FIFA 15: Key Features and Takeaways from EA Sports' Latest Release

Unlike EA Sports' Madden series, which has been a constantly steady performer for years because the NFL is a machine, the FIFA series needed time to grow. Much like the sport of soccer in the United States, it's become a phenomenon with no signs of slowing down. 

With FIFA 15 being released on September 23 in North America, fans have had seven days to get a feel for what the latest iteration of the game has to offer. We've also got some of our best people hard at work in the office trying to parse through everything in it. 

While there are still bits and pieces left to be discovered, we have some things to say. Using the help of analysis from around the web to go more in-depth, here are the best features and key takeaways from FIFA 15 one week after its release. 

Ultimate Team

EA Sports has done a terrific job of making sure that gamers are able to take advantage of all the intricacies of their systems' capabilities. Chief among them is the Ultimate Team feature, which if you don't know allows you to create a team from a mash-up of players in the game and challenge opponents online. 

That's a bare-bones version of what this mode is, but what make it so great are the ways it continues to evolve. First and foremost, the addition of Concept Squads is a masterstroke. Per the EA Sports website, this allows you "to plan your next Transfer Market buys, find replacements for players and test out different Chemistry combinations."

It sounds like a simple thing to say that using the full extent of online gaming and exploring the way your squad works in the context of a video game, how many games are able to use it? When I put the video game in my system, knowing that I have the team I want set up and ready to go is a huge relief. 

The fact that I'm now able to use some of my available funds for a loan to upgrade my roster, however temporarily, makes the game feel more in line with the real soccer product I'm watching on television. 

New Intelligence

"

Get that EDGE - learn the new skills in #FIFA15: https://t.co/D8IKsLi175

— EA SPORTS FIFA (@EASPORTSFIFA) September 19, 2014"

One thing that I imagine will be a divisive aspect of FIFA 15 is the Emotional Intelligence feature. According to the EA Sports website, this is designed as a way to reflect the actual reactions you will see from a player during a match. 

"For the first time ever, players will show emotion based on the context of the match," the site says. "With over 600 new emotional reactions, players now respond to pivotal moments on the pitch—bad tackles, missed chances, epic goals—as they would in real life."

However, in his review for IGN, Chris Schilling noted that this actually turned into more of a hindrance than anything else.

"In theory," Schilling wrote, "it’s a fine idea, but the execution is problematic, because to compensate for human error, EA Sports has made them less fallible elsewhere. The result is that AI behavior oscillates between smart and stupid."

Given how far games have come in the last decade in terms of AI, even knowing that there is something smart out there is a huge positive. There may be a few frustrating moments, but as long as it's not so blatant that it costs the player a game, is it really that much of a problem? 

Playing a simulation means that you should be able to avoid a lot of the annoying aspects of your sports, but what's the point of having game engines capable of bringing us a life-like experience if the developers don't make the players act like they really do on the pitch?

I do reserve the right to change my judgment on the Emotional Intelligence feature if it becomes so bad that it actually takes away from the experience of playing, but it doesn't seem likely that it will get that bad. 

The Look

Finally, if you want to look at something pretty, just put FIFA 15 in your Playstation or Xbox and play an exhibition game. The visuals on this year's simulation look incredible thanks to EA Sports' use of a "physically-based rendering lighting system," as the site's description calls it. 

In other words, players look closer to what you see on your HD television and have certain physical features that move like real human beings. For instance, if you have poofy hair and are running around, odds are good those follicles will be moving. EA Sports has made it so you can clearly see that movement. 

Matthew Kato of Game Informer, upon giving FIFA 15 a stellar 9.25 out of 10 rating, noted that everything "from the look of the players and the pitch to the overall presentation package, it's all top-notch." 

The first thing that we are going to notice about a game is how it looks. That's what we see when the action starts, and it can play a huge role in our ultimate feelings about a game. Casual gamers aren't going to stick with something that doesn't feel right, while hardcore gamers will nitpick when they feel they're being given a recycled product from the previous year. 

EA Sports isn't perfect, but the one thing no one can accuse the developer of is running in place. Being able to expand on the already gorgeous visuals from FIFA 14 and taking advantage of the power offered by next-gen systems is all any gamer can ask for. 

It only makes you wonder what the game will be like next year, but instead of getting greedy, let's keep playing FIFA 15 for a little bit. 

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