FIFA 21

Since 1994, FIFA and PES (formerly ISS) have battled for first place in order to be recognized as the ultimate soccer simulator. Similar to the mighty rivalry of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, fans of the sport have been divided over which truly is the champion. Some argue that FIFA is the complete package due to the wealth of modes and licensed teams whereas others claim that PES is a more a...

So, FIFA 21 doesn’t have any ground-breaking new modes or revolutionary gameplay innovations, but it doesn’t need them to impress. The plentiful tweaks to gameplay and AI, along with worthwhile new features spread across all primary modes, accumulate to make FIFA 21 a must-have for football fans. And if they’re planning on picking up a next-gen console in the near-future, there’s possibly even mor...

On the pitch, FIFA 21 remains the best it's ever been, but it's arguably not changed enough for longtime fans in almost any other way.

Through small tweaks and refinements, FIFA 21 plays as well as it has done in recent memory, but lacks the relatively big features that are usually used to justify a new version of an annually released game. Attacking is fun and fluid, defending is a real challenge and an art to master, but goalkeeping leaves a lot to be desired and the AI is inconsistent in several ways. Career Mode has received ...

FIFA 21 is solid and still immensely playable, but very stale, and rather unnecessary.

A solid if uninspiring season awaits, as FIFA 21 sneaks a top half finish.

FIFA 21 has thrown a lot of adjustments under the hood to help give players more tools than ever before. A lot of the casual players, however, may not take advantage of this. Something needs to be updated to the shooting model and not just the 1-on-1 matchups. The feeling of a soccer match is still fantastic, but it seems EA has put this in the back seat in favor of VOLTA. Even though the Career M...

As the train keeps rolling along, continuing to deliver the annual glut of sports gaming goodness, the next title to enter our crosshairs is the usually dependable FIFA series. The stalwart footie franchise has long been one of EA’s primary cash cows, and this outing looks to be no exception. In a year that also includes a console generation shift, does the team over at EA Vancouver have enough in...

The new FIFA is as fun and irritating as its previous editions. Although there have been a few noticeable changes, the next decade for the series certainly does not start with a breakthrough.

FIFA 21 is about what you’d expect from a new FIFA release. Some quality of life improvements over the previous title though nothing that really signifies a leap in class from past games. That being said, the quality in the FIFA series is fairly high, giving EA Sports a nice cushion to fall back on every year. FUT maintains the same inherent issues as it did last year, despite some shiny new featu...

So, at the end of the day, FIFA 21 feels like a game with a ton of potential that’s being held back by its engine. Konami decided to take the year off and switch to Unreal. I can’t help but feel like EA really needs to do the same. For all the bells and whistles the team adds every year, the on-field product leaves so much to be desired.

At its heart, FIFA 21 does a lot really well. However, it is also a mash up of incremental steps forward, baffling design choices, and seemingly ignored issues. It simply doesn't do enough to make the overall experience more enjoyable than it was last year.