FIFA 13 – Review

FIFA 13 is EA’s latest iteration of the classic football simulating franchise. Developed by EA Canada and published by EA, FIFA 13 was released upon European audiences on the 28^th of September 2012. As of the most recent figures, FIFA 13 has shifted over 4.5 million copies worldwide.

So, for those of you who owned FIFA 12, what’s changed game-play wise?

Well, the truth is, not much.

FIFA 12’s almost comical “Impact Engine” has been tightened up somewhat. However, it’s still not 100% there yet. Your players will still find things to fall over, they’ll often do flips in the air after a well timed slide tackle and referees are all too eager to award free kicks and penalties for perfectly legitimate challenges. That said, you won’t find players floating around or stuck to the floor for half of the game anymore. But don’t despair, pile-ons in the box are still a regular occurrence.

Also added is the ability to shield the ball out for goal kicks or to stop a quick striker flying past you. This is a great addition in theory, but it too suffers from some issues. All players seem to possess the ability to shield anyone at any time. For example, if your winger is making a run down the line and he accidentally runs into a full back, he’s not going to skip past him but clatter into him. Now in the sport this would be an obstruction issue often handled with a free kick. In FIFA 13 impeding an opponent doesn’t seem to exist in the rule books and this is a perfectly legitimate way to stop an attack. For some reason the referee has this enabled too and you’ll often find your team bumbling into him, ruining the momentum for whatever move you were performing at the time.

“Attacking Intelligence” has been implemented in an attempt to add an all new sense of realism. Your wingers and strikers will seek out how and when to beat that offside trap a lot more effectively than in previous editions. Again, this doesn’t come without its drawbacks. If you don’t time a through ball or a pass perfectly, your attackers often simply stop their run completely and ruin your attack. This, combined with the large part strength plays in a defenders arsenal, now means that without a well placed run or an amazing killer ball it is often very difficult for a sprightly and weak striker to find small gaps to exploit against a bulldog of a center half. This has been met with some praise however, as the heavy reliance on pacey players that FIFA 12 seemed to promote has been toned down drastically and skill and timing has replaced being able to run faster than the other guy.

All-in-all, the game-play in FIFA 13 has been improved, just not on any significant level. It seems EA have gone for a much more “realistic” feel and for the first time in many years they actually seem to be creeping towards that goal, albeit very slowly. EA are dropping the gauntlet for themselves with the massive advertising campaigns, huge superstars in their trailers and the roster of professional players they have affiliated with the game. So far, the game-play aspect of FIFA 13 is not living up to the expectations they’ve built.

Game-play out of the way, what can you expect in terms of features in FIFA 13?

It seems the best way to go into FIFA 13 is definitely with an internet connection. Without one you’re essentially locked out of half of the game modes there. Many modes require you connecting to the EA servers simply to access them, never mind playing them. That being said, let’s not forget how legendarily bad the EA servers have been in the past and still are today. You’ll be constantly disconnected from matches, kicked out of a menu or simply struggling to do anything on Ultimate Team or Seasons all because “you have lost connection to the EA servers.” In my opinion this is something that shouldn’t be happening for a AAA title. It shouldn’t have been happening two years ago, let alone right now. For £40 I’m expecting a game that works, not a game that’s had the same problem for as long as I can remember.

Other than that though, you’ve got a wide range of game modes to play. If you’re an offline kind of person you’ll find Kick Off, Be a Pro, Career mode, the newly added Skill Games and Custom Tournaments all available to you. If online is your mode of choice you can also play Online Seasons, Ultimate Team, Pro Clubs Seasons, Quick Matches and many more modes you can uncover throughout playing the game.

Even with all these modes to play with FIFA 13 feels like a game unfinished. It’s riddled with bugs wherever you look. In Career mode, for example, you’ll sometimes enter a game to find the ball is invisible and only shows up on the radar. I’m terrible at the game on professional difficulty, hiding the ball is just harsh. In Pro Clubs Seasons you’ll find your Pro unable to unlock some accomplishments despite doing what was required for them numerous times over. In any mode of online play you’ll be plagued with the predictable disconnections from the EA servers.

You may think I’ve been harsh on FIFA 13 throughout this review, but don’t be put off by this. Playing the game casually with some mates and a couple of beers is still a hilarious way to spend an hour or so. You’ll still find yourself screaming “ref!” at the screen more often than not and you’ll definitely enjoy this game if FIFA 12 was your cup of tea.

All in all, FIFA 13 feels like FIFA 12 with a prettier bow on top. Nothing massive has changed, yes, some things have been added, but what’s actually new? You might have to find that answer for yourself because I personally can’t.

Bugs, nothing mention worthy newly added into the game, glitches and more bugs have forced me to only give FIFA 13 three out of five. Only pay £40 for this game if you know you’re going to get your worth out of it. If not, wait a while until you can get this cheaper and avoid feeling ripped off like I do right now.

FIFA 13 is available now on Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Mac and many more formats.