FIFA 14 News

[10spro]

I am pretty sure I will trade my current version to the Xbone for the extra $10 bucks. Got a deep UT mode going so transferring all my teams to the next generation makes more sense than going for the PS4 version.

Looking really good.

[Leebo33]

I originally thought the CPU attacking AI was questionable on PS4 but maybe it was because I was playing on semi-pro or whatever the default level is. On Pro and higher the AI is more competent and uses the entire field more. They still don't switch fields and rarely pass backwards, but it seems a lot better than my initial impressions. FIFA is definitely one of my "go to" titles now and I can see keeping it until the next soccer games come out. I also see a lot of folks on my friends list playing it. What are your impressions?

[Murph]

I originally thought the CPU attacking AI was questionable on PS4 but maybe it was because I was playing on semi-pro or whatever the default level is. On Pro and higher the AI is more competent and uses the entire field more. They still don't switch fields and rarely pass backwards, but it seems a lot better than my initial impressions. FIFA is definitely one of my "go to" titles now and I can see keeping it until the next soccer games come out. I also see a lot of folks on my friends list playing it. What are your impressions?

I find playing 'World Class' on PS4 is tougher than it was on PS3. My goal scoring is lower, making the games more competitive on PS4. I also don't have nearly as nanny trophies. Maybe it's just me adjusting to the new DS4, I don't know, but I'm really enjoying the experience.

[Murph]

I originally thought the CPU attacking AI was questionable on PS4 but maybe it was because I was playing on semi-pro or whatever the default level is. On Pro and higher the AI is more competent and uses the entire field more. They still don't switch fields and rarely pass backwards, but it seems a lot better than my initial impressions. FIFA is definitely one of my "go to" titles now and I can see keeping it until the next soccer games come out. I also see a lot of folks on my friends list playing it. What are your impressions?

I find playing 'World Class' on PS4 is tougher than it was on PS3. My goal scoring is lower, making the games more competitive on PS4. I also don't have nearly as nanny trophies. Maybe it's just me adjusting to the new DS4, I don't know, but I'm really enjoying the experience.

[fanatic]

Just picked up FIFA last night for the PS4.

I was wondering if there are any settings I should play around with.

Is the default game speed the best?

What about sliders?

Do you guys use manual passing/shooting?

Any tips to get started would be great, thanks! Also, I'm definitely up for some online play.

[Blublub]

Just picked up FIFA last night for the PS4.

I was wondering if there are any settings I should play around with.

Is the default game speed the best?

What about sliders?

Do you guys use manual passing/shooting?

Any tips to get started would be great, thanks! Also, I'm definitely up for some online play.

Game is not too bad out of the box, but a bit too fast and WAY too much AI pressing for my taste.

I highly recommend the combination of sliders at http://www.operationsports.com/forums/f ... r-set.html and the custom tactics at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... ring#gid=0. Try these and start a career - I doubt you'll ever look back.

[wco81]

OK, I haven't played FIFA in awhile but they've really changed it up. X used to win the ball consistently but now it's a "contain" button and you have to use O to tackle or L2 to jockey?

Neither of these are particularly effective. Elite forwards are hard to stop now.

Or is there something else I'm missing?

[Jimmydeicide]

There is an option in controls to switch back its called legacy i believe.

[RobVarak]

OK, I haven't played FIFA in awhile but they've really changed it up. X used to win the ball consistently but now it's a "contain" button and you have to use O to tackle or L2 to jockey?

Neither of these are particularly effective. Elite forwards are hard to stop now.

Or is there something else I'm missing?

I'm still reeling from this change years later! lol

I used to love to play defense, especially online. Now it's miserable.

That said, there are a few things that I've picked up. Most important is that often no buttons at all is the answer. That is to say that jostling, bumping etc., without actually pressing anything can effectively take the ball off of an attacker.

The standing tackle button should really only be used with the defender's back to goal and the attacker coming straight on. Anything else is likely (too likely, IMO) to result in a foul.

Double-teaming is far riskier because the players aren't as freakishly quick as they used to be. Taking someone out of position is almost always a bad idea.

The team pressing and high pressure tactics are very important. Without utilizing them, especially against the CPU, defending is hard because it will just pass around you with an incredibly high level of accuracy.

[wco81]

Well another new thing is they no longer include a manual in the case, it's all online.

http://d2ro3qwxdn69cl.cloudfront.net/im ... _FINAL.pdf

I have to double check but I think my controls are "Classic." I'll see if there's a Legacy setting and also try Rob's recommendations.

[Zeppo]

I found defending very difficult at first with this year's controls. I got so frustrated, I switched to "legacy" defending in the settings. It took me a while to realize, however, that "legacy" defending is disabled in online play, and since I pretty much only play online seasons in ultimate team mode, well, you can see I was pretty discombobulated for some time.

But now I've gotten pretty used to it. I'd echo most of what Rob says except that holding the A button is good in general as that will keep your player sort of locked onto the ball without charging it. Adding in the Sprint (RT) will then provide pressure and get you closer. The B (or X in my case with the Alternate controls) is to be used very rarely when you are in the right position. It's usually a clear stab and will get you out of position and slow to recover if used at a poor time. Also B (or X) can be used combined with Sprint if you are behind the player and it will grab at and try to use the arms to slow him down and get back in front.

Use RB to bring a CPU teammate to add pressure. This is best used right as the pass is sent off the foot (anticipate it!) and will help you intercept passes using the CPU teammates. Also it's handy to bring that in when the guy with the ball is near the touch line and turns back. But as Rob says, if you bring that extra pressure too much you will pull your CPU teammates out of position all over the place and open up all kinds of space for the opponent.

It took me quite some time but I feel pretty good about defending these days. It's certainly no longer as easy as the old Online Clubs staple of holding A. B and Sprint down all the time and watching yourself win the ball. I'm much better when I'm patient and try to corral the opponent into making too ambitious a pass attempt, or shepherding him into a good double team opportunity.

[Zeppo]

I found defending very difficult at first with this year's controls. I got so frustrated, I switched to "legacy" defending in the settings. It took me a while to realize, however, that "legacy" defending is disabled in online play, and since I pretty much only play online seasons in ultimate team mode, well, you can see I was pretty discombobulated for some time.

But now I've gotten pretty used to it. I'd echo most of what Rob says except that holding the A button is good in general as that will keep your player sort of locked onto the ball without charging it. Adding in the Sprint (RT) will then provide pressure and get you closer. The B (or X in my case with the Alternate controls) is to be used very rarely when you are in the right position. It's usually a clear stab and will get you out of position and slow to recover if used at a poor time. Also B (or X) can be used combined with Sprint if you are behind the player and it will grab at and try to use the arms to slow him down and get back in front.

Use RB to bring a CPU teammate to add pressure. This is best used right as the pass is sent off the foot (anticipate it!) and will help you intercept passes using the CPU teammates. Also it's handy to bring that in when the guy with the ball is near the touch line and turns back. But as Rob says, if you bring that extra pressure too much you will pull your CPU teammates out of position all over the place and open up all kinds of space for the opponent.

It took me quite some time but I feel pretty good about defending these days. It's certainly no longer as easy as the old Online Clubs staple of holding A. B (X) and Sprint down all the time and watching yourself win the ball. I'm much better when I'm patient and try to corral the opponent into making too ambitious a pass attempt, or shepherding him into a good double team opportunity.

[wco81]

One thing though is that the old tackle controls let you switch to the defender and win the ball just as the opponent was getting the pass. Was a good way to press in the midfield to get some numbers going the other way or sometimes, you'd be able to jump on a careless back and get the ball right outside the box for an easy goal opportunity.

This seems to require a more passive approach to defense, as the choice of the word "contain" suggests.

Maybe more scoring in online games as a result?

[Zeppo]

One thing though is that the old tackle controls let you switch to the defender and win the ball just as the opponent was getting the pass. Was a good way to press in the midfield to get some numbers going the other way or sometimes, you'd be able to jump on a careless back and get the ball right outside the box for an easy goal opportunity.

This seems to require a more passive approach to defense, as the choice of the word "contain" suggests.

Maybe more scoring in online games as a result?

No, you can still switch and steal. The A button "contain" button will go after the ball aggressively if you add Sprint and are close enough to the ball, so if you time the switch right and your guy is close enough, you can sprint in and grab the ball or at least cause trouble. There's a ton of great, sloppy ping pong ball action and bodies bouncing off each other in this version. Also I tend to rely on the RB to add in CPU teammate pressure right when the pass is made and that intercepts a lot of balls. And using Sprint and B (X) when behind or alongside the opponent is something I find very effective; it will push the player's body aside and let you win the ball that way.

I won't say I see a ton of scoring online, but in general there are a lot of chances created by your off the ball defenders being slow to recover to a streaking receiver of a diagonal through ball, for example. It seems harder to accelerate and get going than it used to. By the same token I see and score goals just by making a tiny bit of space near the top of the box and hammering a good shot.

The one thing that still dismays me about this game is that I find it impossible (to useless to even try) to beat a guy one on one. Everything is done with passing and pace. I do enjoy getting good chances from longer diagonal balls as I said, usually the LB + Y through ball, to get behind the defense. But I just don't seem to find it possible to beat guys one on one, which of course is a basic element of real life soccer. It is something that I still find relatively easy in PES versus almost impossible in FIFA because in PES it's more about change of pace and using the Turbo touch judiciously whereas as far as I can tell in FIFA it's still about using the fancy, complex R-stick special moves which just aren't responsive enough for me to use effectively.

Otherwise I have really been loving this game a ton. Playing FUT Seasons for the first time is a revelation for me. The tourneys are fun but so discouraging and not remunerative enough because it's so hard to win four in a row. But the way seasons is set up means much less of a penalty for losing a game. Also I have embraced a bit of the cheese and played the easy difficulty offline tourneys vCPU with the default UT scrubs (who have a ton of games under contract) and that's an easy way to earn a few coins. I can't wait to try the Xbone version. I need to see if a gamestop near me will take my 360 version in trade for the $10 upgrade without a receipt. Otherwise I might as well download it.

[Diablo25]

My copy just arrived. Gonna give it a go here in a minute. I'm a FIFA virgin so I'll probably get my ass kicked .

[Zeppo]

Game 7 and I played a couple of games of FIFA online last night on the Xbone. At first, it was certainly a bit of a struggle to understand how to connect for a "play your friends" ultimate team game. First of all, having Party chat off by default when you start or join a party is annoying and downright stupid. It just makes no sense. And so even getting to the point that we could discuss what we wanted to play took a little while.

It's hard to tell if this next bit of frustration is due solely to Xbone XBL or due to EA Sports's long standing insistence on doing stuff their own way and making everything more convoluted and harder. But for whatever reason, FIFA requires you to create a Party once you are in that "play your friends screen" and then, and only then, will those who join that party show up in the list of players you can create a game with. If you are already together in a party when you enter that mode, all you see is an empty list.

Once we had that part figured out, and it's bizarre enough for it to have taken us together a little bit of time, trial and error, and looking up on the google, we had some awesome games. The game seemed much, much snappier and smoother online than I remember it being on the 360. There were some slight moments of stutter here or there but they were very minor. But what struck me was now little lag or latency there was. At one point, I was defending him in the corner as he was trying to create room for a cross, and I was easily able to react and stay in front of him as he cut back one way, then back again, and again. On the 360 my experience has always been that it's impossible to keep up and react to the other player because of the latency.

Once we had a handle on how to get together for a game it became very quick and easy to set it up, but I have to say the process was at first pretty unintuitive for someone who's been used to operating on the 360 for the past seven years or whatever.

Once in game, the crispness and immediacy of the controls made the game that much better online than the 360 version. I am very curious to see how it behaves in online team play, because as much as I've enjoyed FIFA in Clubs OTP mode on the 360, the massive latency on 360 makes that mode of the game a distinct gameplay experience unto itself, not at all like an offline game. I'll have to try some drop in games this weekend, but I'd love to start a club with Rob and whoever else has the Xbone version of FIFA.

[TheTruth]

Count me in for club play.

[10spro]

Count me in for club play.

Ditto.

[Zeppo]

Guys, I created a club and sent invites to those who seem to have the game on Xbone. It should be easy to find the invite or the club and join up.

[RobVarak]

Guys, I created a club and sent invites to those who seem to have the game on Xbone. It should be easy to find the invite or the club and join up.

Excellent!

[Zeppo]

I'd very much enjoy trying out some FIFA clubs OTP tonight (Friday) if some of you guys will be available. I've only tried one drop in game, and it was smooth and responsive, far better than I'm used to from 360.

Anyone?

[10spro]

I'd very much enjoy trying out some FIFA clubs OTP tonight (Friday) if some of you guys will be available. I've only tried one drop in game, and it was smooth and responsive, far better than I'm used to from 360.

Anyone?

Canucks are playing B2B games starting tonight, it'll probably be later for me.

[RobVarak]

I'd very much enjoy trying out some FIFA clubs OTP tonight (Friday) if some of you guys will be available. I've only tried one drop in game, and it was smooth and responsive, far better than I'm used to from 360.

Anyone?

I should be around and I'd love to try it out. Does it carry your pro over from the 360 version, or are we looking at a night of mid-70's rankings hell?

[Zeppo]

I'd very much enjoy trying out some FIFA clubs OTP tonight (Friday) if some of you guys will be available. I've only tried one drop in game, and it was smooth and responsive, far better than I'm used to from 360.

Anyone?

I should be around and I'd love to try it out. Does it carry your pro over from the 360 version, or are we looking at a night of mid-70's rankings hell?

Hey! I resemble that remark.

I have no idea if it carries over because I did so little clubs on the 360. I doubt it does, however, unlike the ultimate team stuff.

We need to get at least one more guy methinks for a decent OTP experience. Otherwise you and I can just play some good ol' Brazil Challenge, like the old days. I guess Spain Challenge would be more appropriate. Then again, there is also the world of Co-op Seasons that I've never explored.

But let's hope we get two or three more guys showing up tonight.

I'll set all notifications on, so even if I'm watching TV it should let me know if you send me a message. Unless I've dozed off. Then even the "magical" Xbone can't help me.

[GameSeven]

Friday's are usually OTP nights for NHL, but I wouldn't mind doing a couple of FIFA clubs before. I accepted the invite and created my pro and will look for you guys tonight.