14 DAY TRIAL // FIFA 13 is one of the most expected video games of the year, both because it belongs to one of the most successful franchises in the world and because it has to deliver something truly special in order to outshine last year’s installment.
After playing one of the biggest matches in the Premier League, Manchester City versus Arsenal, for about 20 times, I can safely say that FIFA 13 has a much better idea than its predecessor about what football should be. At the same time, the game might end up turning away some series faithful.
The change that’s quickly clear is that the overall pace of the game has been slowed, I would say by about 10 percent, and that all the moves that the players make on the pitch seem more calculated and deliberate.
After a few matches, I also began to notice the near misses, the small mistakes, the elements that fulfill the vision that EA Sports has for FIFA 13: unpredictable.
Even expert defenders miss headers, attackers sometimes manage to hit dirt instead of the ball, passes go wrong all the time, simple ball switches become exercises in chasing as the opponent goes on the attack.
It’s somewhat annoying for a virtual football game but it’s incredibly close to a real-world football match.
There are also many more physics interactions in the game, including between the players as they jostle for the ball and between the ball and everything that can get in its path, from players to bars and nets.
Some of the improvements that EA Sports has advertised, like the changes to the Ultimate Team and additions to the management layer of the career, cannot be evaluated from the demo, but FIFA 13 seems to have a solid core of gameplay that will create another hit for the long-running franchise.
The full version of FIFA 13 will be launched on September 25 in the United States and the customary three days later in Europe on the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360 and the PC.
Worth a full Softpedia review? Yes.