FIFA 14 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions (360, PS3)

[hedache]

I was not planning to play the demo much, mostly due to the fact that I believed that it was FIFA 13 with an update on sliders and some mathematical formulas on some physics. And yet it mostly is, but at least in the right direction. If what I'm hearing is true though, about after feedback EA changing the sliders to speed it up (which I have called this series of events exactly before the demo was out ), we may be back to square one.

On Thursday night, lonely in the 13 manual lobby, no one to play, I decided to give the 14 demo a shot.

All manual controls, world class, slow speed. I set up something very close to my dear brilliant friend Orion's sliders from post 80 something in this thread. I played for a long long time, I don't remember how many games, probably around 2.5 hours or so. Tried all different kinds of team match ups being in control on both ends of the equations like NY vs Tottenham.

First of all, I love the new dribbling mechanics. I hope they keep it that way. It is a lot more realistic. No more ball tied to your shoes, it comes where ever you go. Naturally, sprint button translates into less control as well. And I'm totally fine with the defenders being able to catch back after being beat. If you're moving with the ball, except some situations, it's normal that you get caught in the long run. When you beat a defender you have to make good use of the little time you get away from him.

The new dribbling system and defensive mechanics may lead to high pressure strategies, but I'm fine with that as well, because it goes both ways. When you win the ball, same works for you.

It appeared like my teammate AI was having difficulty compared to 13 and I'm hoping this is totally due to custom tactics. If they behave the way they behave in 13 after adjusting custom tactics, I have very little complaints about teammate AI. They usually are where I want them to be.

I really hope EA keeps the settings for what we got in the initial demo, at least for players that select slow game speed. Let the pacers play pace in normal and fast setting games. This is completely possible, both for online and offline games. And everyone will be happy. Arcade kids get their money's worth, EA makes enough money to keep putting the product out there, and the hard core customers are happy as well with the realistic game they get.

I'm excited to see what kind of human vs human challenges there will be under the new ways of dribbling and defending. One thing I realized or felt like was the ease of scoring headers (even in manual). That concerns me in some ways. And I had no trouble getting shots in even with low star teams against higher ones. You have to stop watching the clock and play it like it'll go on, patient build up. If the game ends, there is a restart option you know.

I'm happy with what I've seen.

[razorkaos]

i keep playing the demo, and the more i play, more i like it. seems like "movement" is the key word here. it may sound radical, but for me, its a new way to play the game. you have to consider momentum and physics, and if you watch the defenders movements, you can gain some advantage, you can beat the defender without using a single skill move. just force the defender to go to the direction you want, and when he starts moving, go to the other side, as he can't magically defy phyisics anymore and turn around like crazy and catch you.

that's how i feel after playing the demo for a good chunk of hours: i have to change my mentality to play this game. i really have to forget how i played untill today, having to ignore physics and momentum (obviously due to the games lacking these factors). now i can play with the mindset i played back in 2002 or so, but i got frustrated cause the game was not responding properly, it felt arcadey and robotic.

finally, EA heard us.

[orion523]

My two friends above have hit the proverbial nail on the head, finally FIFA has grown up, finally we have a proper football game from EA. The fact that this game actually rewards you for being patient is such a huge deal, I really can't wait till Friday.

[BearsNVA]

I played around 20 games last night and while 1/2 of me says, "Holy crap this game is going to be awesome," the 1/2 of says, "Now, calm down. Other demos play with ease and the final product feels different."

I'm mainly referring to a recent experience I had with Madden. The demo felt great and looked great. Then I played the full game and it didn't feel the same.

So I'm excited but I'm holding off being totally pumped.

However the more I play the demo it's hard to not move closer to being pumped.

The Positives:

-I see more balls that have a mind of their own. Meaning, they bounce off of players in odd ways. I don't know if that's the new momentum stuff and the player's bodies are moving in such a way that be ball reacts differently, but it seems to add an element to the game that's new (at least to me.)

The ball bouncing in different directions from what I'm used to creates more 50/50 ball situations in open space where you have 2 players moving to fight over it, which oddly enough created situations where collisions happened; if only the refs would call fouls it would amazing.

-The pace of the game play forces you to think. It forces you to think about what you're doing because if you try and dribble around people you'll look like an idiot.

The teammate AI is decent but not perfect. I'm not putting that in the next section of negatives, because it's hard to judge the AI without being able to tweak how your team works; it's not in the demo. You're stuck with the default stuff that comes with each team.

-Every team on there plays different and you can feel a huge difference in how each player acts and reacts to the game. Some ST's are slower and have powerful shots, where others are quick and have precision shots. That's just one example, but you truly feel like every player is an individual as opposed to the twin of the other 10 on the field.

Negatives

I have to say this first. These might be negatives, but in all honesty I'm a realist when it comes to video games. I understand that it's nearly impossible to create a digital version of FIFA and have it be "exactly," like its real life counterpart and I'm totally cool with that.

-The computer defense has perfect tackles and perfect passes.

I messed with the sliders a bit and eventually got it to a point where they weren't always "perfect," but even NY Red Bulls played with grace and near perfection.

On the defensive end of things it's annoying, but for now I'm chalking it up to me not being used to the new way of how you have to attack. My muscle memory is still playing FIFA 13.

-No penalties being called is annoying and always has been. If this was Madden or NCAA people would say, "The penalty sliders aren't for penalties they affect game play."

This is FIFA and there aren't penalty sliders, so I'm assuming EA has purposefully chosen to not have many in the game. I get that they don't want to stop the game every 20 seconds, but having 2-3 penalties called a half isn't too much to ask I don't think.

On the other hand if the user controlled player decides to produce a compound fracture on the opposing team, the ref will call it. So maybe it's not so much EA doesn't put penalties in the game as much as they don't program the AI to commit "really hard fouls."

-Some have mentioned the way the players run with their arms out? Or something along those lines.

I noticed it but to me it's not a big deal and I hardly notice it even after it being called to my attention. One person on here brought it up and I thought he was going to have an aneurysm over it. In my humble opinion it's noticeable but not annoying to the point where, "What was EA thinking?" comes into play.

Closing thoughts:

All in all the retail version plays like the demo I can honestly say EA has made a huge advancement with FIFA. They didn't do it with major changes. They did it will small subtle tweaks (that for once) actually made all the difference in the world.

[orion523]

Quote: Originally Posted by BearsNVA

I played around 20 games last night and while 1/2 of me says, "Holy crap this game is going to be awesome," the 1/2 of says, "Now, calm down. Other demos play with ease and the final product feels different." I'm mainly referring to a recent experience I had with Madden. The demo felt great and looked great. Then I played the full game and it didn't feel the same. So I'm excited but I'm holding off being totally pumped. However the more I play the demo it's hard to not move closer to being pumped. The Positives: -I see more balls that have a mind of their own. Meaning, they bounce off of players in odd ways. I don't know if that's the new momentum stuff and the player's bodies are moving in such a way that be ball reacts differently, but it seems to add an element to the game that's new (at least to me.) The ball bouncing in different directions from what I'm used to creates more 50/50 ball situations in open space where you have 2 players moving to fight over it, which oddly enough created situations where collisions happened; if only the refs would call fouls it would amazing. -The pace of the game play forces you to think. It forces you to think about what you're doing because if you try and dribble around people you'll look like an idiot. The teammate AI is decent but not perfect. I'm not putting that in the next section of negatives, because it's hard to judge the AI without being able to tweak how your team works; it's not in the demo. You're stuck with the default stuff that comes with each team. -Every team on there plays different and you can feel a huge difference in how each player acts and reacts to the game. Some ST's are slower and have powerful shots, where others are quick and have precision shots. That's just one example, but you truly feel like every player is an individual as opposed to the twin of the other 10 on the field. Negatives I have to say this first. These might be negatives, but in all honesty I'm a realist when it comes to video games. I understand that it's nearly impossible to create a digital version of FIFA and have it be "exactly," like its real life counterpart and I'm totally cool with that. -The computer defense has perfect tackles and perfect passes. I messed with the sliders a bit and eventually got it to a point where they weren't always "perfect," but even NY Red Bulls played with grace and near perfection. On the defensive end of things it's annoying, but for now I'm chalking it up to me not being used to the new way of how you have to attack. My muscle memory is still playing FIFA 13. -No penalties being called is annoying and always has been. If this was Madden or NCAA people would say, "The penalty sliders aren't for penalties they affect game play." This is FIFA and there aren't penalty sliders, so I'm assuming EA has purposefully chosen to not have many in the game. I get that they don't want to stop the game every 20 seconds, but having 2-3 penalties called a half isn't too much to ask I don't think. On the other hand if the user controlled player decides to produce a compound fracture on the opposing team, the ref will call it. So maybe it's not so much EA doesn't put penalties in the game as much as they don't program the AI to commit "really hard fouls." -Some have mentioned the way the players run with their arms out? Or something along those lines. I noticed it but to me it's not a big deal and I hardly notice it even after it being called to my attention. One person on here brought it up and I thought he was going to have an aneurysm over it. In my humble opinion it's noticeable but not annoying to the point where, "What was EA thinking?" comes into play. Closing thoughts: All in all the retail version plays like the demo I can honestly say EA has made a huge advancement with FIFA. They didn't do it with major changes. They did it will small subtle tweaks (that for once) actually made all the difference in the world.

Coming from a couple of guys who have the closed beta, the game is just a more polished version of exactly what we have here, meaning no significant changes other than bug fixes. Hopefully that holds up, and considering that FIFA never changes gameplay in their patches I'm highly optimistic.

[carnalnirvana]

i like this demo, which is amazing because i have felt every fifa on this gen has been different levels of trAsh( if you are a defensive footballer)....

what i liked:

while user team AI is not perfect at least they finally get the fact that your guys must play D on their own.

while they will never TACKLE on their own, but they are always in position waiting for you to click on, which for me makes fifa worth $60( thats how garbage i felt previous fifa's were)

its a pleasure to see without any slider or formation edits my midfielders run back and play the ball so my back 4 can truly be the last wave of defense instead of the first and only wave of defenders....

and if i play the ball my entire 11 gets back on D this is great and makes me very interested in fifa again.

what i didnt like:

the dribbling is too excessive, every player can do everything which is horrible and the cpu can turn with anyone on a dime to avoid a tackle, the ball should be kept closer to feet overall

the cpu attack is bland and i am being generous, i actually saw them 1-2 me in a rare moment where i had the cpu pinned

sliders made this demo really fun, i turned first touch to 15 and the cpu acted human having to control the ball before dancing or whatever else they do thats unrealistic.

overall a nice demo and if i can find a deal this may be worth me buying



what both games really lack imo, is players/ star players keeping the ball while looking for a better pass, everything seems to be pass, pass, pass no cpu player ever takes you or or runs at you thats why the red bulls plays like italy or barca

[woody2goody]

On the subject of fouls, it depends on how you play as to how many you see.

In general nearly all the fouls have been penalised, even if there aren't loads of them. I can't stand games where the CPU commits a lot of fouls but the red doesn't blow for them.

I've seen a few yellow cards so far and a fair few free kicks in the right situations - I'm pretty happy with it so far.

[BearsNVA]

Quote: Originally Posted by orion523

Coming from a couple of guys who have the closed beta, the game is just a more polished version of exactly what we have here, meaning no significant changes other than bug fixes. Hopefully that holds up, and considering that FIFA never changes gameplay in their patches I'm highly optimistic.

Good to know Orion.

By the way, I used your sliders last night for a bit. Great as usual.