Changes to gameplay aren’t as extensive as I was anticipating in FIFA 14, though there are a couple of areas in which this version does feel slightly different. When defending on the 360 and PS3, I normally apply lots of pressure onto the opposing team and use the slide tackle to win back the ball. It's crude and heavy-handed, but it works a lot of the time. In the Xbox One and PS4 version this is a much less viable tactic, since players have more self-awareness. So when you go in for a sliding challenge, it's highly likely the player in possession will hurdle the incoming tackle. It’s far more authentic, and makes defending much more about maintaining your shape, closing down play, and tracking runs - all of which is aided greatly by the players’ improved positional awareness and decision making. It does a better job of approximating the real-life sport, yet importantly doesn’t make it any less fun. Those heightened player reactions again also enhance the look of matches in other ways; for instance, sometimes when I shot on goal, if there was a player in the way, they’d do their best to duck out of the way of the incoming strike. Again, it subtly but potently adds to the realism.
You could argue that FIFA 14 shows EA Sports is running out of ideas, then, but for me this is a developer that knows exactly what it's doing. Neither the football match engine nor Ultimate Team were broken in any major way, and the placebo effect of a suite of control and balance tweaks, along with its increasingly snug ties to the drama of real-life football, will be enough to carry its ever-growing audience of players through the next season. As much as I know I will play it all year, though, I would like to feel a greater sense of progression next time. Hopefully EA Sports will find the next-generation consoles inspiring.
Despite the lack of a defining new feature to attach itself to, FIFA 14 is far more than the sum of its parts. It's a fundamentally different experience to last year's game, and an entertaining one at that, moving the series ever closer to the realism it so proudly strives for. The only competition FIFA has this year is itself. With a next-gen version just on the horizon, complete with a brand-new engine, you may be thinking about sitting this one out until then. But to do so would mean missing out on what is a fabulous football game, one that feels fresh yet familiar and that pushes even FIFA veterans into new, exciting, and engrossing ways of playing.
FIFA 14 PS4 comes with a multitude of other improvements. Impressively fast load times mean you barely have enough time to complete the loading screen skill games. The increase in resolution and graphical fidelity is apparent throughout. Better detail allows you to notice player balance and ball spin like never before, while jerseys ruffle and grass clippings are kicked up when players strike at goal. You can also press in the DualShock 4's touchpad, or the Xbox One's back button to switch control to the goalkeeper. It's not a very useful addition, but at the very least, it serves as an alternative to hammering Y to rush the goalie out in one-on-one situations.
Precision Movement was designed in part to allow for greater playmaking from midfield but in practice the opposite is true, creating treacle-like, congested battles of attrition, where you're often forced to play the ball out wide to avoid the mass of humanity standing between yourself and the goal. With First Touch as unpredictable as ever, there are moments where you don't feel as in control of proceedings as perhaps you should.
The combined effect of these changes - and combined is right, as they form an interdependent flow of gameplay - is that FIFA 14 feels more noticeably different to its predecessor than the last two or three games. Players handle differently: attackers work up to full pace and so rarely burn away from their markers, although for their part defenders can overcommit more easily, which opens up more space.
