Preview - 2014 FIFA World Cup
Think of the most passionate football atmosphere you can imagine. Are you thinking of Brazil yet? Well you should be. The dancing, the singing, football isn't just a sport over there; it's a way of life. It's no wonder Brazil has been chosen to host the World Cup, and it's this excitement and enthusiasm that EA Sports is trying to capture in the World Cup edition of FIFA.
Have they managed this? Well, yes, to an extent. The menus are bright yellow and green, celebrating the host nation's famous colours. Pre-match gameplay videos show the crowd walking to the official stadiums, or fans in bars and pubs getting ready to cheer on their national teams. And there are two talk radio stations that we're told have over 50 hours of content, so you can hear the pundits chat away as you adjust your formation and tactics.
It's a far cry from the stodgy menus and match build-up we're used to in FIFA, where it's usually all about getting you straight into the actual game as quickly as possible. There's a real sense of atmosphere.
"That's actually a key part for us," 2014 FIFA World Cup producer Matt Prior tells us. "That's what makes the World Cup so special. And with it being in Brazil it couldn't be in a more exciting place, so that was a key focus for us. Getting the managers in there, they become a focal point. And also the external shots of the stadiums, building up that cauldron of excitement feel. Atmosphere was key for us because it's what makes the World Cup so unique."
The managers he's referring to are the 19 different ones they've managed to add in, so you'll see Big Phil Scolari looking on from the touchline at his beloved Brazilians, or England's Roy Hodgson looking slightly worried at his team's lack of usefulness. You wonder why managers have never been added before now; they add much more authenticity to the whole package.
But pretty menus and immersive pre-match gameplay can only get you so far. What about the stuff that happens on the pitch, isn't that just the same old FIFA that we know and - mostly - love?
That's also been given an upgrade, but you'll have to be a hardcore and regular FIFA player to notice the subtle changes. We were told about improved control that happens to be more responsive to your actions and explosive movement so that players take off and change direction just that little bit quicker. And we definitely did notice an improvement over the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of FIFA 14, the whole thing just seems slightly more refined. But a word of warning to those of you enjoying the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions of FIFA 14, this will feel like a slight step backwards.
But there are 100 new animations to make up for this, such as side passes and flick-on headers. There are new penalty animations, so goalkeepers can now try to play mind games against penalty-takers by doing little dances just before they take their kick. And one of the most interesting new in-game features is corner tactics, where you can command your players to make runs to the near or far posts, tell them to crowd the goalkeeper or even inform them to hang back around the edge of the area. The corner tactics work very well and we hope they stay put in future iterations of FIFA.
Elsewhere there are tons of new modes to get you hooked. There's a World Cup mode - as you'd expect. There's also a Road to the World Cup mode, where you take your chosen team from the qualifying stages all the way to Brazil. There's Road to Rio, which works just like Seasons in FIFA 14. Each division is represented by a stadium in Brazil, and you gain promotion until you make it up to the top stadium in Rio and win the World Cup. There's also a Captain Your Country mode, where players take control of an individual player and work their way up the rankings until they get picked as a captain for their country and try to win the tournament.
Things start to get interesting with the two scenario modes. There's a Story of Qualifying feature where you can go back through events that happened for real as teams were playing through their qualifying games. You're given challenges to either replicate or change history. And once the World Cup gets under way there will be a Story of Finals mode, where you'll be given challenges based on what you've just seen happen in the real tournament. Prior claims that EA is hoping to update the Story of Finals mode about an hour after matches have finished, which would be very impressive.
Inside the World Cup modes you'll also be given the option of training. These aren't just little tasks to improve your playing ability; they actually influence your player's strengths and weaknesses. So you can take control of a player and choose to work on his passing, then you'll go through a challenge that involves you attempting to beat the performance of three other teammates in that session. The reward for a good showing is a boost in that player's stats that you can take into future games.
Overall 2014 FIFA World Cup is looking like a tasty proposition for football fans. Those who love FIFA and want to become immersed in the extravagance of the World Cup will have plenty to cheer about here, even with only minor changes to on-pitch gameplay. Just think of this as FIFA 14 version 1.5 and you probably won't come away disappointed.
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