In the world of sports games, you set yourself apart from your forerunners by including brand new modes or features. When FIFA 15 came out, I was excited to see what the game had to offer. I’m not the biggest soccer fan out there. I’m mostly just a casual watcher, content to scream alongside my friends during the World Cup, but FIFA has always been an intriguing game, fun enough to play, but also creating a significant cultural impact. Just look at John Green and the Swindon Town Swoodilypoopers, and the eventual Nerdfighteria sponsoring of AFC Wimbledon. If you haven’t read up on this story, you should. It’s a fantastic example of the power the internet has to make change in the world. The point is, I’ve kept track of FIFA’s releases even though I can’t remember team names, star players, or stats for the life of me.
EA also added the camera wobble effect we often see on televised matches, created by tens of thousands of fans shaking the stadium in ecstasy when their team scores, which gives me goose bumps just thinking about it. Other minor details include the spray of grass from a player's boot during a replay or highlight when he kicks the ball, and player kits become stained with grass and dirt. These details have no effect on the way the game plays, but they add to the realism.
One disappointment in past versions of FIFA was that the home stadium of Everton, Goodison Park, wasn’t included. The big teams — Manchester United, Barcelona, Chelsea, Real Madrid, etc. — had authentic re-creations of their stadiums, but the little guys didn’t. That has improved in FIFA 15. Now every stadium in the Barclays Premier League is included. No more generic stadiums. Now you can play in the real home of every BPL team, from Arsenal to West Ham.
Most players will want to actually get their hands dirty and control the action. The controls are similar to past FIFA games, but have been tweaked to be more forgiving. There's a virtual thumbstick on the left that controls the player you have selected. Off to the right are buttons for pass, sprint, and shoot. The longer you press those buttons the more power you'll use. Thus, taking a shot on goal from 10 feet away with a full power meter will probably cause you to overshoot. FIFA 15 seems mostly good about automatically switching you to the best player when on defense. You can also manually switch to the closest player to the ball at any time with the handy skip button. The button cluster for defense also allows you to slide and generally harass the other player.
The pitch over the course of a game gets trampled with players footprints, and sometimes gets muddy if it's raining, as do the players. The crowds in the stands react to the players and the teams selected. On Match Day the crowd is deafening. With authentic stadiums and crowd chants and cheers based on the country. The crowd in FIFA 2015 is now a living force, rather than just using one tacky animation, the crowd jumps and cheers in waves. Even the ball boys on the bench jump and react. The cherry on top is the commentary which not only talks about the game, but also comments on the fans reactions.
Player faces have always been a little hit-and-miss within FIFA, and the dichotomy is particularly noticeable this year. Every single Premier League player within sniffing distance of the first team has had their whole head scanned into the game, meaning that if you’re playing with Premier League clubs you’re in for a treat. Each crease and crevasse on Joleon Lescott’s forehead is just so, and Hugo Lloris is a digital dreamboat. Unfortunately, to make way for such an effort and the assuredly massive file sizes of these likenesses other players have had to make way. And we’re not just talking about those in the Korean K-League Classic or Saudi Premier League. Nemanja Vidic looks like he was sculpted by the blind woman from Lionel Richie’s ‘Hello’ music video, and, clearly not just intent on nerfing his stats, Antonio Di Natale has received a facial downgrade too.
Player strengths have also been amplified so that individual players with particularly good skills are more prominent. For example, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, one of the strongest players you can put on a pitch, is very physical and brutish, especially when you're trying to defend against him. I initially thought this was another overly exaggerated player facet, like the aforementioned Hulk-like player appearances. However, defending against players like Zlatan must be similarly difficult and frustrating in real life as it is in FIFA 15, therefore adding to the realism.
