EA Sports, it's in our Bank accounts!
Gameplay.
One of the evolutionary plus points about last year's addition of FIFA was that the core gameplay was much improved, & an ambitious new engine was implemented which tried to add to the experience, receiving mixed results. However, Tactical Defending was something that worked, something that made the player work, and when the player managed to successfully defend it felt all the more satisfying than in previous alliterations. So what's changed in FIFA 13? To be honest, if you've played the game last year, you won't notice too much different, sure there have been some minor modifications such as 'First Touch Control', but nothing really ground breaking here. With this we reach our first problem with the core gameplay, it's mostly the same as last year, but much worse. The frame rate doesn't seem to keep up with the same style of play as last year, the defending A.I has become unstable & is afraid to tackle an opponent, instead ends of running into his own team-mates and toppling over each other, allowing the attacker to easily slot one into the back of the net. These are one of the many problems which will have casual to hardcore gamer's a like screaming profanity at their Television screens. A very negative, yet unconfirmed problem has a risen in this year's version; many players refer to this as 'Scripting'. Usually 'Scripting' to a game designer or a reviewer is an event which is supposed to happen basically, so you may be wondering, how can this happen in a Sports game? Well, ever felt like you're doing so well in a match, you're 3-0 up at half-time against somebody online & you feel great, suddenly things change in that second half, you're suddenly taking unnecessary heavy touches, giving the ball away, defenders running into each other, the attacker is all over you & before you know it, you've lost 4-3. This is extremely apparent in FIFA 13, more so in the online aspects of things. With these points in mind, as a gamer, a football fanatic, & a reviewer, the gameplay of FIFA 13 is highly disappointing, buggy, & down-right frustrating.
User Interface.
Something that EA Sports manages to get right every year is their menu navigation systems, & this year is no exception! You will find yourself no problem looking for something you're after in this system, & even if you do, the familiar voice of sports commentator 'Martin Tyler' is here to help you out at the push of a button. New features include the new 'Catalogue' system where players can use their earned 'EA Sports Football Club' points from playing the game to spend on new items, upgrades, help & other in-game things. Also, 'EA Sports Match Day' keeps you up to date with the latest goings on in real life fixtures & results, updating teams based on their performances in the real world. Features from last year have also returned & improved such as 'Challenges', 'News feed' 'Support your club', although support your club is still completely unrealistic, you will still find Premiership big guns like 'Manchester United' or 'Chelsea' in the lower leagues. So overall the interface is sleek & slick, no complaints from me.
Online Multiplayer
Ah yes, the definitive experience for a FIFA player, competing against people across the globe. If there's one thing that players have always complained about, it's the EA servers, & this year is no exception. The servers are still as inconsistent as ever, you could have a great free flowing game which you thoroughly enjoy, and then your next game could be the worst of your life. This really takes away from the online experience, especially since the greater variety of online modes are excellent & generally fun to play, when they function. I won't talk in depth about the actual online modes, as there isn't nothing new here, which isn't a bad thing. Don't fix something if it doesn't need fixing, although I wish someone mentioned that quote to EA Sports when they were tampering with the core gameplay. To re-cap, despite the great selection of online modes you can choose, that positive is dragged right down to a negative for the downright annoying EA Sports servers & as well as the talked about 'Scripting' within the game.
Presentation.
One of the great things about previous FIFA Games has been the outstanding presentation, especially FIFA 12. Now, here is the problem, if you watch a FIFA 12 & FIFA 13 video back to back, you will find they almost look identical. I get that this is a yearly thing, but the fact they didn't even bother to change minor things such as the scoreboards, team sheets, the majority of the commentary work & the same horrible mutated crowd member's. One thing I will say though is, the noise generated by the crowd is outstanding, & it sounds like a football match, countless times have people mistaken me to be watching a game, rather than playing one.
Conclusion.
FIFA 13 is a run of the mill sports game that we saw last year, except this time, much buggier, no major changes what so ever, dire performance issues, and generally a step down from the best sports game to date from last year. Despite all this, if you're a casual football fan that would like to occasionally have a game or two with friends, FIFA 13 is still very appealing to you. However if you're a passionate FIFA player, especially an online one at that, to save your anger & frustration, I would miss out on this year's addition.
Thank you for reading my Review of FIFA 13 for the Xbox 360, if you have any questions to ask, feel free to ask them via my email, which is located on my GameSpot profile.