As a lifelong football gaming fanatic, I await each annual FIFA release with great anticipation. FIFA 23, EA‘s final entry in their iconic football series before renaming to EA Sports FC, brings the promise of gameplay innovation and new features.
So does FIFA 23 represent a fitting swan song for EA‘s time with the FIFA brand? I laced up my virtual boots once more to bring you this comprehensive review across some key areas.
Refining the Beautiful Game
Any FIFA title lives and dies by its on-pitch action. Get the gameplay right and it paper over shortcomings elsewhere. Thankfully FIFA 23 provides football simulation that reaches unprecedented levels.
HyperMotion2 Drives Huge Animation Leap
The big gameplay innovation is FIFA’s new HyperMotion2 technology. As described in the EA FIFA 23 Deep Dive trailer, it uses advanced full-match motion capture from professional teams to power over 6000 new animations.
What does this mean practically? More realistic movement across all positions. Subtler touches. Crunching tackles. Visceral 50-50 contests. Plus smoother transitions between animations like trapping to dribbling. Everything flows more naturally to mimic real football.
Specific numbers quantify these improvements:
- 240% more captured match data than FIFA 22
- Over 6000 animations added
- Over 4.5 million frames of new animation footage
As someone who scrutinizes sports game graphics, I‘m blown away by this animation leap. The second-to-second action simply looks and feels better than prior FIFAs.
Sprint Bursts
An ingenious offensive addition is the new sprint burst system. Tapping sprint triggers these short speed boosts extremely helpful for gaining half a yard of separation when closely marked.
Timing these perfectly as the ball arrives leads to exhilarating breakaways. Defenders now must respect this threat and not overcommit. It‘s an excellent risk/reward dimension that captures the explosive athleticism of real football.
Set Pieces
I‘m equally impressed by dead ball reworks. A new ball physics system introduces curl and dip on crosses and long passes. While free kicks gain an advanced aiming system with varied trajectories adding new scoring variety.
FIFA 23 finally makes set pieces feel like dangerous weapons rather than repetitive chance-wasters.
Defensive Foundations
At the other end, defenders behave more intelligently thanks to new decision trees governing positioning and reactions. Sliding, standing, and last-ditch tackles all look improved as well.
Goalkeepers likewise react better to loose balls and make more dynamic save animations. These changes lead to fewer ‘video gamey‘ goals stemming from defensive errors.
All told this year‘s gameplay innovations push FIFA‘s on-pitch action into a new stratosphere. The beautiful game shines brighter than ever thanks to these changes.
Presentation – Next Level Immersion
With processing power hitting new heights, sports gamers also expect breakthroughs across visuals, atmospherics, sound and licenses. FIFA 23 delivers here too.
Gameday Atmosphere
With official tournaments like the World Cup, stadium renders are given more personality. Signal Iduna Park encapsulates Dortmund‘s imposing ‘Yellow Wall‘. Anfield‘s claustrophobic tunnel visit inspires Liverpool magic. These subtleties make different grounds feeldistinct.
In-match, dynamic time of day lighting looks phenomenal, especially capturing English football‘s vibrant aesthetics. Misty winter evenings or glaring summer sunlight adorn each stadium authentically.
Supporters also react better to match events. Late consolation goals or dodgy VAR calls prompt appropriate reactions. Such details make each matchfeel like an episodic story, keeping Career Mode seasons engaging.
Player Faces and Models
I‘m likewise impressed by updates to facial animations and likenesses. Cover star Kylian Mbappe showcases extraordinary detail befitting his global superstardom. Elsewhere Liverpool‘s Mo Salah sports his trademark grin, while Jude Bellingham‘s youthful exuberance shines through.
These digital doppelgangers show how graphics push ever closer to photorealism. Casemiro‘s furrowed brows showcase pure aggression. Harry Kane stoically ledges the England line. FIFA 23 captures more player personalities through faces alone.
Commentary
To complete sporting authenticity, commentary plays a huge role. Derek Rae and Stewart Robson again prove the world‘s best video game announcing double act.
Their Scottish-English interplay pops with apt metaphors and contextual quips tailored to league history and table positions. Post-goal hysteria sounds especially euphoric thanks to ecstatic, player-specific calls.
Add stadium PA announcements and chants reacting to scenarios, and the audio immerses you into footballing theatres everywhere.
Overall FIFA 23‘s visual, atmospheric and audio upgrades demonstrate incredible attention to detail thatlongtime fans appreciate year to year.
Game Modes – Variety for All Player Types
Sports titles need varied experiences catering to different fans. FIFA offers several beyond standard exhibitions.
FUT Moments
The card-collecting Ultimate Team mode includes neat changes like Moments cards. These let you replay epic footballing episodes from history with themed objectives. I loved doing Robbie Fowler‘s eight-minute hat trick for Liverpool. Or reliving Istanbul against Milan in the 2005 Champions League Final.
Moments introduce welcome education about football‘s glorious past through interactive storytelling. After grinding for packs, enacting these nostalgic scenarios proves therapeutic.
Pro Club Growth
Meanwhile for the underrated Pro Clubs mode, your virtual pro now gains XP through Drop-In matches, earning traits faster to specialize your position more quickly. Plus when not controlling your custom player, teammates demonstrate smarter AI for better squad cohesion.
Managerial Dreams
For aspiring bosses, enhanced scouting and transfer logic improve the deep management simulation of Career Mode. As backroom staff make smarter recommendations on areas needing upgrades, while good delegating frees you to focus on tactics and squad cohesion.
I dig these careful refinements across FIFA‘s different experiences. They welcome series veterans while giving newcomers runway to learn nuances before entering hardcore competitions.
Onboarding Beginners
To grow appeal beyond committed fans, FIFA 23 does admirable work easing beginners in too. The helpful in-game tips covering basic controls and strategies teach gameplay concepts. referee leniency on mistimed tackles also reduces early frustrations. Plus Scalable AI across Friendlies matches skill disparities painlessly.
Supplementary skill games add another learning avenue by teaching tactics like curling shots around walls or beating defensive lines. Useful tutorials teach footballing theory translated into practical execution.
Overall FIFA 23 continues strong traditions catering to all player types through difficulty adjustments and supplementary teaching tools. These ensure soccer rookies gain confidence before being thrown to the wolves in cutthroat online divisions!
Verdict: Fitting Finale for EA Saga
In summary, does FIFA 23 provide a fitting finale for EA‘s long football gaming odyssey? I believe wholeheartedly yes. Gameplay reaches exciting new heights through technical ambition. Presentation and content additions demonstrate a continued desire to push boundaries. And outstanding accessibility welcomes both committed followers plus curious newcomers.
Are minor legacy issues like pace exploitation still present? Sure. But the total package unequivocally confirms FIFA‘s status as the definitive, bar-setting football experience while masterfully blending realism and fun.
Consider me emotional waving goodbye to EA‘s partnership with FIFA after playing every entry since childhood. But FIFA 23 is a wonderful swan song crystallizing what I‘ve loved while offering hints of positive changes under new branding. Both loyalists and lapsed fans will find much to enjoy here.
So lace up your boots one final time for FIFA‘s excellent finale. With revolutionary HyperMotion2 gameplay andIMMERSive atmosphere, FIFA 23 kicks the series into the stratosphere for EA Sports FC to build upon. The beautiful game shines brightly heading into this new era.
Overall Score: 9.5/10
Pros
- HyperMotion2 enables huge animation improvements
- Gameplay innovations increase on-pitch realism
- Graphics and presentation reach new heights
- Commentary and atmospherics immerse you everywhere
- Modes like FUT Moments and Pro Clubs add variety
- Accessibility options ease new players in
Cons
- Lingering gameplay exploits like pace abuse
- Occasional commentary repetition creeps in
- FUT grind still incentivizes microtransactions
So those were my extensive thoughts on FIFA 23 after many hours of playtime. What elements stand out to you as signs of meaningful innovation? Are you excited to experience these changes firsthand? Let me know in the comments, and thanks for reading!
