LET'S get straight down to what's new here, shall we, because great chunks of what you love about Fifa, and a little of what you don't, is still the same. Twenty plays a lot like 19, which is no bad thing, unless you really hated 19, in which case you're probably going to hate 20. But come on, if you're going to be a snob about it, it doesn't matter what EA do, you're gonna hate it whatever. Just get over yourself.
So 20 has Volta, a shortened, futsal-style kick-about which sees three to six-aside matches stuffed with tricks. I had hoped we'd get a jazzed-up version of Fifa Street thrown in here, and while it isn't that (sniff...) Volta is still a good wheeze. It also includes this year's story mode, dispensing as they have with Hunter's tale (although he puts in a guest appearance here) The Journey. This time you're part of a rag-tag side which works its way up to take on the world. And it's a world in which the physical diversity is alarmingly lacking. The story is hilariously over the top, with scenarios straight from a the tatty notebook of an EastEnders' hack, with misunderstandings cropping up out of nowhere, and some goofy-as-hell characters trying their damnedest to sound authentically 'street'. They don't, but it's entertaining nonetheless. And hey, you can also dress your team in snazzy unlockable clothes because... that's really important in a football sim, right? Don't get me wrong, it's easy to criticise Volta, but in truth I thrashed away at it for hours until I finished the story, so it hooked me right in regardless.
Free kicks and pens have been given a lick of paint, and thank the blazes. The reticule is back, which makes scoring a hell of a lot easier, particularly long-distance efforts which I generally blazed into the jeering crowd.
Career mode has some new bits and pieces, none of which will set your pants on fire, such as proper email conversations with players (ooh...), press conferences are prettier (ahh...), and 'dynamic player potential' which sees player ratings respond to your actions.
Weirdly some of the new rules haven't been implemented, most obviously the adjustment to goal kicks, and it'd be nice to at least acknowledge some VAR, even if perhaps we don't want to introduce hanging about mid-game while a virtual 50-year-old checks his tiny tellys.
So hands up who still plays Ultimate Team... blimey really? Okay I know this is phenomenally popular but come on, it's heavily geared towards bleeding your wallet dry to get the best players. But that doesn't seem to put off the millions who get their kicks from it, so who am I to argue? Season Objectives is new and designed for those for whom apparently Daily and Weekly Objectives are just too stressful to keep up with. There's also some customisation options for those who covet such things, and Friendlies because sometimes taking on strangers is hard. Fifteen 'icons' such as Zidane, Drogba and Pirlo have also been released into the wild, which is nice for them.
If you've got a grudge against Fifa, there's probably nothing I can do to persuade you. Yes there's an argument that yearly roster updates as a DLC would save us all much (oh so much) money, and there's still an ugly cash face grinning in the background of Ultimate Team. But, pure and simple, Fifa is a great game. As a pick-up-and-play, line-up-friendly footy sim, it's still the best out there.
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