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EA Sports launches FIFA14

FIFA14 (EA Sports)

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.

Comments

  1. USMNT default kit is the hoops (w/the hated “clipart” crest.) Centennial kit is an unlockable.
    The keeper starts in the green top w/the Centennial crest, though.
    Minor thing, but I noticed.

    Beat Mexico 2-1 in the first game I played. Terribly disappointed with myself.

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  2. Can someone give me some details on the co-op season? I’ve been waiting for years for an EA game to allow a co-op season vs the computer. Doesn’t seem like rocket science, but they’ve yet to do it. Used to love getting together with a friend and playing through a season together but not an option when we live in different states.

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  3. I prefer the odd year FIFA iterations to the even year dev team. The gameplay feels more sluggish even if the physics make better use of momentum and collisions. But it’s the new FIFA so I bought it and sold the old one. Already looking forward to the PS4 World Cup edition at this point.

    PS3: Tralfmadorian add me if you play UT

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  4. I find the game much more difficult to create chances than before. I like the feel of it though. They fixed the stupid fouls, and the inability to hit the ball with either foot.

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  5. It definitely feels a lot different, and is going to take some getting used to. The shooting feels a lot better but it’s been pretty hard to get a decent shot off. How they determine attribute ratings of a lot of the players continues to baffle me, especially in the speed/acceleration/agility areas

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    • Wow, just played my first match on Xbox and does feel different…in a good way. Like Panizo says, it feels more realistic because they toned down some movements to make players react better. Also, I noticed that the shielding of the ball works great and an improvement from last version. Can’t imagine how great this game will be on the next gen consoles.

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  6. Haha I love the celebration paragraph. Funny stuff.

    Happy to hear AI defenders are getting better. Sometimes their decisions are ore baffling than David Luiz’s.

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    • That GTA 5 is awfully nice…

      With FIFA, I usually get it once every 2 – 3 years, unless I have a way to get it otherwise. I already have FIFA 13, so I’m in no hurry…

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  7. Any Concacaf Champions League or is it still just MLS league play and a US Open Cup with just the MLS teams? Is the MLS Cup playoff structure accurately depicted?

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    • The closest we’ll get to that is an Americas Cup, like the one in the ipad version. MLS, Liga MX, Brazil league, and the Argentine league would be combined in one tournament, if EA incorporated that into the game…

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      • Yeah but the Americas cup wasnt playable last year from MLS teams, but if you were a team from another league you could face an MLS team in the Americas cup

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