FIFA 2014 Review: See What The Experts Have To Say About EA Sports' New Pro Soccer Simulator (TRAILER)

EA Sports has released its latest installment in the popular professional soccer game franchise, "FIFA 2014." The game boasts significant improvements over previous titles of the same name but the reviewers don't seem to be as impressed with the new features as much as they are the game's new feel.

"In recent years, FIFA has benefitted from big changes. Tactical Defending, Player Impact Engine, First Touch: they all advanced the series by rewriting the fundamentals. But FIFA 14 doesn't really have a big marquee feature. It feels more like a consolidation than a reinvention - an opportunity to cement what has already been successfully laid down," writes Daniel Krupa of IGN. Most of FIFA 14's innovations, at least the one's that directly affect the gameplay, stem not from improvements to the engine but rather to the superficial animations. Users have more options when passing, dribbling and shooting. In fact when pulling the trigger to shoot, a range of different shot options appear allowing you to more accurately decide where in the net you want that ball to go. This level of choice has had a negative impact on the game for some.

"The game feels a bit slower. The fact is, the game's actual speed may not be any slower than before, but the continual tweaking of passing and dribbling mechanics has lead to FIFA 14 becoming a much more methodical game than before" writes Mike Suszek of Joystiq. "Your team's progressions seem to take a little longer since the defense plays your attackers tighter, resulting in passing lanes that are a tad harder to find. The dribbling mechanics added in FIFA 13 have been altered - no longer requiring players to hold the left trigger - and effectively performing some of the fun combinations from last year is more difficult and confusing now."

At the end of the day, EA Sport's technique toward making the latest installment in the FIFA franchise has simply been to smooth out an already advanced engine. The game had perfected its physics as early as FIFA 12 and then First Touch Control in FIFA 13 just needed some smoothing out in FIFA 2014. The idea was not to try and impress users with new features in exchange for losing what has made the game so appealing to fans already.

Check out this trailer for the game featuring Drake apparently getting outplayed by a little girl.

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