By FRANCO PANIZO
The anticipation is over. FIFA14 is finally here.
The latest installment of EA Sports’ highly-touted soccer video game, FIFA14, hit stores nationwide on Tuesday, ending anxious gamers’ excruciating wait and giving them a chance to spend countless hours in front of the television.
FIFA14 comes with many of the same modes that gamers have come to know and love over the years, but there are also some new additions. One of them is Co-Op Seasons for online play, which EA Sports has incorporated to allow gamers to play ranked 2-v-2 matches. Another is Legends in Ultimate Team, a feature that is exclusive to Xbox that allows gamers to play as Pele, Edwin Van Der Sar and other of the sports’ all-time greats.
Another neat part of FIFA14 is the custom MLS cover that was unveiled at the official launch party in New York City on Monday night. Clint Dempsey, Tim Cahill, Jack McInerney, and Blas Perez all grace the alternate cover, but MLS fans can download and print other special-made covers of a specific player from their favorite club.
SBI got a chance to play a few FIFA14 games at the launch party and can only report positive reviews from a gameplay standpoint. The game feels a little slower and a lot less perfect than last year’s (another step in the right direction for the franchise), with touches going awry more often and defenders taking better angles at cutting off attackers.
Many will also love the implementation of new goal celebrations. In one match that SBI played using the U.S. Men’s National Team, Dempsey and Michael Bradley playfully jumped through each other’s arms before Dempsey carried Bradley like a baby and spun around. No word yet on how that funny celebration was pulled off, but it was most certainly a combination of jammed buttons and joystick moves.
All in all, FIFA14 seems worthy of its $60 price tag. It’s fun, addicting, more realistic than any other version ever released, and looks to have a life span that will carry well into 2014.
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What do you think of FIFA14 so far? Do you like the changes made to the gameplay? Which player ratings do you agree/disagree with? Can you tell SBI how to do that comical celebration (we would like to know)?
Share your thoughts below.