It’s hard to blame EA Games as such for everything that’s wrong with FIFA 14, but wherever the failings originate they don’t take anything away from the vast distance it manages to miss the mark by. It’s not that it’s unplayable as such or that it doesn’t instil a level of competition in the online gaming, it’s just that all of the frustrating issues with previous games remain completely unfixed, which for us is inexcusable considering the complete financial and license monopoly EA has over the football gaming world.
And actually it’s probably this absolute hegemony that it has over the sport that has allowed a little too much complacence into the development of the games, so they’re not pushing them to the extremes of brilliance, or being pushed by a possible genuine contender. The other element to take into account is that with a new game being released every year they have a very short development cycle, which needs to be looked at to ensure that future games actually push the boundaries of what’s possible.
FIFA 14 has been developed by EA’s Canadian contingent and they’ve not done the best job on taking the series to the next level, especially in the next gen console versions. However, having just played the Titanfall beta a little, we know that EA has got the capabilities of being involved in the distribution of skull shockingly good games, but they haven’t done that with their football franchise in a while, which is a big shame.
Our take is that FIFA should open up the license to at least two more developers to allow enough competition within the football gaming genre to fuel more advancement in the games. Right now, even if IIS works out as a viable competitor in terms of gameplay, it’s still not going to be able to compete without having the actual teams and players from the leagues, so the reality is that while EA need to make some significant changes on their side of the fence, there’s also a lot responsibility on the part of the footballing governing bodies to fix the situation by opening things up a little.
Graphics
Graphics are one of the more disappointing aspects of the game with little difference from previous installments, or between the current gen and next gen devices. With the new power of the Xbox ONE and PS4 we were expecting a bit more of a leap forward, but the reality is that the improvements that have been made just don’t impress enough.
The ripple of players shirts, detail on the facial features and body movements are a little more advanced, but we’d expect that from last year’s effort to this year’s just for current gen versions. You’ve only got to take a look at how much Ryse: Son of Rome, Forza 5 or Titanfall shimmer in comparison to FIFA 14 to see how far off the possibilities of living up to the power of the Xbox ONE or PS4 it is.
Perhaps the coolest step-up in graphics comes in the way of realistic and individual crowd animation, which is the closest thing to taking the game to the next level. The disappointing part is that this added level of sophistication in terms of the visuals does little to make the game look or feel like they’re in touching distance of the real thing when it comes to on field action.
FIFA 14‘s strap-line is, It Just Got Real, but sadly it just didn’t. We’re hoping that this is the transition year as they move into full force build for a game that should be developed from the ground up for next gen consoles, but unless this is the case the series will continue to look like a trickle feed of minor developments, instead of being the jump into the future that we’ve seen in other games.
Graphics review score: 2.2/5
Gameplay
EA Games are rapidly getting a bit of a disgruntled gamer response to their big name games at times and while they’re still riding high at the moment, we’d have to say that it’s only a matter of time before the tide turns completely , unless they can make some pretty sweaping changes. Battlefield 4 is packed with great gameplay, but it’s been mired with a few teething troubles when it comes to updates and online functionality (read our Battlefield 4 review for more details). However, for FIFA 14, it’s mainly gameplay that let’s it down.
A lack of mind-bending graphics aside, the reality is that a football computer game is really judged on its gameplay, and though this is the factor that made it such a great series back in the day, it’s also the reason that it falls down in this year’s installation. It just feels like too much of a struggle to get your players to respond to your controls to make it fun to play and it’s this factor the really brings our review of the game down so far.
To make matters worse it’s usually when you’re at a crucial part of your play development that your guys just don’t want to do what you’re asking them to. Through balls invariably lead nowhere, pull up the offside flag or trickle into the arms of the waiting keeper. Cross goal passes are sometimes pathetic, no matter how perfectly you time or weight them and player interaction can be clumsy with random player glitches when you come into contact with the opposition.
It just sort of seems like the game just struggles to get to the competitive heart of the beautiful game and to compensate for this it’s been infused with player limitations, which only leads to frustrating play. Players should respond exactly to your controller and situations shouldn’t be contrived to fail to make the game seem to be difficult, as opposed to truly great player AI resulting in tough competition. It’s an issue that we’ve noted before (see our FIFA 13 review for more details) and while it’s not quite as pronounced as it was in the last game, its continued presence is even more frustrating this time around.
From what we’ve seen of other, more positive FIFA 14 reviews of the next gen versions of the games, they seem to have focused heavily on the minor improvements in the next gen graphics and the detail of the crowd, which is admittedly quite cool. However, it’s the gameplay element that they skip over and from our point of view it’s easy to see why.
Gameplay review score: 1.8/5
Review summary
It’s with great regret that we look at so many of the negatives with FIFA 14, but it’s a bit like Russia in the late 80s, unless the problems are highlighted they’ll continue to keep the series from going forward. The graphics on the 2014/15 season next gen title has got to maximise the potential of the new consoles to truly impress, but more than that, the game in itself needs to rework the gameplay to strip out the more frustrating elements of the action.
FIFA 14 review: 2/5
