The waves keep crashing against the beach;
the sun keeps rising; and the moon’s orbit
slowly decays to an eventual stop; such are
the many natural things we can can count on
to happen every day, including Electronic
Arts’ inevitable update to the FIFA franchise.
If you detect a slightly sour bitterness on
the palette, don’t worry, it’s just a
sore point borne of the cyclical nature of
the game industry.
There is, however, a benefit to this kind
of repetitive updating on the iOS platform
- notably each year we are provided with slightly
more powerful devices to use and the developers
involved become better versed with touch-based
gaming; the end result is always a step forward.
FIFA 13 is no exception, and in fact trumps
its prior iterations handily by merging the
usual spit-shine-and-polish approach with
brand new features that are definitely worthy
of praise.
Foremost is the inclusion of an online mode
to play matches against random opponents or
against your Origin friends.
A ‘ladder’ of sorts ranks you and your
friends, and you can expect a speedier, more
‘arcade’ feeling experience should you
take the plunge.
For those who like to get in to the nitty-gritty,
Manager Mode returns, complete with fine-tuning
that makes life easier on the management side
of things, while throwing in a few more curve-balls
(injuries, for example, are far more common).
Gameplay itself is very smooth, and while
the graphics haven’t seen much of an upgrade,
small touches such as the inclusion of facial
expressions gives the players more life (especially
on replays) and the crowd feels less like
a spooky stadium of cardboard cut-outs.
Your choice of controls will be determined
by how many of the automatic or manual options
you decide to keep on or off, but the hybridization
of the console and touch-based innovations
continues in FIFA 13.
Touch-hold-and-swipe returns for those who
prefer finessed maneuvers, while the inclusion
of the skill-move grid makes for a complex,
but satisfying way of out-playing the AI opponents,
who have been given a subtle boost thanks
to the inclusion of other player-helpers such
as calling for a second defender.
Also, if you happen to have an iPad lying
around you can use your iPhone as a controller,
making for a not-so-cheap, but entertaining
portable console setup (if you can stand the
Bluetooth input latency).
Ultimately FIFA 13 only takes things up a
notch across the board, but seeing as the
game is already at a high-point for fans of
Football, the changes ensure that it retains
this post while hinting at even greater things
to come next year.
