“Did you see that ludicrous display tonight?” That quote, which you might recognise from The IT Crowd summed up my thoughts on football up until last November. While I had played FIFA before, due to my flatmate owning the game (and owning me in-game), FIFA 14 seemed like a genuine improvement over the previous titles, and it was the first FIFA game I bought in a long time.
It was at last year’s EGX where I first played it, and saw some wonderful graphics, slick gameplay and impressive physics. I wasn’t a massive fan of football, but now I’m getting it, all thanks to the conduit that is FIFA 14.
So, the game, on next-gen machines at least, really took things up a notch, and felt more reactive and like a real football game than ever before, but kept that competitive flair and fun, condensed match play to make a brilliant multiplayer game. After all, it’s all about the multiplayer, isn’t it? That’s why our Ultimate Team competition has proved so popular.
If you disagree, then the Ultimate Team and manager modes boasted some single player competitive gameplay, so there’s plenty to choose from. It looks great, and plays well, and at this moment it’s the only football game you can get on your PS4 or Xbox One. We didn’t review the game, but I did write a few words on the generational leap.
In terms of games and the jump between console generations, FIFA 14 is one of the best examples I’ve seen, perhaps due to being able to do this almost side-by-side comparison. Whether you’ve already gone for the current-gen release or the are saving your pennies until next-gen consoles hit, rest assured that there is a big difference here.
What did you think of the game? I’m sure there were some of you who didn’t like the gameplay changes, or some who thought that the jump wasn’t big enough. Well, it’s your turn to get your voice heard.
Just leave a comment below, a couple of paragraphs or so, with your thoughts on the game. Then, put a Buy It, Bargain Bin It, Rent It or Avoid It rating on the end, and you’ll be good to go. Get your comments in by Sunday afternoon and we’ll try to include as much as we can in next week’s WeView round-up post.
BrendanCalls
Buy it. It has some very deep modes of play from Ultimate team, to Online Seasons to Be A Pro, there is something for everyone.
If you like a lot bang for your buck, FIFA14 definitely give you this
wick15
I love FIFA 14. It’s the game I’ve put the most time into on the PS4 since I got it. There are many reasons for this, but the main ones would be the graphics, the improved gameplay and the great atmosphere you get in stadiums now. Everything about the game is great. I’ve spent hours (and too much money) on Ultimate Team and greatly enjoyed playing Pro Clubs with some of the guys on here.
The thing is whether you love or hate football, it’s hard not to love FIFA. Especially if you’ve got a bunch of mates round, it comes into it’s own then.
It’s a Buy It all day long.
Taylor Made
Bargain bin it.
Slow, sluggish, represent nothing realistic about football. The reason people buy it, it’s due to it having license to every team
On a good note, pro clubs is epic & addictive
double-o-dave
Buy it… Simply because it’s always a laugh to play against your mates whilst necking a few drinks back (even if you do lose nearly every game).
It’s definitely a step up this time around, but I still find it gets boring after about 4 games.
On another note… I tried the player career mode out, chose to play for Man City, scored twice and got a 9.7 player rating (I only had to average 6.6) and the manager tried to loan me out to Dagenham and Redbridge… How’s that work?! lol
psychobudgie
Buy it. It’s a quantum leap from the PS3 version with regards to visuals, sfx and gameplay. Can be picked up for under £40 new if you shop around and for once, is worth every penny.
baggyg
I’m so conflicted about FIFA 14. On the one hand the jump from last generation is large and graphics are super. I’ve had literally hundreds of hours with this game and a good many really enjoyable games (especially in the TSA FUT comp!).
On the other hand there are a good 5 – 10 things in online matches / ultimate team that annoys me to the point of chopping the disc up into little pieces and following handball instead.
> The commentary ranges from okay to downright stupid and wrong (such as commentators telling me I was relegated even thought there was another game which if I win would be fine).
> The player AI is very scripted. Players still don’t react in a natural way and often just continue whatever they were doing regardless of the action around them. The way the engine works is to match a pass to a receiver. However depending on the situation it will pick the wrong receiver especially if the pass is deflected. This causes an array of stupid behaviour including a player jumping over the ball when it is going out because he left it for the other guy who is clearly never going to be able to retrieve it / players coming from offside positions to get the ball despite there being 3 closer in onside positions.
> New Features such as waiting for up to 30 seconds whilst the second ball gets kicked out of play on throw-ins (why EA?).
> The referee strictness is completely unrealistic meaning a lenient referee will literally let you hold onto someones shirt for 30 yards pulling them back without blowing a foul.
> The FUT market is completely broken. its a 50/50 chance whether any results come back at all from searches and timeouts are frequent and annoying.
Its hard to give a rating. Even with the above I would have to say “Buy It” but simply because there isn’t a next gen alternative available. I very much look forward to seeing PES’s next gen version next year. Fifa is very well presented and the companion web app is great, but it really needs an overhaul of player gameplay intelligence to rule in years to come.
BrendanCalls
I don;t suffer too much from the same issues as you, except for that darned FUT Transfer Market, the fact that it has been quite clearly inept since release there’s been nothing done to rectify it. That is a very disappointing part of the game
double-o-dave
Oh yeah, I forgot how annoying the commentators can be sometimes. I’ll be 4-0 up in the 88th minute and they’ll start talking about how they don’t like my chances & think my team won’t win the match etc.
baggyg
I think the most annoying one I hear most often is how the keeper has been having a bad game up until that last save. The fact that it is only the fifth minute and the game is goalless as well as the last save being a catch from a cross where no one else was around doesn’t seem to affect the commentary.
colmshan1990
The biggest annoyance is that the button to skip replays is still the suicide pass your goal kick to the opposing striker button.
I would love it if they changed that to something else.
Amphlett
@baggyg as much as I love the game I also completely agree with your frustrations.
1. My most frequently used phrase whilst playing online, minus expletives, is “Don’t run away from the ball!”. This is something I regularly shout when being caught on the break and I select the player I want to intercept the run but the player will stop, pause or run over the ball without touching it. The number of times I’ll watch a defender running back to chase a ball down and do a little pause to allow the attacker the chance to attack is so frustrating that I have repaired my Dualshock4 3 times already.
2. As Colmshan noted, the X button controls both the skip and low pass so goal kicks and freekicks can often result in suicidal moments where the ball is passed to a very close attacking player.
3. Does anyone else see at times how Xavi et al can turn from world beaters in to not being fit for the Conference League? Passing will become wayward, first touch turns in to 13th touch and their speed attribute seems set to a negative number. I can normally tell within a couple of minutes whether I have any chance of controlling my players enough to conjure up a goal or stave off a beating.
I could spend all day listing my annoyances with this game, it truly is frustrating to the point of physically smashing my DS4 on the desk many, many times (I’m 42 years old for crying out loud!). Retailers should list a punchbag as an accompanying purchase. That said, I still play it and have ploughed in around 100 hours on FIFA14 alone. Hmmm. How very perplexing.
I just played an online FUT game and gave up after 20 in-game minutes. It was pointless. Not because the opponent was full of tricks or had higher ranked players, just that my players all caught the ‘FIFA poor stats’ bug.
double-o-dave
I love the fact I just read through the whole of an epic moan consisting of…
“@baggyg as much as I love the game I also completely agree with your frustrations.
1. My most frequently used phrase whilst playing online, minus expletives, is “Don’t run away from the ball!”. This is something I regularly shout when being caught on the break and I select the player I want to intercept the run but the player will stop, pause or run over the ball without touching it. The number of times I’ll watch a defender running back to chase a ball down and do a little pause to allow the attacker the chance to attack is so frustrating that I have repaired my Dualshock4 3 times already.
2. As Colmshan noted, the X button controls both the skip and low pass so goal kicks and freekicks can often result in suicidal moments where the ball is passed to a very close attacking player.
3. Does anyone else see at times how Xavi et al can turn from world beaters in to not being fit for the Conference League? Passing will become wayward, first touch turns in to 13th touch and their speed attribute seems set to a negative number. I can normally tell within a couple of minutes whether I have any chance of controlling my players enough to conjure up a goal or stave off a beating.
I could spend all day listing my annoyances with this game, it truly is frustrating to the point of physically smashing my DS4 on the desk many, many times (I’m 42 years old for crying out loud!). Retailers should list a punchbag as an accompanying purchase. That said, I still play it and have ploughed in around 100 hours on FIFA14 alone. Hmmm. How very perplexing.
I just played an online FUT game and gave up after 20 in-game minutes. It was pointless. Not because the opponent was full of tricks or had higher ranked players, just that my players all caught the ‘FIFA poor stats’ bug.”
… Then scrolled down about an inch to see under Colmshan’s gravatar… Buy it. lol
colmshan1990
Buy it.
I have quite a good selection of content for my PS4, but it’s FIFA that I always seem to boot up.
Hell, even when I’m at my laptop ‘studying’ or out and about I can often be seen managing my Ultimate Team through the browser or app.
Hopelessly addicted. Don’t want to stop.
Amphlett
I played two online games last night and half way through the 2nd game I threw my DS4 at the wall. The left thumb stick rubber is now totally ripped due to me pushing the stick so hard to get the players to run in the direction I want them to. The crippling scripted runs, near intentional poor selection of players when switching, continual offsides of the strikers, stumbling defenders and comical non-tackling when hammering the X button, it all adds up to a truly frustrating and shockingly awful experience.
My rating is DO NOT BUY, DO NOT BARGAIN BIN it and DO NOT RENT IT.
I’m happy to play remaining TSA competition games but won’t be touching the game again.