FIFA 13 Review

One of the new additions to Fifa 13 is the Match Day feature. The Match Day feature (Which can be triggered on and off) updates the players stats from the each team to how they played recently so if in real life a player isn't doing so well he will lose stats along with this you will be alerted with a red icon telling you they have gone down. Not only can players lose stats but if they had a good match in real life their stats will be higher and you will be shown with a green icon telling you they have higher stats.

Not only does Match Day change up players stats but it also has an affect on commentary. The commentators will mention what place both teams are in their league which really impressed me because it added that realism factor that they was trying to hit this year. Not only does commentary mention things about both teams they will actually update the players with false scores for other matches that are being played at the same time. You will see the scores in the top right corner with the updated score during the match.

Another new feature to Fifa 13 is the Skill Games. Skill Games is a playable mode in the game, and can also take place before a match instead of the previous years just shooting at the keeper. Skill Games can be a way to help you improve at Fifa as well as being a mode to play fun challenges. You can improve on many different skills needed to be a good player like shooting, dribbling, crossing, free kicks and passing are just some of the many skills you can learn.

Each skill has different objectives and obstacles in your way. An example of one of the objectives in the game is in Advanced Shooting were you have to shoot the ball over some boxes and try and get the ball to hit the target for big points or at least get the ball in the net for some small points. Each Skill Game also has bronze, silver and gold versions of the challenges were you have to get the set score to progress to and unlock the next level.

Customisation is still huge in Fifa 13. There is so much to customise in this game like creating your own player, editing current players, adding your own menu music, adding your own fan chants for teams and it doesn't just stop at that before starting a match you can edit lots of different settings like match half, difficulty, what stadium you want the match to take place in, weather, time, season, pitch, game speed and you can even change what football you want to use in the game. Although its the same as previous Fifa games its still worth mentioning and praising all the customising in the game.

Gameplay has some additions as well. The first addition is the first touch controls. First touch controls are a very good addition to the gameplay because it makes gameplay unpredictable, and also you have to be much more careful when receiving the ball. Gone are the days were you can run at the ball full speed during a pass and still have the ball because this year when you run at the ball during a pass it is likely that you will lose possession of the ball to the other team. Other improvements you can expect is tighter gameplay, improved physics and A much smarter AI.

Fifa 13 is stacked with content, and I mean STACKED! Game modes include Be A Pro (Keeper and Player), Tournaments which include real life ones like the F.A Cup and you can even create your own tournament, there is a career mode where you can play as a player or manager where you will have certain goals and tasks you have to achieve and this mode can be played a real life player or you can use your own created player and finally the most popular mode in Fifa returns and that is Ultimate Team mode. Ultimate Team mode is pretty similar to previous years but this year it has the addition of Fifa Points.

Finally there is online mode where you can play against friends or random people and test your Fifa skills against them to see who is the better player. Along with normal online matches you can play Seasons. In Seasons you have to reach the target points within 10 online games or you go down a division if you hit the target you get a promotion to the next division.

I also dusted off the Kinect and tried out the Kinect features in the game,  I was impressed. The Kinect can recognize voices very well and adds a funny feature were you can swear at the ref and get booked for it. Other Kinect features include calling for substitutions and switching tactics in the game. You can also act as a manager and shout things out to the players on the pitch.

The Final Verdict

Fifa 13 impressed me the most with its new Match Day feature. Match Day was a big surprise and really managed to push Fifa's TV presentation to new heights. Customisation in the game is crazy with so much to change and do in the game and the amount of game modes in the game will keep you coming back for more until Fifa 14 comes out.

+ Match Day
+ Presentation
+ Gameplay
+ Amount of content

Final Score

9/10