Every year when FIFA comes around (the game, not the crusty moth-ridden global football organisation) we get excited. No, not because of the newly tweaked passing mechanics, or even the new ‘emotion’ at the heart of the game. It’s about the graphics. It always has been. How real does it look, how convincing is the crowd, how do the players move – can we finally pretend, at last, that we’re controlling a ‘real’ game as if by magic, and not playing with a toy?

The trading card aspect of this mode has undergone some more drastic changes. EA has removed the ability to trade cards between friends as this was being exploited by websites selling digital, in-game “fifa 15 coins” for real, physical money. This would inflate the mode’s transfer market and bump top player cards like Hazard, Bale and Ibrahimovic up to prices that would make even the president of Real Madrid’s eyes water. Fifa 15 allows any and every Ultimate Team player to try out football’s elite, however, by introducing the ability to sign a player on loan for a few games.



FIFA 15 also increases the impact of creative midfielders. With FIFA 14 allowing near enough every player on the pitch to play exquisite through balls or deft chipped passes, the midfield maestros like Xavi, Pirlo and David Silva just blended in with the rest. But with a combination of those new body balance physics we talked about and the ability to play passes like no-one else, they really come into their own.

Corners have also been enhanced, with special tactics activated by pressing one of the four directions on the D-pad. Rather than just hoofing the ball hopefully into the box you can instruct players to crowd the keeper, make a run to the near or far post, or drop to the edge of the box. How successful they are depends on your delivery of the ball and the quality of the defending, but it’s nice to finally have some tactical options at set pieces.