The FIFA 15 demo launched this week with OS'ers giving plenty of feedback about what they observed. With several playable teams and the ability to really see much of what the gameplay is bringing this year, customers are going to be able to approach their buying decision of FIFA with a quite informed opinion.

We got a chance to play a few games of the demo ourselves, and here are our thoughts on this year's FIFA based on the demo...

Glenn Wigmore: I have logged many hours with the Xbox One version of FIFA 14, and I'm certainly an admirer of how the FIFA dev team approached that transition to the next generation of hardware. By focusing on resolution, animations and framerate, as well as getting most of the modes and features over, it helped keep things familiar while demonstrating the power of the new console.

From my time with the demo, FIFA 15 pushes everything further, and the additions end up being meaningful. I'm really enjoying the emotion that all aspects of the game possess, from the crowd to the individual players to the on-pitch action. The concept of telling an "in-game story" via reactions from players and replay packages works well, and it's neat to see players react when a teammate misses a chance after through pass or when a goalie and another player cross paths.

The man-to-man battles, including possession slide tackles, feel a lot better, and there's much more control on the pitch when moving at low speeds, as the dribbling animations and touch on the ball feels improved. Goalies still have a few odd behaviours, but the new animations and goal possibilities are apparent right away, as goalie Joe Hart sailed through the air with new animations and let in some deflection and other non-FIFA type goals. The AI on default settings seems unable to stop speedy runners, which is a worrisome sign. Hopefully harder difficulties provide different results.

Visually, the crowd, kits, player faces and pitch all show improvement, and the audio package continues to be impressive. I'm certainly looking forward to the full release.

Chris Sanner: There's definitely a lot of good in the demo. The player emotions are great to see and the visuals are noticeably better. The presentation package is still tight, and the crowds sound better than ever.

Players have more weight this year on the pitch, which means you can't do a lot of the cheaper things you were able to do last year, although running past defenders still seems a viable option on the lower difficulty levels. The additional control afforded to you on the pitch, especially when you are moving at slower and faster speeds is much welcome.

The tactics feature is nice, although admittedly my first few games haven't really given me enough to go on what they are offering. Goalkeepers are said to be improved, but I really didn't notice much on the demo difficulty level that'd indicate that is the case just yet. The man-to-man battles really do shine, as matchups are much more dynamic and unpredictable. I saw some real flops out there on the pitch.

Overall, FIFA 15 is looking like a winner on the pitch. If the modes follow suit, and if you are a fan of football at all, you will have a hard time saying no to this game when it launches later this month.