Is FIFA a just a £50 patch?

The latest FIFA game comes with that same annual promise of an “entirely new” experience, with hopes of revolutionising the series and changing the very way in which we understand football. But what’s actually new? Well, for a stark change of form EA finally delivered on their magical – sorry, I can’t even finish that sentence. In this fifty pound mod tweaks are minimal, changes barely visible.

I’m sure, like mine, your childhood memories of playing FIFA are disturbed by the unrealistic dribbling of players in previous instalments. Well, even if they weren’t, EA have kindly taken it upon themselves to install a new dribbling system which more accurately captures how a player, well, dribbles. Revolutionary, I know, but hold on. There’s more. The graphical improvements to the game are few and far between; with updated lighting and depth of field updates meaning the ball will have a cool, and importantly essential, shadow effect, as it enters the goal. Something we can all agree is worth the modest £50 price.

Look at him, all proud of his flashy new football kit on Christmas day. Image Credit: BagoGames/Flickr.

Granted, there is a genuinely interesting feature added to the 16th instalment of FIFA, with the continuation of Alex Hunter’s journey; however, this is proving to be a pretty unpopular mode, with multiplayer and ultimate team remaining the primary draw for players.

Core aspects of gameplay show little development from the last FIFA, and even from previous instalments. The potential for innovation within the series is enormous. Perhaps a free-to-play game, with DLC for journey and manager modes. Yearly updates from the EA team would also be a real breath of fresh air. But this, it seems, will never happen. The sad truth is that people simply aren’t demanding change. People continue to buy the same FIFA every year, with the new teams and only minor tweaks. Perhaps I’m preaching to the deaf. Perhaps the FIFA people want is FIFA 18. But I still demand more; and if that one demand can join more and more each year, then the FIFAs to come may very well have a brighter future.