Great news, sports fan. There’s an excellent chance EA Sports’ FIFA 15 will have the greatest presentation in sports game history. From impressive emotional reactions among players to unique chants depending on the country or club, there’s a lot to get excited about when the game releases September 23rd for multiple consoles, PS4 and Xbox One included.
That said, FIFA 15 looks amazing, so much so, that these visual improvements will have everyone talking.
The pitch and players get dirty
The longer a match progresses in FIFA 15, the dirtier the pitch becomes. Watch as the pristine grass eventually gives way to skid marks, footprints and dirt. There’s a limit to the madness. You won’t end the game swimming in a mud bowl, but witnessing the pitch degrade over time is very cool to see.
Thankfully, this also extends to the players. Should someone skid along the grass, you’ll instantly see a green stain on his backside when he gets up. At this point, we don’t know how marked up a player can get, but again, it’s a welcome change of pace from the squeaky clean athletes in previous FIFA games.
Fans get crazier than ever
When it comes to sports games, the FIFA series has the best crowds, bar none. Expect the developers to ratchet up the intensity with FIFA 15. Visit select South American countries and watch as the fans enthusiastically jump up and down. Then take a trip across the pond and square off against Manchester City, because there’s a good chance the fans will do the Poznan; even cooler, the announcers pick up on it and react. Many games fail to provide the illusion of playing in front of 20,000 people. That shouldn’t be the case with FIFA 15.
Shockingly realistic players
FIFA 14 for Xbox One and PS4 was EA’s way of getting its virtual feet wet with next generation development. More time means having the chance to harness each console’s strengths to create lifelike players that almost mirror their real life counterparts, right down to the hair on their heads. In addition, EA claims its new lighting system provides a true to life environment. Suffice to say, Cristiano Ronaldo, cover star Lionel Messi and Neymar (get better Neymar) have never looked better, at least when it comes to stepping foot onto the virtual pitch.
Beyond that, players now experience a wide range of emotions (over 600 total in the game) that tell the story of each individual match. You see 10-man goal celebrations, rivals get in each other’s faces and teams collapse in agony as a shot on goal falls short. This dynamic match presentation and emotional intelligence brings us one step closer to blurring the line between game and reality. EA wants you to do more than play FIFA 15. The publisher wants you to feel the game.
All the little things…Â
Considering the default camera in FIFA is set too far back to pick up everything, you’ll have to go to the replay option to take in the finer details, particularly a player’s animated hair and realistic breathing. On top of that, they kick up water while it’s raining, and the ball and players can run into the corner flags, causing them to bend. The more aware of this you are, the easier these things will be to spot.
Published: Jul 18, 2014 06:17 pm