FIFA 13, More Than a Game
Releasing a newer version annually, FIFA Soccer has completed a total of 20 years of producing the best soccer video games. According to EA Sports boss Andrew Wilson, "FIFA 13 is the biggest and best sports game we have ever created" (qtd. in Yin-Poole par. 8). Its graphics, music, team development, and forms of playing are some of the factors that make this game stand out from its competitors as the most wanted video game for soccer fans and gamers alike.
One of the main things that make a good sports video game is the ability to produce a very realistic overall experience. In FIFA Soccer 13 the graphics are extremely well designed; for example, the facial characteristics, body sculpture, and the way the players look are very similar to how these players look in real life. When playing, you can see the sweat in the player's faces and sometimes even gestures of disappointment when they miss a great chance. The stadiums seem very real and well detailed. In the crowd not everyone looks identical-how it was in previous games-which makes the stadium environment very realistic. People in the crowd wear the team's jerseys, wave flags, and everybody looks different. The stadium has a score board, there are camera flashes everywhere when the players enter the field, and it makes the whole experience completely different than before. During the game, the graphics of the players are near perfect. With more resolution and an improved pitch, the players and their movements seem as realistic as actually watching a soccer game on a high definition television.
More than just good graphics, to make an overall realistic experience it also takes good sound effects and music to make those graphics come to life. For this year's version FIFA 13, a fifty song playlist was added bringing fifty international super stars and breakthrough artists together. Also, the game has very good and realistic sound effects such as when the ball hits the post or when players shoot the ball. Another great sound effect is the voiceover new soccer commentators who come in different languages. For the Spanish version for example, they have ESPN's Deportes commentators Mario Kempes, Fernando Palomo, and Ciro Procuna-who are some of the most renowned soccer commentators in the world. Having actual soccer commentators makes the experience even more realistic because we are used to listening to these guys on television.
Even though many people say that FIFA 13 is the same thing different year, in this year's version there are many interesting and new features. One of these features is the teams' and players' online updates. With the internet, teams and players are constantly being updated of their ranking, condition, etc. For example, if Lionel Messi scores two goals and had a great game with Barcelona in a real life game, he will then gain points on FIFA 13 increasing his ranking and skills in the game. The same process occurs with players and teams who get better or worse. Being the only soccer game with this feature makes FIFA 13 a very unique sports video game and more realistic and interesting than its competitors.
According to critic Gaetano Prestia, one of the things that make a good sports video game is "the competitiveness that fuels the match and the ways in which we can engage with a virtual match" (par.7). In FIFA 13, players have the opportunity to fulfill this competitiveness need by having different forms of playing. Gamers can play by themselves or with up to four people at the same time. It also offers a season mode, career mode, ultimate team, and online forms of playing. The ultimate team is a great game mode that allows players to build their own team and play to earn coins to improve their squad. This new feature works very well especially for those of us who love to build a team with our own taste. Playing online has never been easier. In today's sports video game market, playing online has become the ultimate way to compete with people around the world and make the experience very competitive. With FIFA 13, there are many modes to play online, and it can become very addictive-coming from my own experience. Lastly, one of the main things that stood out from the game modes of FIFA 13 were the skill drills. In these skill drills players get the chance to improve their passing, shooting, and overall FIFA skills. These drills are also very helpful for players who are just starting to play FIFA 13 for their first time.
"I can say without hesitation that FIFA 13 has topped FIFA 12 while maintaining every improvement that it introduced" said video game critic Mike Suszek (par.9). Compared to FIFA 12 and the years before that, FIFA 13 brought in different and new things such as improved graphics, music, game modes and a more realistic perhaps unbelievable experience of playing. However, not everything is always good about something. FIFA 13 brought this year a lot of ball control, passing, and connection problems that is making fans of this game go away. The ball control and passing has shown a lot of inconsistence during the game making players very upset and disappointed with this year's version. For example, there are times in where top level players cannot even control the ball, give bad passes, and take horrible shots. In addition to these problems, FIFA 13 has experienced really bad internet connection problems. Sometimes when playing online, the players start to freeze or very often gamers loose internet connection making it very irritating. Due to all these problems with FIFA 13, many gamers are starting to switch to its ultimate rival Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) 2013, who arrived with a completely different and improved overall performance. Critics believe that Konami, creators of PES, came back really strong and according to critic Raj Mahil, "The game has never been this real" (par.1).
Having played both games, I just love how realistic and entertaining they both are. However, PES 2013 seems to be slower and more difficult than FIFA 13. When I played PES 2013, the players and their movements with or without the ball do not seem as realistic as they do on FIFA 13. In FIFA 13 there are new offensive and defensive movements, the speed of the games is much faster, and the graphics are more realistic. Even though FIFA 13 did not bring a lot of new features and has some technical issues, the majority of its features are perfectly designed and worked very well. FIFA 13 gives gamers the best overall realistic experience and great competitive game modes; therefore, FIFA 13 is the most realistic, entertaining, and so far the best soccer video game on the market.