FIFA 14 News Post

Taking Things to the Next Level: Five Ways to Improve FIFA 14

12:17 PM - December 13, 2013 by DustinT

As I detailed in my review, there's a lot to like about FIFA 14 on next-gen hardware. I had gotten a good feeling about the game back at E3 2013, as it's framerate, animations, pace and overall fidelity seemed like promising indicators of what the final product would deliver. This made it all the more satisfying when EA was able to provide that experience in the full release. By actually leveraging some of the new horsepower in some subtle but meaningful ways, EA was able to broaden the �feel� of the FIFA gameplay even if they weren't actually messing with the core engine in drastic ways.

Taking Things to the Next Level: Five Ways to Improve FIFA 14 - Read More

Game: FIFA Soccer 14Reader Score: 7/10 - Vote Now
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Member Comments

# 1 crissyronaldo92 @ 12/13/13 01:28 PM

Hi, just wondered if you have any specific suggestions? It's kinda vague to say "Focus on individual players and team styles".

I agree fully that more needs to be done for other modes. Too obviously, Career mode is about being Football Manager lite. Player career needs to be wayyyy more in depth, with more incentive to play as an individual player versus the very flimsy mode it is right now. Press conferences should either be way more enhanced or removed entirely as they just add as an added distraction.

# 2 Wiggy @ 12/13/13 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crissyronaldo92


	Hi, just wondered if you have any specific suggestions? It's kinda vague to say "Focus on individual players and team styles". I agree fully that more needs to be done for other modes. Too obviously, Career mode is about being Football Manager lite. Player career needs to be wayyyy more in depth, with more incentive to play as an individual player versus the very flimsy mode it is right now. Press conferences should either be way more enhanced or removed entirely as they just add as an added distraction.

I guess I was a bit indirect in that point, but what I was trying to say is that the game needs to not only present star players and teams in specific ways, but it needs to make them "feel" different when you're actually controlling them.

# 3 believeinnow @ 12/13/13 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wiggy


	I guess I was a bit indirect in that point, but what I was trying to say is that the game needs to not only present star players and teams in specific ways, but it needs to make them "feel" different when you're actually controlling them.

I'd be curious to know which clubs you use. If you're only using the best teams, of course they feel similar, but there is definitely a difference between playing as the Seattle Sounders versus Aston Villa versus Benfica. The problem is that most people don't try to adapt their clubs to maximize their players but simply select the best teams.

The really good FIFA players are those who can win with a smaller club, not just bigger ones.

I do like the suggestions regarding living Worlds. The only issue will be securing licensing agreements with managers. I don't think European/World Soccer has a coaches association in the same vein as theire exists something for players (FIFAPro). I know people give Madden lack when certain coaches aren't available (Bellichick).

# 4 Wiggy @ 12/13/13 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by believeinnow


	I'd be curious to know which clubs you use. If you're only using the best teams, of course they feel similar, but there is definitely a difference between playing as the Seattle Sounders versus Aston Villa versus Benfica. The problem is that most people don't try to adapt their clubs to maximize their players but simply select the best teams. The really good FIFA players are those who can win with a smaller club, not just bigger ones. I do like the suggestions regarding living Worlds. The only issue will be securing licensing agreements with managers. I don't think European/World Soccer has a coaches association in the same vein as theire exists something for players (FIFAPro). I know people give Madden lack when certain coaches aren't available (Bellichick).

Well, I'm not going to pretend I'm some all-world football guy (I'm not the regular soccer contributor on the site), but my pals and I definitely mix up who we use (online and offline).

I guess the point I'm making is that there can be a kind of familiar feel from one squad to the next -- ie. within the team, there doesn't seem to be a feeling of uniqueness among the players.

As I wrote, I think some of this comes down to presenting specific players in a certain way, but I think it also comes down to custom animations, feel, etc.

# 5 statum71 @ 12/13/13 04:43 PM

I only bothered to read to see if you mentioned putting Tournament Mode back in.

Thank you!!

Dear EA....all due respect. Not all of us enjoy playing online modes.

# 6 statum71 @ 12/13/13 04:53 PM

Im picking up the PS3 version tomorrow so I can run my EPL, La Liga, Serie A, and Bundesliga seasons (using tournament mode).

But I am HIGHLY disappointed not to be getting this on PS4 instead.

# 7 skrody @ 12/13/13 04:53 PM

please also revert to the old way of manager mode. no more of this scouting nonsense. or at least make it an on off option. this literally ruined fifa for me.

# 8 HunterK13 @ 12/16/13 10:11 AM

You missed a gameplay mode that has been removed. Unranked matches were removed from the Next Gen version FIFA and it sucks. I used that mode to try new tactics and teams out before using them in Seasons. Also the loss of the Team Play matches is also pretty unfortunate, seeing as that's how I found my clubmates in FIFA 11, 12, and 13.

# 9 mfp @ 12/17/13 02:49 PM

Some nice ideas here but this article is pretty hit-and-miss for me. Couldn't agree more about emphasizing team playing styles, but personally I find player individuality to be pretty great and your suggested improvements are a bit underwhelming (improved camera and crowds for player individuality, huh?). It's funny you bring up Hazard 'cause I play with Chelsea in my CM and I'm regularly amazed at how realistic Hazard plays and feels in next gen FIFA.

Player individuality can always be improved but the focus needs to be on implementing more realistic unique team playing styles through improved tactical depth and team management features. Player individuality ought to be further improved with better AI, more animations, and things like realistic weak/strong foot tendencies.

Further improvements to Living Worlds I guess would be nice, but I'd much rather they focus on improving the presentation of gameplay elements, mainly by upgrading the visual quality of things like player models, the grass, weather, etc. Living Worlds is a nice addition but it seems that the consensus is that most people end up skipping much of this stuff after seeing it a few times. Further improvements to stadiums and crowds would be great but I'd argue they should be a secondary concern.

The main focus going forward ought to be harnessing the power of the next gen consoles in the areas that they can matter the most: visuals during gameplay and AI. Both of these have been upgraded for next gen 14, but both still have loads of room for improvements. Improving AI is probably the most important gameplay improvement needed: creating greater tactical depth, upgrading player awareness (too much ball watching goes on), and improving the backline defensive AI need to be emphasized.

After AI and visuals, the next areas most in need for improvement are: the defensive system, the referees, the collision system, the stamina model, and player movement, which is vastly superior to previous FIFAs but still exhibits some sliding and unrealistic turning speeds/animations. For the single player experience, work needs to be done to improve how the CPU plays, so that it feels more balanced and fair by making the CPU more "humanlike" in its playstyle.

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Taking Things to the Next Level: Five Ways to Improve FIFA 14