FIFA 19 – PS4 Review

 

BY James Stephenson

So it’s that time of year again. The football season has started which means one thing, FIFA has returned with its new updated game FIFA 19. This title brings in a new array of updates from player squads, to stadiums, Skill games, The Journey Champions, and a new Kick off feature, which is pretty cool, to say the least. More detail on that to follow shortly.

 

To start, FIFA 19 is very much the same as last years title with the controls and gameplay to be very similar.  With EA updating the frostbite engine the overall game seems a lot less clunky with loading times being quicker. This is handy if you’re eager to get going and playing a game of football. In addition, the menus are similar to the previous title and are easy to manage.

 

As you first load into the game you are in playing a champions league final game between PSG and Juventus. As Ronaldo is the cover of this game you take control of Juve and have the pleasure of trying to win the match with Ronaldo. I won 3-0 without Ronaldo Scoring, Dybala with the Hat Trick. Once the match is completed you can choose the preferences that you like playing the game on.

 

 

Game Modes

To start with what I think is a major improvement let us talk about the updated Kick Off mode. This mode is basically the place where you just want to mess about. Playable with 4 players, you can then choose the parameters of the match. This is where the game can become amazing. So, start by selecting your teams and then head over to the House rules. Now here you can choose an array of different rules such as long-range shots only, survival, Headers & Volleys, First to x number of goals and my favourite, NO RULES. No rules is a lot of fun, just go around and hack the life out of players with no consequences. This new feature is perfect for getting the pals together and having some fun.

 

Also in Kick off, you can play your favourite teams’ upcoming league/cup match.  You can change the scenario of your exhibition match by just having a classic game, make it a cup final, a home and away tie, or even make it a match in the UCL. This makes this mode a bit more fun.

 

Another pleasant addition to this year’s game is the Champions League Tournament. For this, you can play through Europe’s biggest tournament with the best teams. For this just choose your team and progress to be the best in Europe.

 

The Journey takes us on another adventure with Alex Hunter as the main force being traded to one of the biggest teams in Europe. Along with Danny Williams and Kim Hunter, you have an amazing story to develop with your choices determining how the story unfolds. Continue your progress from your FIFA 18 save and see how the next chapter unfolds.

 

The two playable career modes, player and manager, are very similar to the previous titles and they don’t need much explaining, however, its funny to see videos of Petr Cech negotiating contracts with his head guard still on. Just to be safe Petr! I always start a career with my beloved Sunderland and this season is even more of a challenge for me as they are now in League 1. Play through many seasons and complete challenges set by the board and become a top manager to receive other job offers and career moves.

 

FIFA Ultimate Team is back and if you’re the avid FIFA online player this doesn’t need much explaining. However, if your not, build your team and compete against other players in a league style and earn coins to spend on packs to update your team to become the best in the world.

 

 

There are only a couple of things I don’t like with gameplay. Personally, I find defending really difficult in this title as the CPU tend to pass the ball a lot more one touch and this makes it a lot more difficult to manage where your players are and to make sure they are in the correct position for the tackle. So using the tactical defending is key for this game.

 

Secondly, this carries on from what I believed in the previous titles, it takes too long from selecting a player to scout to getting the results back. I’m sure that it probably does take a while to get a scout report back in real life, but your time in FIFA goes so quickly especially during the transfer market. Therefore we need to be getting back ratings and other things a lot quicker than we do.

 

Other than that I can see myself enjoying playing FIFA 19 for a long time coming.

 

Overall I do believe that this game is going to go down well with the FIFA fan base. Spurs fans will be pleased to see that they play at their new stadium that looks fantastic. So get set for the new challenge and enjoy your season!

 

Overall Score –  8/10