This year’s FIFA focuses on the fundamentals of the sport and brings much-needed changes to the way the game is played. It’s not always perfect, but a greater focus on moment-to-moment action, the Women’s game, and a complete rework of Ultimate Team makes FIFA 23 easily one of the best in the series in years.
Like the Ignite Engine all those years ago, the current generation of exclusive Hypermotion 2 technology feels a bit like a revolution for FIFA. It scrapes a lot of the rustiness in animations from previous entries and has brought in a whole host of new ways to play the game. As a result, matches look and feel more like the real thing, with defenders skilfully cutting through balls with well-timed slides and more predictable results taking place as players push for the ball.
THE CHEAPEST COPY: $74 WITH FREE SHIPPING
Acceleration has also undergone a stir, with defenders’ recovery speed playing just as important a role as an attacker’s pace. Therefore, spamming your team with tempo sellers is no longer as feasible as defenders now make an obvious effort to chase players to complete a challenge. Of course there are still times when fast players will wash off defenders (and this depends on the stats, position on the pitch and how the ball is played), but the fact that defenders now have a chance to come back and recover well , provides a more accurate picture of the real thing.
Hypermotion 2 also led to a change in the way I would attack. Instead of playing risky through balls, the game rewards cleverly constructed play through the middle. Holding the ball and slowly building up an attack worked wonders, especially when I was in the last third. Shots from outside the box have been significantly reduced due to the introduction of the new powershot mechanics, which give you manual control over a shot with a greater wind-up.
Power shots are extremely useful if you have the space to make one, as it puts a lot of pace behind the ball, which could lead to a possible fumble by the keeper or a straight goal. It’s all about risk versus reward though, as there’s a lot of time for a defender to cut you off when you’re in a crowded space.
Women’s football has And last but not least got some attention in FIFA 23. Thanks to the series of new animations in Hypermotion 2, the women’s game feels significantly different from the men’s football, and it’s great to finally be paying more attention to it. The addition of two major women’s club leagues in the FA Women’s Super League and the French Division 1 Feminine are also welcome, although I hope this is just the start of a major focus for the team. Apart from the kickoff and tournament modes, there’s not much else you can do with the aforementioned club teams, so there’s still a long way to go. Either way, it’s a big step forward.
Career Mode aficionados will be disappointed to learn that not too much has changed this year. A new menu makes the career modes for players and managers feel a bit fresher, but the actual fundamental changes underneath are very minor. You’re finally able to play like a real manager in the latter, with the roster of accurately recreated managers across various leagues quite impressive for a first outing. In addition, you can now play out the main highlights in a match, which I enjoyed to some extent, but found that the balance was constantly off. Some games would give me more offensive opportunities than defense and vice versa. If I was already a few goals behind, it would be almost impossible to make a comeback.
Player Career introduces personality types and a range of extracurricular things you can do during your career. The money you earn in your player career can be spent on things like booking dance lessons and donating to animal shelters, while decisions pop up every now and then depending on the results on the field. Every activity you do, as well as your performance on the field, will earn points for your player’s personality. That said, the personalities Maverick, Heartbeat, and Virtuoso have little impact on the mode itself, giving you a few extra points in your player’s stats. This makes it pretty bland as you progress and you’ll see similar options popping up every few weeks. There just isn’t enough backbone to keep the mode interesting.
FIFA Ultimate Team, on the other hand, has seen its biggest revamp ever in FIFA 23. The entire team spirit system has been revamped, with a greater focus on being able to create more diverse teams unencumbered by strict chemistry links. The result is a more fluid system, which looks at the league players, their clubs and their nationality, and combines this into a three-level system. Instead of individual links, layers come together to build chemistry across the team. As a result, it gives players better building blocks to create strong teams with great chemistry.
In addition, the addition of FUT Moments is a nice nod to players who don’t want to battle it out online all the time. In this mode, players must complete certain objectives in each game within a certain time limit to earn FUT Stars. The objectives range from combining a series of passes to performing skill moves. Accumulated FUT stars can then be exchanged for a range of rewards, such as loan items and card packs.
While it’s a nice departure from the tried and true modes in FUT, I felt a little bored after going through a handful of these challenges. And as usual, I felt tired of FUT’s insistence on pushing microtransactions heavily and gave up pretty quickly. If you like FUT, you’ll appreciate the series of changes in FIFA 23. If you don’t, there isn’t much here that will get you in.
Unfortunately, Pro Clubs and Volta Football haven’t seen too many radical changes this year and are languishing as relatively forgotten modes in the general scheme of things. Your avatar and some items will move through both modes this year, with shared progress being the main highlight. Other than that, don’t expect too much from improvements. I feel like I say it every year, but Volta’s potential in particular has been completely crushed over the last few FIFA entries and it’s a damn shame.
Finally, cross-play has arrived in FIFA 23 and my time with it has been pretty seamless. Xbox Series, PC and PlayStation 5 players can compete against each other, while Xbox One and PlayStation 4 players can compete against each other in a range of major modes such as FUT and Seasons. Ultimately, it’s something we’ve wanted to see for a long time and it’s nice to finally have it in the game, although it’s a shame co-op modes don’t have it available yet.
The introduction of HyperMotion 2, a revamped FIFA Ultimate Team, and notable improvements to women’s soccer make FIFA 23 a strong entry-level entry into the long-running soccer simulation, and one of the avenues from which the team can work in next year’s EA Sports FC. It’s a shame about Volta and the lack of real inventions in the game’s career modes, but there’s certainly plenty here to sink your teeth into.
Conclusion
This year’s FIFA is a comprehensive package for football fans thanks to HyperMotion 2, major changes to FIFA Ultimate Team and the introduction of the FA Women’s Super League and the French Division 1 Feminine.
Positives
HyperMotion 2 is fantastic
Women’s Club Teams… Finally!
Necessary refresh of FIFA Ultimate Team
Cross play finally arrives
negatives
Lack of improvement in Career Mode, Pro Clubs and Volta
FUT is still full of microtransactions
0 Comments