This is the worst FIFA to date.
FIFA 15 fails on so many different levels and makes you wonder if EA Sports even played the game before releasing it. To start off the goalies are broken. After advertising a new implemented AI system for the goalies EA needed to advertise that this would cause the goalies to be horrible beyond belief. Goalies dive out of the way of shots and are completely unreliable. There will never be a 0-0 game. Any shot on goal will make you nervous since the goalies are unpredictable in a bad way. Shots that appear to be easy saves may end up going in or are parried away for corners. With this said, on the very few times that the goalie does make a save it looks a bit nicer from last year. It is clear to see what EA Sports was trying to do with the goalies but this step forward turned into many steps backwards.
The next problem with FIFA 15 is the referees. The officials are much worse than previous years, which is hard to do. A clear foul may be missed and then the next minute your player might brush an opponent and get a yellow card for it. Additionally the referees are incredibly inconstant. What might be a foul one minute will not be the next. After playing FIFA 15 for weeks you will lose all idea of what a foul is. Different from FIFA 14 pressing circle to pull back an attacker will almost always lead to a foul and a yellow card in FIFA 15. Players fall constantly when being pulled. Red cards are now also very unpredictable. Tackles and challenges that seem tame can easily earn you an undeserving red card. Referees also seem to get in the way more than past years. My players also seem to bump into the official multiple times per game, throwing them off their path.
Similarly to last year player switching is still a problem and has become worse. It baffles me how a keystone element of all sports games can be so broken in FIFA 15. Switching players is a battle, and a battle that you will almost always lose. In certain situations you can tap R1 as many times as you want but your attempts will all be in vain. On the off chance that you do get switched it will most likely be to a player in a bad position that you had no intentions switching to.
Continuing along player AI is worse than ever. Like FIFA 14, players in FIFA 15 still have no idea of what the ball is. Players refuse to go to lose balls. To continue on that trend defenders are worse as ever. On multiple occasions my defenders have decided to part and simply allow attacking forwards to dribble right up the middle of the field. Defenders are caught standing many times and allow runs very easily. Right and left backs still move to the middle when wingers attack allowing them to freely run up the wing without trouble, another problem that went unfixed from FIFA 14.
Skill is no longer needed to win games in FIFA 15 because passing has become incredibly difficult. Players will pass to nobody even when you may direct them with the analog stick to pass to a teammate. Players sometimes may pass the ball to completely different players than you intended. Simple 3 foot passes can easily get screwed up. Through balls have been cut out almost entirely. On the ground through balls almost always go way to far even when you barely tap on the triangle button. Over the top through balls look differently and barely ever seem to work. Whatever vision you have in your head is never what will happen in game. Over the top balls are always short enough to where the defender can easily get it, even if you put more than enough power on it. The glitch where your player will always pass the ball to the teammate that is furthest (and most likely offside) up the pitch is still in the game. This is the third year that this glitch has been prevalent and EA Sports has done nothing about it.
Shooting has also been changed and is now terrible, with a few exceptions. Hitting a shot on target has become incredibly difficult. Shots will sail high or way wide incredibly often. The thing is that you will either hit a pitiful attempt or it will be an incredible shot that finds the top corners; there is little in between. Finesse shots used in one-on-one situations will be an automatic score, but that is also due to the horrible goalies. Heading is no longer incredibly overpowered. Instead heading is incredibly weak. Crossing will barely ever result in a goal anymore. Heading was a problem last year but EA decreased its effectiveness way to much in FIFA 15.
FIFA 15 does do a few things well. FIFA 15 looks good visually. The pitch wear looks great and the stadiums look better than ever. Boots are now noticeable and look astonishingly lifelike. The players to me look incredibly cartoony but many of my friends enjoy how they look so this is purely opinionated aspect. The problems continue here though. There are more cut scenes than last year which is incredibly annoying. You are still not allowed to skip through booking cut scenes. Players now have altercations after tough fouls but these glimpses look staged and the game would look much better without them. The game highlights have been given an update but you can no longer flip through highlights with the triggers which severely detracts from the new scheme.
Career Mode has been neglected again and the only real addition is the new team sheet feature. This feature is overdue and helpful but is not a big enough addition for me to praise EA Sports. The hated Global Transfer Market is still implemented and continues to be an ugly workaround. Ultimate Team is also almost unchanged. In Ultimate Team EA Sports has taken out the ability for you to see the wireless latency of your opponent before Ultimate Team games. Your opponents also no longer show up in your "Players Met" on the PS4. Both emissions are missed and detract from Ultimate Team. On a positive note formations have been reworked and it is now easier to make hybrid teams in Ultimate Team which is a plus.
The skill games are still slightly aggravating but the new designs are welcomed and appreciated. Getting fouled by the computer during the various skill games still results in the loss of an attempt. You should not get punished for being fouled but since EA cannot fix problems in the main game I don't see them fixing small issues with the skill games.
To conclude, this is the worse FIFA to date. With all the problems, bugs, and mistakes FIFA 15 is almost unplayable. To any potential buyers, I would STRONGLY advise you to save your money. I certainly wish I did. As a fan of the FIFA series since FIFA 06 I am disappointed by the broken monstrosity that is FIFA 15. It is clear that EA Sports does not care about the opinions of their consumers and simple focus more on making money than on making a half-decent game. I would have gladly paid $70 for them to have repackaged FIFA 14 and added the new rosters.