar with the FIFA series will feel right at home with 13 as it comes with the usual feature set of modes including FIFA Ultimate Team, Be A Pro, Career Mode and more. However, these modes weren’t just copied an pasted from FIFA 12 but enhanced across the board with improved slick interfaces, added features and an overall more appealing presentation. FIFA 13 feels like a fresh, new game that has been polished on every possible end.
Other new features to mention are Match Day, which brings in live stats on how the real live counterparts are doing and affect performance on the digital pitch or the Skill Games that help new or experiences players improve their game or simply learn how to dribble, shoot and cross properly. This is something so simple but serves a great purpose as players are able to use the loading between matches time wisely or simply to mess around.
Along with the excellent visual presentation of its menus and interfaces, FIFA 13 has also touched up its graphics on the pitch. While lighting and whether effects have been noticeably improved over last year’s game, the maybe most impressive change was the visible movements of the players’ jerseys caused by wind, rain or their actions on the pitch which had only been seen in other sports games previously. This could be viewed as a minor detail but shows just how much EA Sports respects the game and strives to create the most authentic Soccer game yet.
In past FIFA games the commentary was always good but also repetitive and not very contextual like we have seen in other sports game series. This year the commentators will highlight specific players during the match as they may have come back from injury or haven’t scored in a while, other reasons a player may be mentioned are recent transfers or injuries when a third, ground floor commentator will give an update to the extent of his injuries, the same way we’d see when watching TV.
One of my favorite modes of FIFA is the career mode where players can either create a virtual version of themselves whom they take through several seasons while improving his skills or going the manager route where battling for championships is the main goal. FIFA 13 has made key tweaks such as a more realistic transfer behavior and being able to be called up for the national team. The career mode can certainly be the meat and bones for players but I also spent countless hours building my squad in FIFA Ultimate Team as the menus and presentation sucked me in more than many other games do. During all of the modes across FIFA 13 players will earn in game currency which can be used to improve a created player, purchase boots, retro jerseys or other upgrades and items for the career or seasons mode.
All of these changes and enhancements on FIFA 13’s presentation are matched by the improvements made to the gameplay – after all we play FIFA because we want to have a good time on the pitch. EA Sports’ biggest focus on FIFA 13 was to create a more realistic level of unpredictability after adding a new physics engine last year. This year players will act much more realistic as opposed to mechanical as the game takes into account how skilled a field player is or how players will take a first touch. Not everyone can handle a ball as well as Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo and this will need to be accounted for by carefully anticipating who receives the ball at what speed, spin and direction. FIFA 13 will require players to become better at playing the game.
Some other examples of gameplay improvements are noticed when playing a directional through ball which is now a more lethal tool offensively or curving a long pass just right so the game opens up. FIFA 13 feels like a more fluid game and closer to the real sport than ever before. The sometimes predictable AI in previous games has now become smarter which makes attacking and defending a greater challenge but also creates wide open battles and fast paced counter attacks as we would expect when watching a La Liga or Seria A match. Enhanced shoulder to shoulder struggles for the ball don’t always go one way but depend on many factors other than just stat points of a given player versus another.
EA Sports is in a place where players and critics alike often question the annual release and joke about them just being roster updates but FIFA 13 has shown it is much more than that. The improvements made in the game’s presentation and gameplay are well worth your time and money as FIFA 13 has managed to become not only the best Soccer game this year but also the best in the long standing series.
Score: 9 / 10
FIFA 13 was developed by EA Sports and published by Electronic Arts for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on September 25th. A copy of the PS3 version was provided to us by Electronic Arts for reviewing purposes.
