Good evening all! I hope you’ve all had a very nice weekend enjoying your Playstation 4 or Xbox One, whichever your choice may be. We have been enjoying both consoles other the last week, and next-gen really does bring major improvements in a lot of the games I have seen. In this review, we will be discussing how FIFA 14 improves over its current-gen (well, technically last-gen now!) counterparts and what you should expect from the game.
The first thing I would like to clear up is, now that we have entered a new generation, remember that review scores for next generation games are NOT comparable with review scores for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. It would not make much sense to say that a PS2 game with 9/10 and a PS3 game with 9/10 are on the same level in terms of graphics and performance, so, the same holds true with next gen scores. If we, for example, scored a current-gen game 9/10 and a next-gen game 8/10, that does not necessarily mean that the next-gen game is worse than the current-gen game, it could be simply due to the game not meeting full next-generation standards in graphics for example.
So, with that in mind, what we will be doing in this review is highlighting what has chanced between the current-gen FIFA 14 (our review of which you can find here). Thankfully, a lot of positive improvements have been made, although the game doesn’t have quite a profound upgrade as some of the other next-gen titles.
In terms of graphical improvement, much has been upgraded. The player models look far better than the ones present on PS3 and Xbox 360. Many of the popular, well-recognised players have faces which resemble them greatly, although some of the lesser-known players have not received as much attention. These impressive models are unfortunately hidden a lot of the time, as the camera angle constricts how much detail is visible. Another problem occurs when we see player animations, as these seem to be glitchy at times, but aren’t a huge problem. Overall, there is a general improvement in graphical detail.
The crowd is the most obvious upgrade. Instead of a generic, blurred crowd as we have seen in current-gen FIFA releases, we are now treated to vibrant congregations of supporters with distinctive features. It appears as if each of them have been rendered separately, and likely use some algorithm for randomising features and clothing. The stadiums also look fantastic, and highly realistic while the pitches are presented in a vivid, clear green. These are the signs of further improvements to come for next generation releases. The visuals don’t deliver anything which would be considered jaw-dropping, but have made small transitions towards next gen.
Virtually all of the popular gamemodes present in the current generation versions of the game have carried forward to next-gen. In addition to this, any progress you have made in the game on current-gen (include your Ultimate Team) will carry over to the next-generation equivalent platform (eg. 360 -> One / PS3 -> PS4). Unfortunately, EA have not included FIFA 14 in the £10/€10/$10 upgrade deal on Playstation 4, so, you will have to see what upgrade options a retailer would give if you have a current-generation retail copy of the game.
An aspect which has been given quite an improvement is the AI. If you are experienced with FIFA, as soon as you begin playing the next generation version, you will notice the difference in the AI. Your virtual opponents will be far better at reacting to your offensive and defensive moves, and will learn as you play. There are many small improvements to AI, which, when combined, eliminate many of the little loopholes which you could get away with in the current gen versions. This should create a far more fair game, in which players play on a skill-only basis. From my experience thus far, it has worked!
Overall, while FIFA 14 isn’t the biggest improvement that could have been made, it is still a very substantial step-up on the current generation version, and is a great sign of what we should expect for next years release. Although I would not usually be bias, the Xbox One version of the game has Ultimate Team Legends, so, if this is something for you, the Xbox One version is the best choice. Outside that, both versions are almost identical.