Game Review: FIFA 13

Platform: Xbox 360 / PlayStation 3 / PC / Nintendo DS / PS Vita / Nintendo Wii

Price Range: £26.98 - £40.00

Age Rating: 3+

Genre: Sport

Design:

EA have done it again by releasing another top class game into the FIFA franchise, this year in the shape of FIFA 13. As usual you can play single matches, play Online with friends, compose the greatest team possible in Ultimate Team or go it alone in Career Mode, whatever your playing style FIFA has it covered. With noticeable tweaks to all of the game modes it's not hard to see that EA have really pulled out all of the stops in this year's version but at times I couldn't help but feel a little let down as the very much favoured 'Virtual Pro' has now been taken out of offline gameplay unless you are playing in a Career. This means that you can't put him into your favourite team and level up outside of Career or Online play but you can create a Career and Online pro to satisfy those angles of the game. Ultimate Team also sees a total revamp this year with a new look being brought to the screen as well as challenging the 'Team of the Week', playing a friend's squad offline, new morale system and Ultimate Team Seasons there is plenty to get your teeth into. Kick off has been changed to 'Match Day' which updates the game's squads to how they are in real life and has improved commentary so you can actually tell who the commentators are talking about with handy displays shown under the score bar, Geoff Shreeves also makes a voice acting appearance as the touchline commentator which is a nice touch especially when a player gets injured.

Gameplay:

As with all FIFA games FIFA 13 is not without its random glitches at crucial or random times, it has been known for players to be making blistering runs down the wing only to collide with a defender and continue to fall to the floor while they are both in contact, it comes down to EA 'improving' the contact engine but all it seems to have done is make the lighter players more easy to tackle and push out of the way, not very handy if you are a Lionel Messi impersonator. Other than this noticeable flaw the game plays out quite nicely with tackles and goals alike getting equal attention from the crowd and commentators and team chemistry affecting the way your team passes to each other during the game. Season mode is much more realistic this time around with you being loaned out at the start of the Career so that you can improve your Pro without the fear of conceding a tonne of goals in the process, however without the 'Player Manager' path to go down it can feel a little restricting to say the least. The new first touch system works really well but it is tricky to get used to as at first, players with a higher ball control skill gain a better first touch when receiving passes or crosses from their team whereas lower skilled players such as defenders tend to see the ball bouncing off their shins before they can gain their genuine first touch, its a nice addition that adds to the realism of the footballing world as no real footballer has a 100% successful first touch. Online Pro Clubs makes a very welcome return this year and sees players setting up clubs that they can play in Online with their Online Pro, there is also the addition of Drop-In matches where you can pay with people who are not in your friends lists.

Presentation:

EA have pushed the boat out with improved HD graphics and player models to make this quite possibly the best looking football game around, menus and team sheets look great at the start of each match but once you get bored of watching the cut scene before every game and skip it the commentators take a while to catch up with the action, players can have scored two or three goals and the commentators can still be saying 'We're really looking forward to kick off' it just seems a bit too untouched and unpolished, it could have easily been improved with a phrase like' well we'll waste no time getting into the game' if the player chooses to skip the cut scene  its a quick fix that sadly has been totally overlooked by EA. For players returning to the FIFA franchise from FIFA 12 the menus are slightly different but after a few minutes of exploring they are simple enough to work out, customisable chants and entrance music for your favourite team add a more personal feel  but don't really add to the game in any beneficial way. EA always seem to skimp out on the crowd graphics though but this is made up by the stadiums which all look stunning and true to life.

Summary:

Overall it really is a great game for playing alone or with friends. if you can look over the fact that Virtual pro seems to be slowly slipping away and your player being blasted off his feet by an oncoming defender then you will love it just as much as the other versions of FIFA but if you are looking for a total revamp of the other games then you will be slightly disappointed, yes they've done a lot of work on it and it's a great game but it does have a sense of similarity about it as soon as you walk out on to the pitch something that players may find comforting or boring depending on their outlook on the game.