Title: FIFA 15
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer:
Genre: Sports, Football
Platform(s): PlayStation 4 (reviewed),  Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PS Vita, 3DS, PC
Price: Rs. 3,999 (PS4, Xbox One), Rs.3,499 (PS3, Xbox 360), Rs. 4,999 (PC Digital Download)

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Ballsy,
but Glitchy.

I was backtracking more than the usual, because even though a 30 million snatch for a star like Marco Reus looked like the ultimate deal, I was aware of the player’s vulnerability to injuries over the long, harsh, physical English season. For once I let go of my fears and gave orders to the player to pack his bags and come train with my squad. Bought in the winter of January 2015, I could see a pile of snow covering the Emirates pitch, as more snow started pouring through the silvery ceilings. The Gunners entered the fray, each of them looking determined to snatch away the victory from the local rivals, Chelsea FC. Enter Marco Reus, in the new Puma Arsenal kit, looking more rad than that he usually does. Not flinched by the presence of local bullies like Ramires and Diego Costa, he stood like a star, as Alan Smith poured in his golden words, Reus looked like the final piece in the Arsenal jigsaw puzzle. Hell yes he was. Ozil had been hardly instrumental on the left flank, as a young Chamberlain failed to support the left effectively in big matches. I was eyeing for a big signing for ages and the recent cup wins bolstered my finance board’s moods to inject an additional 10M to the budget. And so I pounced on a Left Flank expert. A mistimed first touch from Oscar let Keiran Gibbs jumping at the chance, tackling with his boots held against the ground. Quickly rising to his feet, Gibbs drifted a cutting through pass towards Reus, who made a cracking run, all within the first ten minutes. Reus beat his first man, he then jostled past another, the only defender standing in his way was the toughest of them all, Gary Cahill, who drove his feet deep into Reus’ shins. Rolling out of the ground, Reus gestured to stop play for the physios to attend to him. The rash challenge did win us a penalty that was later converted by Ozil, but on the other hand Reus got sidelined for the rest of the season. And so I knew that this FIFA is shaping up unlike any FIFA before, with a touch of realism determining your gameplay. It’s like the logic of the gameplay is always one step ahead of your decisions.

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EA Sports ultimately brings in the football video game that they were aiming to build since FIFA 2012. Pure flair in the gameplay department, with presentation determining the core of the emotional immersion. Amidst a lot of criticism for its unskippable intermittent cutscenes, I give FIFA 15 a double thumbs up for heralding the kind of fan immersion that determined every sport video game today except football. FIFA 14 was a mere stepping stone for EA Sports’ obsession with realistic football experience. As a highly polished IMPACT engine appears in FIFA 15 and breaks your heart and mends it, all within the same game, quite beautifully. First touches are clearly not randomised, as more physical aspects of the real game are brought alive in this so called video game, every moment of the reaction time and every pixel of your boot determine how the ball will end up. Repeated button mashing will not help the casual FIFA lovers any more, and the aspect of PVP completely changes with a bit of flair and reaction determining who is going to win it in the end. EA did an incredible job to fix some of the FIFA servers, as now I experience my game with an online buddy with hardly any lag time. FIFA 15 triumphs over FIFA 14 simply because of its seamless pass and play favouring mechanism, the centre of the park is now as dangerous as the flanks. The decoy jostles have been replaced now with standard right stick moves and a more controlled R1 button and L2 button triggered dribbles set. If FIFA 14 was a treat for the attackers, FIFA 15 emerges as a tactician’s masterpiece, because a slide tackle in FIFA 15 can actually win you a match. If you mistime it, you will not only receive a lecturing from the referee and maybe a card, but you will also provoke the victim to get on his feet and shove you in your ribs. Little moments within the game that increases the worth of every game, whether you are playing the Champions League Quarter Finals against Real Madrid or warming up to the season with a Friendly against Swansea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdoAvHvHzDw

Every football match deserves a bustling stadium that feels alive and pumps you up to face your demons on the ground. FIFA 15 does that with barely any effort. The polished spectator animations tell you the flip sides of a crucial clash, as I recollect Madridistas battling it out on a rainy night at Santiago Bernabeu with my bunch of travelling Gooners. The audience yells lungs out whenever you are about to take a corner, they cheer ahead of you whenever you net the ball. The dying moments at Anfield especially when Liverpool is on its way to seal a victory grows mad with waves of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. On numerous occasions, the mass chant of ‘Come on You Gunners’ fired me up to cross a ball earlier than expected inside the six yard box. Players are more emotional after scoring a crucial goal, as every victory dance and celebration feels different and raw. The pitch takes the heart of the match, and the weather conditions predetermine how the match is going to end. EA Sports righteously optimized ground clarity during matches played under the rain, and left one to his remorse when the ground was covered with thick white ice. The new pitch wear and tear technology leaves behind reminiscent of hard tackles and dives, as you hurry the ball alongside your favourite flank. When you exit to the replay screen during half time or just after the match has been played, you can gaze at the blades of grass that gets ripped off the ground during a hard tackle scenario which may have seemed half decent while you were playing the match from the tele cam view. That brings me to my next favourite feature from this year’s FIFA – the post-match highlights reel. FIFA choreographs every move you make on the pitch and makes notes of them, ultimately displaying them in movie like slow motion after the match has been played. There is so much detail in every moment that you wonder whether you were actually this good in FIFA or not. Prematch is as detailed as it could have been, now with additional commentaries notifying the various team lineups. Sometimes the AI would commit mistakes while announcing the lineup, calling a Defensive Midfielder’s name out loud as my Attacking Midfielder’s replacement, or simply cancel the lineup announcement if a player’s name isn’t registered with FIFA 15’s roster. Live Matchday integration does brilliantly to bring in the magic of every moment, along with daily challenges which ranges from teamplay to Be a Pro challenges. FIFA 15 introduces for the first time a media deck, powered by Goal.com, featuring news from all across the footballing world, adding that extra bit of immersion with the real football world.

FIFA 15 does a brilliant job in keeping the FUT (FIFA Ultimate Team) at the heart of the game, with additional features like Loan a Superstar giving an additional incentive to the FUT starters. FUT is unlike Career Mode, given the fact that you have to manage a team whose strength depends on player to player communication. As a result, the standard ratings range from 79 to 83, which makes it easy to manoeuvre players, whether it is a goal scoring Aaron Ramsey or Abou “Bad Luck” Diaby. There are a lot of changes made to the rosters, and a new set of players get true faces within the game. However, I am disappointed with the FIFA 12 face of Aaron Ramsey, surely he deserved his Welsh beard more than the overall rating changes. There is definitely some intricate detailing done to how each player moves and reacts, you will seldom watch Wayne Rooney ramming through the defence, while a Julian Draxler will play cutting passes and will work his way up to the box with a stunning step over. The career mode also sees a little bit of realism as real targets (from real footballing world) often turn to their desired clubs, Arturo Vidal signing for Manchester United, Edin Dzeko signing for Arsenal. The layouting of FIFA 15 follows the typical FIFA 14/World Cup 2014 mould, with Windows 8 like boxes determining easy navigation. Along with realism, FIFA 15 brings in a much needed feature which is called Team Sheets. Now you can set two, three or more tentative lineups for cup matches and league games respectively. Players would fret less if you play them more through this team management feature.

FIFA wraps up a complete footballing season with so many brilliant features and an extra bit of emotional immersion that counters Konami’s Heart System in Pro Evolution Soccer. Wait, did I miss telling how cool the new Goal Line Technology looks and feels in FIFA 15? However, the mega glitches of every FIFA game sporadically throws that immersion out of the window in FIFA 15. Players would walk right through each other after a hard tackle, slap the referee for only a yellow card, and moonwalk alongside the touchline. FIFA 15 has a crucial bug that speeds up the player movement if you are skipping a cinematic moment, making the hey days of Charlie Chaplin films return to your favourite football stadium. There is also a bug that slows down the game advance speed in career mode, whose effect can be reversed if you save your file and return to the home screen.

FIFA has always had an upper hand over its Konami rival simply because of the options outside the game. And with FIFA 15, player creation and Be a Pro pushes the franchise aggressively forward. Adding more to the already existing good vibe, FIFA 15 reintroduces some of the coolest artists of today in their tracklisting, Madeon returns with ‘Imperium’, Kasabian outshines everyone with ‘Stevie’ from their latest album 48:13 and FIFA 15 introduces the cool and emerging Nico and Vinz with their track ‘When the Day Comes’. FIFA 15 is the football game to pounce on if you’ve skipped FIFA 14, FIFA 15 is the ideal game to trade in if you already loved what you saw in FIFA 14. This isn’t a franchise that is meeting annual standards, this is a franchise that was once the undisputed king and is trying its best to meet gameplay innovations and showcase cinematic brilliances.

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It has been a solid season so far for Arsenal, with Diego Godin righteously fulfilling the vacancy left by Per Mertesacker. The new Arsenal captain – Aaron Ramsey is lethal when he goes up front and with versatile gameplay from new recruit Danny Welbeck, Arsenal are fighting the giants from France, Paris Saint Germain tonight in the Champions League Finals. And guess who makes a return? That’s right, Marco Reus. Sidelined with a rare knee injury for 4 months, Marco Reus starts ahead of Julian Draxler tonight. The rain is drizzling down upon the arena, with crowds cheering the Gunners’ war cry every now and then. Coming out of the dugout is the formidable Arsenal defence, and its flamboyant midfield maestros. Alan Smith quickly pauses his lineup reminders to talk a minute about Marco Reus. The cameraman switches his focus to the man who can make history tonight. Looking straight at the camera, Reus smiles at the opposition defence line, sitting deeper than usual, expecting dazzling turbulences ahead. Welbeck touches the ball and starts the game, Ramsey floats a cross to the wide man on the left, Marco Reus. With a crucial stepover, Reus darts ahead with dazzling speed, it is hard to tell whether this man is just coming from an injury or not. Making quick one-two’s with the midfielders, Reus finds space inside the box. Glancing at the goalkeeper, he receives the ball on his left foot, does a 180 degrees flip to switch to his powerful foot, and with no time to lose, he drills in a shot at Salvatore Sirigu. The goal was averted, but the build-up spoke in volumes about my decision to sign Marco Reus. This is the magic of football, as reincarnated in EA Sports FIFA 15.