To dream the impossible dream?
Itās World Cup time once again! Or in several weeks anyway and we England fans always build our hopes up only to have them knocked down…usually in a penalty shootout after the second or third round. Could 2014 be any different? I highly doubt it, but one can dream…right? Anyway enough lusting after that trophy…itās time to try out EAās latest take on the famous tournament.
If you picked up FIFA 14 last year, you wonāt be surprised to hear that 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil isnāt that different, in fact it feels like it could have passed for DLC for FIFA 14 itself and it would have been fine. If anything, World Cup Brazil feels like a smaller package than 14 and Iām sure fans will feel short-changed by whats on offer, including a mode that doesnāt even become active until the real tournament starts.
Thatās not to say its all bad news, FIFA 14 was the best version of the series to date and the classic saying āif it aināt brokeā applies here, itās just a shame that they released it at as a full price game and not at a discount…Iām sure itāll drop in price significantly after the World Cup itself, but I doubt many would want to play it then, especially if the tournament holds bad memories, which every one does for England.
Modes include standard matches, the Road to the World Cup, obviously the World Cup tournament itself, as well as being able to captain your team, play the World Cup online and win 7 matches in a row to lift the trophy. Thereās also a Story of Qualifying mode which lets you recreate historic moments from the tournament as well as a Story of Finals which is activated at the beginning of the tournament and updated throughout, and lets you play challenges based on the narrative of the dayās events.
The control feels identical to FIFA 14, which is a good thing. The curious thing is a complete lack of a PS4/Xbox One release for 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, perhaps EA knew it wouldnāt sell that much on next-gen, but itās an odd decision and one thatās a shame…it would have been nice to play the tournament in 1080p at 60fps, but I guess weāll have to wait till 2018 for that opportunity. Commentary is standard, while the visuals look more or less the same to FIFA 14.
The Verdict
2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil feels more of an add-on to FIFA 14 than a brand new game, itās a shame itās not priced as such. Itās also a shame that it didnāt hit next-gen or contain stuff we havenāt already seen before, personally I think this should have been DLC for FIFA 14 but for those who need a football game to play between now and the tournament, itās worth a look.
