It’s far too tempting to write off the yearly update to FIFA as an easy money spinner for EA. After all, how different is each yearly game, really? Yes, different players, a few new or different teams, a few new stadiums, different leagues, different modes all make the game different from last year on paper at least, but ultimately, isn’t it just the same game?

Well, yes and no. If you think of FIFA as a simulation of soccer, not just a game to play, as a simulation each change – no matter how small that brings the game closer to feeling like a real game of soccer can be seen as an achievement and worthy of an upgrade. Last year I said the player physics were good, but to be brilliant they probably needed more time. This year they’re much closer to brilliant. It seems that in FIFA 13, everything that started to come together last year has actually come together.

We’ll start with the physics. The ball is completely its own entity, and players react to this entity in the way real world players would act. So, for example, if the ball is dropping to a player’s head, he will header it or chest it down onto his feet. When the ball is at his feet, he will move the ball left and right, rolling it behind him if attacked from the front. And all of this is natural, as in the player knows what to do and when to do it without any extra controls needed – no need for manual dexterity on the controller as much any longer.

This physics based approach also makes things such as slide tackles viable options for players, as the player will curl around to get at a ball. Yes, sometimes the player will tangle up legs and draw a foul, but that’s soccer. It goes the other way too – being rough in defence with continual jostling for the ball will result in fouls, and I’ve found being far too aggressive in the box will give away stupid penalties, entirely of your own making.

Players feel noticeably sluggish when tired and appear prone to more relevant injuries. A fall from leaping up to intercept a corner may see the player fall and injure his arm, a slide may crunch an ankle, and an ill-timed lunge may pull a calf muscle. And yes, these physics additions were introduced last year, but the refinements to it are wonderfully subtle. There’s very little accidental collision between members of the same team unlike last year, and no odd falling on top on one another and doing the hump.

Switching player positions within teams feels different as well – a forward feels different from a midfielder which feels different from a defender. The AI has been improved significantly with through passes and runs being far more dangerous than ever before. Having said that, FIFA has moved the game back to being a team sport, where all the players are valuable, so you don’t have to simply play the well known teams and feed the ball to the big star players to have fun with the game and opportunities to strike and score. Battles can occur in midfield, and bringing on fresh players at the right time feels finally like a useful tactic.

There are still things which break this sense of simulation, of course. The free kicks, penalties and corners still feel like pressing the button and hoping for the best. And I still have no friggin’ idea of how to make my keeper dive for a penalty. The lack of certain teams and certain divisions always annoys fans, although personally I find my favourite teams are always there and couldn’t care less about some Eastern European team I’ve never heard of and likely never will being missed out. There’s still a lack of stadiums, and it’s disappointing the A-League stadiums still aren’t there although the team’s have been in the game for a few years now. Surely EA have a few grand to throw at various Australian Sporting organisations so something like Hindmarsh Stadium (or Melbourne Rectangular Stadium) could be made available to play in. I mean, it’s not like the Reds don’t need the money.

And of course the focus on teamwork has the downside of making the Play As A Pro feel far less exciting as previous years. Playing as a forward, I felt a little less like the hero, and resorted to more passing and tackling and teamwork and less one on one showboating than previous years. And the fact you can’t start as a Player-Manager in the Career mode really disappointed me, especially when I began in Barcelona and was put up for trade after my first match. Why allow the player to play for a team when you’re going to be traded? It’s worse though playing in the lower division or minor league teams – you can’t organise your backline, switch tactics, or trade weak players for better ones.

Of course, to do all that you need to play the regular campaign, so although you can import your pro and play as the pro, it still doesn’t feel as personal as the last few years. The campaign has been improved though with more options, more off field drama such as players begging to be played, injuries, but it’s still pretty much the same as previous years. And trading can seem a little odd, with players going to teams which they probably wouldn’t go to in real life.

The online play is still much the same and there are tons of online modes – Seasons, a revamp of the Head to Head mode, which sees you have to play and win 10 online games to rise to the next division tier. You can play the usual one on one matches, the online Be A Pro returns where you join a friends team, and FIFA Ultimate Team also returns online. To be honest though, because I’m not great at online, I haven’t delved into the game as full on as others may have. I’ve played 4 games and found it smooth for the most part, and full of young kids with foreign dialects who delight in kicking your arse.

This year more than previous years, I’ve found the FIFA Ultimate Team far more appealing than other modes. It is still trading cards/players and purchasing and applying consumables to keep your team competitive, and ultimately it feels like it is nickel and dimeing you in order to have the best possible, especially when playing online. However, maybe because I opted to pre-order and get a new set of gold cards every week, I feel more engaged with it. Because I don’t have to go to much effort because cards are handed out free, and I don’t have to spend much money to adjust my team to participate in the various cup challenges, I’m rewarded more coin which I don’t care so much about spending 150 coins on a health card to fix an injured player, or bidding 500 coins on a gold contract card.

And something must be said of the mini-games which replace the arena mode loading screen. These are fantastic at teaching and improving playing, and are much like real world training simulations. One of the FIFA’s once offered achievements for doing certain moves during the game, like scoring with a bicycle kick, and whilst I still think that’s a great idea, this might just make up for removing those. The different tiers of bronze, silver and gold mean you’ve got a lot of mini-games to encounter and participate in when waiting for a game to load, and often I’ve found myself replaying these instead of pressing start to play the game.

Lastly, I have to commend the commentary and the way it adds to the idea of a simulation. Although it does tend to repeat itself a little and you hear the more common comments repeated earlier in a play through of a season or competition, the throw away to commentary on other matches, the cup/league wrap up after a match, and the sideline report on injured players gives you a greater sense of participating in a competition with other teams in a real sport, or at least watching it on the television. It’s just a little touch, and one could argue they could concentrate on the commentating more, but I think it’s great.

Conclusion:
There is just so much to like about this year’s FIFA and the series is still making important improvements that justify the annual purchase. It’s finally the game last year should have been, and although there are some niggling little issues, overall it feels like a solid simulation of the wonderful world game of soccer.

Pros:
Best FIFA ever, best soccer game of this generation
Physics simulation is superb.
A massive load of modes to keep fans happy

Cons:
A little lag in some online games.
Matchmaking in online games still not perfect

90/100