FIFA 13 review

FIFA 13 goes all-out in this respect, now one-off matches reflect real-world form and injuries on a day-to-day basis. Want to have Jack Wilshere in your Arsenal starting eleven? Tough. He's not fit yet. You can turn this feature off, but its inclusion is another strata of commitment to blurring the lines between the real and digital football worlds. Now Geoff Shreeves comes in to give you injury updates, probably while laughing in the crocked players face. Alan McInally interrupts with other scorelines in your league, while Martin Tyler lets you know when it's a player's birthday. FIFA 13: the video game extension of Sunday afternoon in front of Sky Sports. With all the precision, razzamatazz and garish overblown nonsense that implies.

So the slickness of the presentation continues to impress. But it also continues to package a brilliant football sim. For half a decade FIFA has shrugged off the stigma of being a game hiding its deficiencies behind licensing. Since completely rebuilding their game engine for FIFA 08, EA have studiously improved how the game plays every year. FIFA 13 doesn't have the disruptive gameplay changes of FIFA 12, but the adjustments that have been made add further texture and tactics to an already very good game.

The best change is an interesting contradiction that gives you more control, while taking some away. FIRST TOUCH CONTROL the back of the box calls it, meaning players control the ball more realistically when it reaches their feet. You can completely wrong foot a defender with a clever flick of the stick, nudging the ball into space or flicking it around the blindside. But there's a welcome element of chaos which means you can just as easily fluff the control. First touches also take into account player positioning, speed of the pass, weather and individual player skill. Leo Messi might be able to bring the ball down with magnetic grace while running at full pelt, but try that with yer average League Two striker and its likely to bounce off their backside allowing a defender to nip in and hoof the ball into orbit. It's a small change on the surface, but the subtle connotations of having to think where the ball will go if you do one thing or the other as it whooshes towards you adds another layer of tactics. It also makes the ball feel more of an individual object rather than extension of a player's foot, you need to look after it, caress it, and be on the alert for bobbly rebounds.

Furthering the idea of a slightly slower, more considered approach on the pitch, there's also a new face-up dribbling skill enabled by holding down both triggers, which allows you to stop and roll the ball backwards or on the parallel line as you look up and evaluate your options for a pass. Though you do face the danger of being clattered by a meaty defender if you take too long. Chaos twixt control, football in a nutshell.

Elsewhere FIFA 13 is largely a finessing of what was already there. Shooting's deliciously zippy, while the tactical defending of FIFA 12 is bedded in. There are a few more options to you as a defender, shuffling players into difficult positions and nipping in for wayward short passes. There's still that slightly awkward sense of an impenetrable forcefield as you attempt to face up and jockey your opponent, though, keeping you at a specified distance and hoping the attacker moves into your path. Other physical interaction between players is excellent and weighty, though there's still a sense of floatiness as the ball is passed along the ground.

AI for both friend and foe has been dramatically improved. Teammates are more industrious, staying onside and demanding the ball on the 18 yard line, rather than running past the defensive line like brainless automatons. Playing against the AI is more difficult now, as they're ruthless and strong on the ball, privy to the tricks the player has for prying open a defence.

So an excellent game of football has had a strong --if measured-- improvement, but the packaging is where FIFA really dominates the competition. A lovely set of new skill games are both good fun and genuinely useful learning tools. The Football Club mode introduced last year has had a raft of additions, such as being able to collect classic kits, new celebrations et al by way of experience points gained from every game you play. As before, you can choose your club and earn points for them as you play FIFA, pooled into a persistent league of fans.

But it's the popular Ultimate Team mode, which has you collecting player packs (by playing or paying real world money) to build a team of superstars that has had the keenest improvement. Team of the week challenges, competitions and a finessing of its overall form sees Ultimate Team's evolution from add-on DLC to compelling centre-piece completed. You can see why, Ultimate Team's compulsion loop from the quick-fire exchange of players and bonuses echoes the most compulsive of RPGs or online shooters.

For those who prefer their football campaigns a little more traditional, the Career mode has had some embellishment. When managing, your players now have a lot more to say for themselves, which undoubtedly means more demands. While the player career --when you take control of one young footballer-- sees your manager asking you to complete tasks on a game-by-game and season-by-season basis. You can also request transfers and loans. At the beginning of your career, though, you will often be offered out on loan to get games. It's a nice idea, though doesn't seem to pay much attention to context. While it makes sense for Man Utd to send out their bright young talent down the leagues to sharpen their skills, when you're League Two Gillingham's star striker and they're trying to hock you to Dagenham and Redbridge, it seems a bit daft. But the idea is right, introducing a sense of narrative to a career mode that has been a little staid. It doesn't quite have the extended theatre of, say, Football Manager, but it's a step in the right direction.

Online play with its persistent season and weekend cups has had the usual teething problems that greet the launch of a new game, with the EA Football Club servers down far more often than you'd like them to be. There has also been a large number of complaints about the game freezing and crashing both online and off. Though on a personal level, I haven't had any such issues.

There is, of course, every danger that such a bombardment of modes can lead to feature-creep but, those technical issues notwithstanding, EA have kept an elegant grasp on each of their modes. It's a veritable buffet, with players able to pick and choose how they want to play their video game football, stuff themselves with their favourite dish or pick n' mix to keep the game fresh. On the pitch, it's an undoubted improvement, but with Pro Evolution Soccer back on form this year, EA finally have some serious competition when it comes to actually kicking the ball about. This is good for PES fans, but it's just as important for FIFA lovers, with a true competitor breeding improvement. For now, FIFA stays on top with its wealth of content and attention to detail that will keep you playing all year. And the cycle will continue. Only this time with the sweet sense of a renewed rivalry, pushing video game football to be the best it can be.