FIFA 15 Preview

Still kickin’ it.

Oh, the road to next-gen must be a hard one… okay, maybe not that tough, especially with all these fancy-looking titles we’ll be getting later this year. For sports games at least, we will be seeing better and better player modeling. However, FIFA hasn’t quite stacked up as a higher-quality visual game compared to EA Sports' other franchises, but one thing it has always been good at is AI intelligence and player interaction.

FIFA 15 will be no different, although to help please our eyes, details such as the wear on the pitch and jerseys are brought to light. While playing an entire match, marks from cleats in the grass and dirt on kits from sliding are tracked and will remain through the remainder of the match. This begins a theme creators want to hold dear to this year’s edition: “Feel the game."

Each player will “feel” and mimic game situations ever so realistically. So say you’ve just started a match and your striker has taken a few bad shots early in the game; his teammates may be encouraging him because there’s plenty of time left for a win. Now fast forward, and the team is down late in the match, yet the striker is still taking bad shots. His teammates will now begin to become frustrated and will show their anger. Situations like these are meant to illustrate how ill-timed plays can affect others.

Following this theme, teammates will show how they are feeling even when situations don’t involve themselves directly. Celebrations, disputes to cards, arguments against opponents, and strategy talks with teammates all have a touch of added realism.

Beyond just the "feel" of the game, certain mechanics to physics also have been redone. Two main focuses include tackling and dribbling. With tackling, defenders have a better chance at successfully gaining control over the ball with well-timed body placement and a soft touch of the ball. With the case for dribbling, the offense will have a slight better control over the ball using technics such as touch dribbling. Running while dribbling is a difficult feat but when steadily kicking the ball, using touch to touch dribbling, an offensive player can keep momentum on his side. The ball will even spin differently with each individual touch.

It’s tough to say how far additions will go, but we do know FIFA 15 will be available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, Xbox 360, and PS3. FIFA 15 will release September 13, 2014, and with the World Cup just days away, I’m sure fans will be excited to play as all their favorite players seen throughout the tournament.