Another year, another half-baked football game for the fanbase to enjoy. Now I don’t think everyone will feel the same about this title as I do, but I can assure you that there is nothing particularly new or groundbreaking that we will mention in our FIFA 23 Review.
And this time, unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your point of view, this may well be EA’s last title under the FIFA brand. Has the polarizing company finally managed to win back the hearts of its estranged fan base with this last-minute shot? Or was it a well-deserved red card? let’s see in our review.
Institution
FIFA 23 is developed and published by Electronic Arts for the Windows PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Google Stadia. It is the latest entry under the FIFA umbrella developed by Electronic Arts in the 30-year franchise. All the modes from the previous games return, with the changes they received being directly proportional to the income they generate.
Being a money making Behemoth, the Ultimate Team flagship mode has gotten the most improvements out of all the others. The biggest and most surprising of these is how the team spirit system works, where instead of each player’s team spirit being influenced by the players next to them, it is now associated with the whole team.
The basics are still the same. Team spirit will still be based on the club, league and national parameters, but now players related to the parameters will contribute to the chemistry of the whole team even if their position is not connected. This is in contrast to the previous entries where we had to place related players side by side to increase the overall chemistry. It is a welcome change in the game and opens up new possibilities for team combinations.
Adjustments have also been made to the player’s position change. Now players can only be placed in three of the positions they played in real life. This prevents them from being placed randomly, to get a perfect balance for chemistry. It also significantly increases the authenticity of the experience.
Another addition is the new offline mode known as Momentsfor Ultimate Team. In it, you take on small EA-created or real-life match-defining scenarios of popular football matches. These are here for small quick bursts, and they provide a lot of practice and rewards for the mode.
It is extremely important to mention in this review that this game mode is once again full of microtransactions. This has always been the main goal of this mode and I have a personal grudge against it. They take away the sense of accomplishment you get after you accomplish something. But at the same time, I’m not even angry anymore, just disappointed, even though I fully expected this.
The second most popular game mode is Career Mode. The developers have improved the Manager Career mode by letting you play as real managers instead of creating your own custom ones, which produced mostly unsatisfactory results. The most important part of this is that real managers have their own backstories, which makes the player feel more connected when making crucial decisions.
Player career mode has also seen some improvements. These include the additions of new teams for both men, such as Juventus, and women’s football, such as the Women’s Super League and French Division 1 Arkema additions are the highlights.
New customization options are available for player personalities. Your player can now be a Maverick, Virtuoso or Heartbeat depending on your play style and the perks you invest in. Maverik players generally prefer solo play over team play, Virtuoso players on the other hand are the game changers as they will prioritize tactics and look for key passes to break through the defense. Heartbeat players are team players and will always prioritize team goals.
Both the Player and Manager career modes have also been expanded with playable highlights. Playable highlights allow you to define the key moments of a match that determine the winner, while leaving the rest of the match to the computer AI.
Volta and Pro Clubs game modes also return, with minor changes. The most welcome change is the sharing of progression between Volta and Pro Clubs. The developers have also improved the Volta game mode with new items including poacher, interceptor, pursuit and light passages.
Overall, there are very negligible changes to the game modes outside of My Career and Ultimate Team. Sure, Volta and Pro Clubs had the potential, but they clearly didn’t have the revenue, which has always been the target of EA.
It’s pertinent to mention here that the game will also feature Men’s and Women’s World Cup modes which will seemingly coincide with the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Gameplay
We have something to say in this part of our FIFA 23 review. Like NBA 2K23, FIFA 23 has now introduced slower gameplay in FIFA. This crucial step has moved it more towards realism and away from arcade football. This change can be polarizing as many old players take some time to adjust. But in my opinion this change is an improvement.
The new Powershot technique adds a new layer to the techniques of scoring a goal, but performing it is a gamble. Done right, this could be the moment to ensure you win. However, if you make a blunder, you will come back a lot. The camera also zooms in on the player as it takes a Powershot and creates a dramatic effect, which is a neat touch.
With the new power slide mechanics you can now really get the ball under control while you slide, instead of just pushing it in any direction without control. I also noticed a few changes in the dribbling mechanics. Now abrupt changes of direction will strain your ball control, so you need to do it slowly and smoothly. One downside to gameplay changes is the nerfed-passing mechanics, which creates a big skill gap between new players and veterans.
Players also have different animations, giving them more personalities. I can really feel the difference between each player now depending on their running animations. Overall, I’d say the gameplay has seen some significant improvements, and while this isn’t something to justify the full price, at least it feels relatively more distinct from the previous entries.
Images and achievements
It is difficult to analyze the graphics of an annual sports title as there are hardly any changes. But for the sake of this FIFA 23 review, we have to dive into this still water. As expected, there isn’t much improvement in the visual side, similar to the previous few FIFA entries.
The glass looks more vibrant and the facial animations can look great at times, but the graphics options are quite limited. I do have to give props to the developers for adding a lot more cutscenes into the game now, ranging from pre-game stadium scenes to some set pieces, which helps increase the immersion
Hypermotion 2.0 includes new sets of animations that this time features 6000 player moves, a small jump over Hypermotion 1.0’s 4000 animations. These feel tight and smooth, but again, this isn’t a major breakthrough and is quite disappointing for the latest title in the long-running franchise.
The performance of this game is mostly excellent as I didn’t encounter any hiccups or bugs. In any case, that’s nice to look forward to.
verdict
As the last game under the EA – FIFA umbrella, this is an unsatisfactory final. It’s clear that EA has spent all its resources on milking this dying cow one last time, and hasn’t made many of the changes fans have been asking for over the years. There have been desirable additions to Career mode, and that’s where the positives stop,
To maximize profits, EA has focused most of its resources on Ultimate Team and My Career, while the rest of the game modes sit in a corner and ponder their wasted potential. Hypermotion 2.0 may sound like a big deal at first, but the upgrades on offer are barely enough. The graphics upgrade is also barely there, but I will appreciate the developers for the quality of life improvements in the gameplay.
So did FIFA go out with a bang? No. But hey, there’s still something here for a die-hard FIFA fan. For a more casual player, I recommend waiting and buying the game at a discounted price.
This was our FIFA 23 Review. While you’re here, consider reading some of our other articles.
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FIFA 23 Review
- Institution
- Gameplay
- Images and achievements
verdict
As the last game under the EA – FIFA umbrella, this is an unsatisfactory final. It’s clear that EA has spent all its resources on milking this dying cow one last time, not making many of the changes fans have been asking for over the years.
Pros
- Positive changes in the chemistry system.
- Real managers in career mode
- Powerful shot.
cons
- Slight improvements over previous games.
- Microtransactions infected.
- Slight visual upgrade.
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