Fifa has for a number of years been the market leader in the video games arena when it comes down to football but have they done enough with their latest offering to stay ahead of the competition and remain as a deserving maker leader?

Positives:

- Fifa has always worked hard on improving the standard of graphics in each game and thankfully this is the case with this version too. The graphics standard is very impressive and it is now easier than ever for you to see who the players in the game are representing (eg Wayne Rooney looks like Wayne Rooney).

- An improved control system allows for a more intuitive feel to the game with big improvements to the dribbling with a new precision dribbling control system implemented. The improvements are simple yet vast and really do enable you to have a much better control over the play and enable you to build up attacks the way you really want to.

- The introduction of Player Impact Engine means that you have a much stronger feel of things with your players now feeling resilient and like they want to maintain possession when they run with the ball. The Player Impact Engine also leads to more realistic results from tackles and in turn this produces more realism in terms of the resulting injuries to your players.

- Quick throws are one of my favourite introductions to the new game as they allow for a much quicker flow to the gameplay when you need it.

- More intelligent computer based opponents leads to a more challenging game thanks to developments in how they work in both attack and defence based on a new self-awareness system called Pro Player Intelligence. This new system works by players being able to make decisions on what to do based on their skills and the strengths & skills of their opponents. For me this is a hugely obvious improvement in the game and may lead to you needing to change the difficulty settings you were used to as this will make the game a bigger challenge than in previous years.

- Improved presentation to allow for you to be more immersed in the game than ever before.

- Great licensing as we have all grown used to with Fifa games and thankfully this year is not a let down with the big leagues all still in game like the English Premier League, Scottish Premier League, German Bundesliga, Spanish La Liga and more.


Negatives:

- Previous versions of the game had commentary from Andy Gray but in this version he is no more and in his place they have now given us Alan Smith who in my opinion does not seem to have anything worth saying and leads to a much more boring commentary standard than previous years. I do acknowledge you need to give this time to get used to as you have had so many years with Andy Gray that the change is not going to be instantly accepted by many but give it time and you will be more focussed on the game than the commentary.

- If you enjoy a game you can pick up and play without it being too much of a challenge then this game is maybe not going to be for you as you need to work harder than ever to get results due to the Pro Player Intelligence. For many people out there the fact the game makes you work for results will be a good thing but for some it takes away the fun element of this game.


Overall for me this is a very improved game from last years offering thanks to the much improved player intelligence and the new impact engine making for a more challenging and realistic feel to the play. New commentary from Alan Smith lets things down slightly and the fact it is such a challenging game now does detract somewhat from the fun factor the game offers so for me these do mark things down a bit.

Please note I have not offered comments on the online side to the game as I don't make use of these so don't feel it right to say if the new things are improvements or not.