A ‘Pure Shot’ fun

FIFA 14 Beta version which was released on September 10, two weeks before the launch of the game on September 24 has taken the gaming community by storm. Like every year, EA sports had revamped its flagship game and added more than, what you can call just ‘exciting’

Though the FIFA series is way ahead in market than its competitors, game and football fans have always complained that the game lacks proper player and ball control. The plea of the gamers has been addressed this time and the new version has come up with a ‘Pure shot’ and ‘New Ball Physics System’. Fifa 14 will definitely be loved by the fans that have the penchant for scoring extraordinary goals from half line. Remember Giovanni Van Bronckhorst screamer in 2010 World cup, more recently Ibra (Zlatan Ibrahimovic bicycle kick from almost half line against England in a friendly, replicating these goals is now possible with the ‘Pure Shot’.

Real Ball physics on the other hand will help the gamers score pie drivers, drill low rising, blast dipping shots like the real footballers. The good thing with this version is that a player can score a goal even while being unbalanced. PES (Pro Evolution Soccer) has always scored over FIFA in terms of player and ball control. Though now the midfield can be better controlled with dribbling at pace and turning out defenders to crave an opportunity, the movement of the players is sort of stiff. Team Mate Intelligence, though provided to simplify the game (where a defender spots opportunity to support or win back the possession or a midfielder checks his pace in run) this automation ruins the excitement as most gamers prefer total control over the game play.

FIFA loyalists often fret that they lose the possession of the ball often, this was addressed but maintaining momentum in games remained difficult and much practice was called for to master the skills. This time they have made the game touch more realistic with first touch control, as less skilled players get fewer perfect first touches and defenders now get up quickly for a second chance tackle from a mis-timed tackle.

Career mode has had its facelift too. The new additions include a worldwide transfer network, which allows you to hire a scout to search talent. But this comes with a catch, as the player’s attributes in Manager Mode are masked and can be only seen when the player is scouted. The new FIFA 14 addresses the issues from the old versions but not completely though. A lot of work has to be done to make player and ball control easier, but the pure shot scores all the brownie points as it gives you a chance to try and score impossible goals.