FIFA 19

I’ve been playing football games for almost half my life now. In that time I haven’t seen such a drastic update to the series as I have seen from FIFA 18 to FIFA 19. The most publicized addition to the game is the recent acquisition of the Champions League license from UEFA, but the significant changes come in the form of the gameplay tweaks. Considering how FIFA 18 was widely regarded as a decent game, this decision from the developers looked like an awkward one.

EA still has some tricks up their sleeve on the gameplay front that can continue to make FIFA an enjoyable, albeit complex, sports sim.

In an annualized franchise, many gamers question if a yearly iteration is 'skippable' or not. There is little room for doubt this year: FIFA 19 is a must-have for fans of the beautiful game. EA Sports has injected plenty of new life into the franchise with its fun take on the new kickoff mode and the long-awaited re-acquisition of Champions League and Europa rights, and has greased the wheels of a smooth machine with significant upgrades to the game engine, tactics, and its popular modes like Ultimate Team and The Journey.

With a plethora of new modes and some significant gameplay tweaks that make ball control more convincing, FIFA 19 is a distinct improvement upon last year's effort. Not all of these additions hit the mark, however, such as the Gears of War-style shooting mechanic and a handful of the new Kick-Off modes. When coupled with an underbaked The Journey single-player campaign, those slow down its momentum a bit. That said, FIFA 19’s simply more fun than recent entries with a level of variety that should only increase its longevity.

Despite the lack of career mode improvements, FIFA 19 is a faithful representation of the sport we know and love, complete with unparalleled bells and whistles. But it falls a bit short of the mark of being the definitive experience we had hoped for this year.

Zidane’s Real Madrid might have won three Champions League titles in a row, but did they change the way people think about how football should be played? No.

Well, it’s still not enough. EA has been working with this title for many years now and the amounts of improvements are simply not enough to brag about a game that any gamer will play for many months. Especially when the rival series PES is making significant improvements in all aspects. And, letting the PC gamers down with an unfinished product has raised the question of whether EA is capable to continue its journey for all the platforms with their promised quality. If not, then there are many ways to avoid an unhappy departure. EA couldn’t keep up its quality with the NFS series. I just hope...

FIFA 19 doesn’t have many vital, new additions. Career mode is practically the same and Ultimate Team’s biggest change impacts only competitive players. However, the gameplay is satisfying enough that even with some of the series’ legacy issues, I witnessed many moments where I could say, “Last year that would have never have happened.” These don’t transform the series’ fundamental experience, but they add up and entertain to cut through the stagnation of the modes.

Despite the updates to some areas of FIFA 19, there’s undoubtedly going to be a large section of the FIFA community unhappy with the lack of changes in Career Mode and Pro Clubs. I’m disappointed that Career Mode hasn’t seen any significant improvements, but the on pitch changes make for more exciting matches with attacking and defending feeling more cohesive. I’ll no doubt be sinking many hours into FIFA 19 in the months to come, but I do wish the effort put into the game by EA Sports hadn’t been spent on the modes I’m not really keen on.

Is the gameplay fun? Sure, but it's largely the same as last year. Career mode gets Champions League branding but nothing else noteworthy. Pro Clubs and Seasons get ignored. The Journey is fun, but cannot make up for the rest of the largely ignored modes. If you love FUT, you'll love this game. Otherwise, it just isn't worth banging your head against the wall for another year of much of the same. The rating might seem harsh, but when you've played this same game the last couple of years, you get tired of it.

Missing something.

Another year and another round of annual sports games is upon us. When its comes to the world of football (and I’m not talking Aussie Rules here folks) one big name springs to mind and that’s FIFA. There’s definitely no denying that EA are the kings of sports gaming and FIFA is the flagship that sailed them there. While EA may be leading the competition when its comes to digital sports, that doesn’t mean they haven’t had their occasional missed goal. So with the release of FIFA 19, ...