Ahhh, FIFA. Like the setting of the sun, the drawing in of the nights,
the putting on of an old winter coat, there's both an inevitability and a
level of comfort that comes with the release of a new FIFA game. The
football season is properly back. The squads are correct again. A couple
of new features to keep us occupied through the long, dark nights. All
is right with the world.
FIFA 20 might not be the series at
absolute peak form--Volta isn't the revolution it perhaps could have
been and Career Mode still feels underdeveloped--but modern FIFA is such
a broad, deep, and complete offering that it remains a must-buy for
football fans.futcoins
On
the pitch, FIFA 20 is remarkably similar to last year. Sports games do
change year-on-year--I just feel that rate of change is slowing as we
reach the end of this console generation. So while there are some
welcome improvements--more natural first touches and more satisfying
ball physics--things feel very similar to FIFA 19 once you walk out of
the tunnel.
Set pieces, have, however, received a bit of a
makeover--specifically direct free kicks and penalties. In a throwback
to the halcyon days of FIFA 2003, both now have you aim a reticle at the
precise location you want to place the ball. Then, incorporating last
year's genius timed finishing mechanic, you'll need to press shoot again
at the right time, while also adding curve in the case of free kicks.
Both take a little time to get used to, but they offer greater depth and
satisfaction when you smack one into the top corner.
In another
nostalgic move--and in an attempt to offer greater improvements off the
pitch--FIFA 20 introduces a new mode, the FIFA Street-like Volta
Football, bringing street soccer to the main series for the first time.
You control a squad of street superstars aiming to become the world's
best in a journey that takes you across various unique, exotic locales.
These three-, four-, or five-a-side matches are shorter and more chaotic
than a standard 11-a-side game, and they feel sufficiently different
and entertaining to become a worthwhile staple in FIFA's roster of
modes. Fancier tricks and flicks and simplified tactics make it a mode
that feels a little more, well, fun, than the more traditional game
types--but don't expect the depth FIFA Street gave us all those years
ago. There are no Gamebreaker shots here, and it's not as easy to
utterly humiliate your opponent with outrageous nutmegs and rainbow
flicks. Instead, Volta focuses on the culture of street soccer, where
the language and atmosphere are more relaxed, more expressive--and more
sartorially customizable.
The Volta store and challenges that
unlock new gear--combined with the ability to play against online human
opponents in Volta League--mean the mode certainly contains more
longevity than the mode it replaces, The Journey. And Volta Story, the
single-player campaign in which you face off against AI teams, is a
closer analogue to The Journey with its cutscenes and cast of
characters. Its world tour structure is compelling and its real-world
locations well-realized, with unique personalities and play styles of
their own. However the characters you share your travels with are so
irritating, and the writing so aggressively How Do You Do, Fellow Kids,
that it becomes something of a chore to play. Other oddities such as
inexplicably needing to play the same opposing team over and over, every
squad having the exact same goalkeeper, and some consistent basic
positioning errors mean Volta comes across as a mode that feels
simultaneously long-lasting and half-baked. In a final, strange note,
Volta requires an internet connection, even when playing the
single-player mode, for reasons that remain unclear.
Career Mode
is FIFA's other main single-player offering, and it comes with a raft of
new features. Proper conversations between manager and players are
finally possible, for example; players will come to you to complain to
or thank you about their game-time, as they have for many years, but you
now have the opportunity to reply, with the aim to keep their
morale--and hence performance levels--high. The system is shallow, with
the morale bar seemingly the only variable you can affect, and messages
still repeat far too often with the same old typos intact, but it at
least feels a little more interactive than the stagnant old email
system.Click to Buy more madden 19 coins
