14 DAY TRIAL // FIFA 15 is already shaping up to be one of the most successful launches of the year and it seems that its dedicated fan base is in for a few surprises related to the emotional content associated with the title when it arrives in late September.
Nick Channon, a senior producer working on the football game, tells CVG that “We've also got something in the game at the moment where we're slightly delaying the call on offsides so that it builds up that drama. We've had situations like that where goals have been scored and then called back because it was offside, which also adds to the drama.”
Some long-term fans of FIFA might be troubled by the change in mechanics because, while increasing the level of tension, it also means that the game will feel less precise than it is at the moment.
EA Sports has also recently announced that Goal-Line tech, based on the system used at the 2014 Brazil World Cup, will also be introduced and will serve a similar emotional goal.
Channon adds, “I think the goal line technology does exactly the same thing. It adds a level of excitement and another dimension to the game. You can't underestimate what these things can do to you as a gamer, just adding that tension. It's how you feel when you watch the game for real.”
One element of the real world sport that will not be represented virtually is the new special vanishing spray that’s being used by referees to mark the distances for free kicks, which was implemented too late for EA Sports to study and then replicate in FIFA 15.
Emotional impact is one of the main big changes for the new game, but the developers also promise that all players on the pitch will be smarter when choosing their defensive and offensive moves and that the entire presentation has been upgraded.
Recently, the team at EA Sports has revealed that all 20 stadiums in the Barclays Premier League will be fully simulated and that more than 200 players have had their faces scanned in.
FIFA 15 can be played on the Xbox One, the PlayStation 4, and the PC, on which it is powered by a new version of the Ignite engine, but also on the older PS3 and Xbox 360, which will have scaled down gameplay features.