Game Review: FIFA 2014 (Xbox One)

FIFA 14 is a beautiful game to look at and as such it will showcase the amazing abilities of the XBox One and the PS4 when it launches today. There's no doubt that the graphics and the details have been ramped up to take advantage of the new hardware on the two big consoles. However this franchise has been around for quite some time and there's only so much tinkering the core game play can take before it becomes a parody of itself.

By Wayne Webb

FIFA 14 is a beautiful game to look at and as such it will showcase the amazing abilities of the XBox One and the PS4 when it launches today. There's no doubt that the graphics and the details have been ramped up to take advantage of the new hardware on the two big consoles. However this franchise has been around for quite some time and there's only so much tinkering the core game play can take before it becomes a parody of itself.

Which brings me to this years version of the game that is older than the consoles themselves. FIFA games have been around for around twenty years and I started reviewing them back to the PC versions well over a decade ago before migrating to console gaming. They have come a long way graphically, but in my opinion (and many will disagree) they are not massively different in the basic  gameplay. Which is expected as Soccer itself (or Football to my obsessive mates) has not changed either, not really.

Much like car games which are about steering and accelerating, Football is about passing, defending and attacking with a ball and your feet. Options are limited and so the 'update' versions focus on having the latest names in the roster, having an up to date music soundtrack, mini games for training and the crowd experience, all of which have very little to do with you actually playing a game of football.