FIFA Soccer 13 Review | GamersCast
34FIFA, is probably hands down my favorite EA Sports game. And I'm a pretty avid fan of the sport, as evidenced by the Tottenham Hotspur flag in the background of most of my videos. But the real question is, is FIFA 13 worth the upgrade? I'd say yes.
When you first boot the game, you'll be staring in the eyes of Lionel Messi, on a very familiar looking menu system. It's clean, sleek, organized, and does its job well. All the modes you expect of FIFA are still here in full swing. Ultimate Team is back in all its glory, where you trade, wheel, and deal to make the best possible football club. Except this time around there's also an iOS and web app to manage your Ultimate Team while you are away. Career mode is back as well, where you can either start out as an aspiring young player working his way up and around the league, or get a starting manager job and work your way up to managing a national squad. However, the player/manager option appears to be gone this year, but considering it was basically manager mode with your pro added, it's not very missed. And with the unbelievable amount of in-game customization available to you, you could just add your pro to whatever team you want anyway.
EA Sports Matchday also dynamically alters clubs, rosters, and stats based on their real-world performance in their actual respective seasons. This feature also allows you to partake under the conditions of actual upcoming football fixtures and gives you news going on around the actual football leagues.
Also, the seemingly meaningless leveling and ranking system from FIFA 12 carries over your rank from that game, and gives it purpose in FIFA 13. Depending upon how much you played FIFA 12 or will play FIFA 13, you will have a ton of available upgrades to spend XP on, such as upgrades for your pro player, new venues, game alterations and more.
Also new are skill games, which test your footballing skills in a series of short, sweet, yet satisfying mini-games. These skill games also replaced the 1v1 shoot-outs previously found on FIFA load screens. Though it's also worth noting that load times, this time around have been dramatically reduced from the previous game.
And as usual, the musical selection found in FIFA, is brilliant and fits perfectly. And if you're not a fan of the music provided, you're still given the option to load your own into the game. The same commentary team from previous FIFAs make a return and are also just as masterful as ever.
Now as for the actual gameplay, to someone who may have only played FIFA 12 casually, on the surface it may seem like the same game. However, FIFA veterans will appreciate a lot of changes in the core mechanics. Ball control and dribbling now feels a lot more precise and realistic, with first touch control which also makes bad passes harder to handle on the receiving end. The player impact engine has been given a nice upgrade as well and defenders have been given even more options to steal the ball. Also, tactical free kicks allowing for a third kicker, is a very nice touch.
Overall FIFA 13, is a great game, and still not only my favorite football game, but my favorite sports game.