THE only football game worth playing is out for another season of slide tackles, out of the box screamers and big name signings.
I'm going to skip past the things that everyone already knows about the Fifa franchise, and concentrate on the small changes they have made to the game that flies off the shelves each year. The immutable question is: how can they make it better?
For better or worse, Messi has his face plastered over every inch of the game – from his omnipresence on the retained tiled menu system to the immediate tester game choice of his team over other star's teams'. He is the best player in the world, and his close control abilities have been enhanced this year to counter those burly centre-backs that used to bowl him off the ball in Fifa 14.
All the modes have been retained, with even more emphasis on the Ultimate Team than ever, with a hefty chunk of the achievements being attained there, leaving the classic career mode a little in the cold.
Turning to the gameplay, EA Sports have further developed the realism of the game amazingly well. The improvements to ball physics are felt most notably when sprinting, as you can alter direction at speed with the confidence that the ball will follow you closely, rather than a few feet in front of you leaving you open for an easy tackle.
The player likenesses are clearly something the developers are proud of, as the in-game replays focus right in on the reactions of players to situations. This helps the 'dressing' of the game around the action feel like something you want to watch, rather than skip. The half-time/full time recap is visually stylised to look more like a live broadcast, and it contains more than just the goals. Crunching tackles, player confrontations and celebration close-ups all make your game feel epic.
Crowds have finally been given some love – they react to the game audibly when the home team scores an injury-time winner, or their star man picks up a cheap booking. Even the camera shakes when the stadium goes wild! Visually, the people in the crowd finally follow the ball with their eyes, rather than staring blankly ahead, and gesticulate individually rather than in a clump.
Goalkeeper animations have been increased, making them harder to beat, and more spectacular when you do. The ability to mug off an on-rushing keeper with a nutmeg is priceless.
Suggested substitutes will save gamers' time when shuffling the pack during a match, and setting up switchable team sheets make changing formation with players in the correct position easy.
The AI has been made fallible at last – the computer will dive in and give away penalties and get sent off, rather than the squeaky clean performances from previous years. Adding the red card symbol above the scoreboard is a thoughtful touch too.
Fifa is better again. I don't know how they do it, they just do. Go and buy it.
9/10
