Now that spring is here, it means nice weather and for those sports fans out there, soccer. Soccer season has started, and what better way to get into the spirit then with a soccer video game.
Now “EA” hasn’t been seen in the most positive light by gamers, for various reasons, whenever it’s due to micro-transactions, “Star Wars Battlefront” flopping hard, or just EA being…well, EA. But all that aside, how does EA’s latest soccer game, “FIFA 19”, hold up?
The gameplay in “FIFA 19” is pretty decent, and while there aren’t that many changes, there are some here and there, one of these being how you kick the ball. Now you can still shoot by holding down the B button on the Xbox controller or the circle button on the PlayStation controller, but when you do a bar will appear above your player.
The bar determines how well your shot on net will be. Simply press the B or circle button once again and on time when the bar gets into the center, and you’ll be able to give the goalie a pretty good run for his money, or shoot the ball right into the back of the net.
While this new feature is something that you might need to get used to, I personally like it. I know that, usually, soccer players have to get somewhat up close and nasty to get the ball into the net, but I feel like this new feature makes shooting from a distance easier.
Another new feature is how exhibition works. Obviously, it’s still the same; choose a side, choose a team, and play the game, but before that screen pops up, anther one allowing you to choose what type of exhibition you want pops up.
You have the option of just a regular match in “Classic Match”, or different match types like “House Rules”, “UEFA Championship League”, “Cup Final”, and “Home and Away”.
“House Rules” includes different modes such as “Long Range” where if a player scores a long range goal, it will count as 2 points instead of one, and “No Rules” where there are no rules.
“UEFA Championship League” allows the player to play a match in the UEFA Championship League which is one of the new features of the game this year, “Cup Final”, where players can play in the finals of their preferred league, “Home & Away” where players play a home game and away game to determine the winner, and “Best of Series”. I like the new features that were added to exhibition, as it adds more replay value to the game.
Even with that, the game isn’t perfect. For starters, season mode (at least offline season mode), has been removed from the game; not cool EA. I’m also not a fan of the only DLC (download-able content) being stuff for “Ultimate Team.” Come on EA, I know your “Ultimate Team” mode is big and well liked, but would it kill to maybe add in some other DLC, like a stadium pack, or a classic kit pack?
Overall, I got to give “FIFA 19” a 5.5 out of 10. Sorry if I’m begin cruel EA, but while I like some of the new feature modes that have been added to the game, I still feel as though there’s much more that could have been added to the game.
Hopefully EA will continue to build on most of these new features in the next installment.