As a huge fan of the games and of football in general I picked up Fifa 14 the day after it came out for playstation 3. For £42 it does seem expensive when it could be seen as a near clone of the previous years game, however I went along with the purchase because, as many others, I know that the hours of gameplay I will rack up will give me more than my money. Upon loading up the game I did what I always do at the start of a new Fifa, start up a new career mode with my favourite barclays premier league team, Newcastle United. Straight away I was introduced to possibly the biggest new addition to Fifa 14. The Global Transfer Network, the GTN.
Taking a completely different approach from any other Fifa game to date when you simply search for a player on the transfer market you now know nothing about them, not their overall, not their value, not a single statistic. The new system now means that if you want to find out this information you are forced to send out a scout to do your work for you. Furthermore you can also set up instructions for your scouts, varying from position, age and length left on contract before choosing from a list of qualities including promising, skilful and strength, allowing you to find the perfect player to complete your team. However first you must choose which scout you want to use and which country you want to send them to find your future star.
Personally I am not a huge fan of the GTN. I believe it adds unnecessary length to making transfers into your team and additionally it cost most of your transfer budget to buy a decent scout in the first place. On the other hand I do appreciate that while it isn't for everybody it does add another element of realism into the game which is for many people a huge reason to buy the game. The system will also add to the enjoyment of finding a hidden gem in the game that nobody else knows about.
But what about other new additions to the game? Has ultimate team changed at all? Well as a huge fan of ultimate team I can tell you that there are no changes to the elements which were already perfect. However one massive addition which will help make every team unique are the new chemistry styles. There are many different chemistry style cards, all gold quality and found fairly often in packs. What they do is change the attributes of your players, depending on which card you choose you can boost pace, passing, shooting, dribbling, heading and defending to completely change how a player feels to control on the pitch. Will you take a players strengths and strengthen them even further or focus on their weaknesses and end up with a jack of all trades. With a couple of styles for your goalkeeper as well the possibilities are endless, ensuring even further why so many people neglect the rest of Fifa to spend the maximum time on ultimate team.
One smaller new feature which is greatly appreciated by the long time fans is the ability to 'compare price' of any card at any time without delving into the transfer market. All you need to do is select a card as if you were putting it up for transfer, then there is the option to compare its price. By selecting this you are transported to the transfer market page showing the most recent auctions for that specific card. Although it is a minute feature this new ability will be gratefully embraced by ultimate team enthusiasts everywhere.
Overall I would say that the new GTN may not be for everyone and if you are mad for career mode alone then you should think about whether you would appreciate this new feature, because if not there is a huge chance that this game will be less enjoyable than that copy of Fifa 13 you may have sat on the shelf. However if you enjoy realism in sports games this feature is definitely for you and you will thoroughly enjoy sifting through scouted players trying to make a decision on who to sign. With ultimate team there has been nothing but improvements yet the system remains almost unchanged. Despite this it is still worth buying Fifa 14 for the ultimate team as it is as addictive as ever as you fight your way to division one.
Do you enjoy the new features?
Let me know!
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