For many years, I used to be a PES gamer. All through my Xbox days, I loved PES. It played well, master league was fun, I enjoyed playing with my friends, and although the licences were lacking, it was a true football simulation. Somewhere though down the line, PES stagnated, and FIFA romped to glory.
To this day, I’m a FIFA player. It’s licences and the depth of the real world made the game what it was. It’s the ultimate pick up and play sports game. And it quite rightly took pole position in the top football game yearly battle.
Then. In 2009. The devil arrived. A devil that has pointed its pointy little finger at other parts of the game and said NO! A devil which has changed the landscape of sports gaming, and not always for the better. That devil…. Was FIFA Ultimate Team.
FUT has ruined FIFA. There! I said it. For too many iterations of this game, the focus has been on the advances around FUT. Yes, it’s a high revenue element of the game for EA, but there comes a time when the people who don’t play or aren’t “hardcore” for the mode will simply stop caring, and to be honest, in the aftermath of the Closed BETA tests, I think this time is now.
Don’t get me wrong, I played FUT in FIFA 18. But, I only started to enjoy it when the market crashed. I came in late, having built up a bit of coinage in World Cup mode (of which, they totally killed within days with unlimited icons…) and managed to build a team of players I wanted to play with, and indeed allowed me to compete. I have neither the will or want to spend any significant amounts of money on a game that I already own, so won’t buy packs. So to have had the opportunity to just play the game and earn my team actually felt enjoyable. As did using the team in modes such as squad battles.
This is where I think that EA could really make FUT work for those that don’t want to engage with the mode in its current form. Make it easier to compete, make it easier to get the players you want, and in turn, when you earn packs from playing the game, change the weighting so there’s a better chance of getting something decent. All too often I have packed terrible players, or the most low value “top end” players. Even in packs of 30 rare players, when your best player is an obscure player from “La league de la Whocarsea”, it leaves you wondering why you even bothered.
The reality though is the cash cow that is FUT is what breaks this game. Pandering to “YouTube influencers” who will throw money at the mode to go tonto over players they pack and subsequently don’t use. Pandering to those who will just buy their way to the top, and forgetting a core of gamers who just want a fun football game is what will ultimately harm the franchise.
Yes, this year we have a UEFA licence. Which means shiny new ways of selling expensive packs to get different UEFA branded cards. Integrated competitions in the mode and much more ways to make the game have that added real world factor. But, the question is, will these be achievable goals, or once again seek to create console based a bourgeoisie vs proletariat? Knowing EAs form, I think I know how this is going to pan out.
Ok. FUT rant over….
I know in my group of gamers that I play with, we were excited about the opportunities that the new UEFA licences could bring. Could we finally see some advancement in Pro Clubs? Could we see new things added to the career mode? With the wealth of licences now available, surely there’s scope to make these modes the best they have ever been? It was with excitement I got my beta invite (although, quite how having a pro clubs beta without the teams you play in helps you help evaluate a game is beyond me) and fired up the game excited to take my virtual pro into the world of UEFA competitions…
Nope.
It was the same game. No new competitions. No new skins. No added parts to create a pro. No new elements to grow the mode which many argue is the most neglected mode of all, but is arguably the most fun. NOTHING had changed, which begs the question, why not just stick with FIFA 18? I’ve got an established team, and established pro, and a good stats trail. There’s nothing to differentiate FIFA 19 from its previous iteration in Pro Clubs. So why bother? Heck, career hasn’t changed any at all. Yes, we have some nice new branding on the previously generic UEFA competitions, and some new cut scenes but again, nothing has changed. It’s essentially the same game.
Pro clubs is a mode with so much potential, and in my eyes, should be the core of any football game. Being a footballer is what football is all about. Although it seems to me, developers are subscribing to the idea of “Football as a business” more than the beautiful game.
Losing focus…
What else has gone wrong? Well, in my and many others opinions, the focus on game modes which matter has gone. The biggest fanfare for this iteration has been around “The Journey”. A story mode. A story mode in a yearly football franchise. Yes, it’s continuing the groundwork that has already been laid down in previous years, but, when there are game modes which are actual proper footballing game modes which haven’t even been touched, could EA be accused of losing focus? I think so. The saving grace of this year is that this is hopefully the last we will see of Alex Hunter and his cavalcade of non entities, and maybe the focus will be on reinventing modes that people care about in FIFA 20. It’s a nice round number and the natural chance to reinvent. Will this happen, I doubt it…. But we will get new FUT legend cards. Hooray!!!
So who can bring the challenge?
PES. Pure and simple. It’s the only other viable contender out there until someone creates an amazing indie game (indie devs, make us a pro clubs game…. You’d be onto a winner). This year’s PES plays nicely, it looks good, and offers a nice alternative. Although, the lack of licences and the abysmal commentary harms it. That and there is a whole heap of AI issues, and the lack of truly enjoyable online team experiences, makes me wonder if PES has the oomph to take it to the next step. For me, it doesn’t. I enjoy it. But, really, in the bigger picture it won’t sink FIFA.
Many influencers have turned on FIFA this year, but the lack of power from PES will simply not result in it taking the crown. And it’s a crying shame. It’s customisable. It looks wonderful, and is less arcadey than FIFA, but it just won’t push over the line. It’s heading in the right direction. But it’s not there yet. My biggest concern though, is, the less PES brings it, the more it harbours the mediocrity of FIFA. People will always buy FIFA, and the complacency of the developers is now showing.
My call to EA is this. DO SOMETHING FOR THE ACTUAL FANS. The FUT cash cow will always exist, but there is a world away from FUT. A world where people play football games for football. A world where people don’t stream everything they do. A world where the daily objective is to have fun and not pack the highest earner. A world where it’s not normal to hurl a branded computer chair over the room doing a “No pants, destroy the room and my TV while screaming in Spanish pack”.
The new unique game modes for kick off are fun, but if we can’t play them online with our friends, what’s the point???
This is a big year for FIFA. I’ll reserve judgement until I play the full game. But, with all the chatter I have seen, I’m thinking this could be the year the FIFA bubble May burst. And for me, it will probably be the best thing for a franchise which has truly lost focus.
Gamers Pizzeria 