The crowd is rambunctious, small children are screaming at the top of their lungs. The anticipation has reached a fever pitch. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are set to lead their teams against each other. It is Barcelona versus Real Madrid.
Messi gets the ball first, he moves in perfect unison with the ball. It is as if the ball is glued to his feet. He is approached aggressively by a defender and uses his naturally ability to quickly move pass him. He is fleet footed and agile. He approaches the goal and shimmies to the rights, swerves to the left then back to the right. The ball bounces of his left foot and into the goal.
Later in the game Ronaldo has the ball and he is all business, utilizing speed and pure athleticism. He is a showman dazzling the crowd with risky but rewarding maneuvers. He pushes forward pass the defense with speed and power. He reaches the goal and bull rushes the goaltender. The ball flies off of his right foot and passed the goalies outstretched hands.
FIFA 13 showcases the differences between the two arguably best players in the world.
Auto-racers fine-tune their engines for better performance and athletes train their bodies through rigorous routine to gain an added advantage. FIFA '13 is an incremental upgrade over FIFA '12, but victory is often won in the smallest of details. What makes FIFA '13 so great is that the players and physic of the game are grounded in reality. There is an increased physicality of the game and nuisances in the most minor of moves. Teammates play together and there is greater ball control with realistic trajectory and velocity.
Noticeable from the outset of the game is the first-touch controls. The system put more responsibility on the player to get things right. The realism of passing and shooting can cause a sense of anxiety when getting an open shot on goal. There are times that player may become overzealous and completely miss the goal, but this happens in the real sport as well.
Your teammates are definitely improved over last year. Teammates make intelligent runs and work to stay onside. On fast breaks a teammate will tear down the field creating better scoring opportunities. On defense they are also more aggressive and provide better support.
There are times when the ball is loose and the game's animation system makes the wrong play like going into a tackle animation rather than kicking or passing the ball. Most of the time the game's physics keep play in the realm of reality. Players feel weighted and less floaty than in other editions. There isn't a noticeable difference in graphics. If anything it has a new coat of paint.
Some of the strange 'coupling' animations from last year's edition are gone or at least didn't happen in my play through. But sometimes players sort of look like they had their shoestrings tied together. But this is a minor flaw and rarely changed the outcome of a game.
Career Mode has been improved and now includes managing international teams and can be more fun than playing the game. As a created player being sent to another team to improve your skills can really suck. But working your way up feels rewarding and at the time of this review I still haven't made my way back, but I am getting better.
If you loved the FIFA 13 demo, I think you will love this game. I found it entertaining and engrossing. I will likely get back to playing it right after this review is posted. I give the game a 9.5-out-of-10 for recreating the unpredictability and free flowing nature of the real-life game to near perfection.
