Rewind a few months, I did a video on what my hopes and expectations were for FIFA 20 at E3 back in June. It’s fair to say I was a bit pessimistic due to feeling let down in previous entries. Being the sort of gamer who values playing solo over online gaming, the last few years have not been very kind to me when talking FIFA. Though we did have the Journey Mode (which I did thoroughly enjoy), I feel constantly let down year after year when playing my favourite mode – Career mode. Then E3 happened…
It’s fair to say that my pessimism turned into outright anger after EA dropped very little information outside of the return to FIFA street (aka Volta football) and even less when it came to actually showing off any gameplay. The fact any talk of career mode was completely ignored sent me off into rants, rants where I foolishly claimed I may not purchase EA’s annual instalment this year, “I’m fed up of them putting FUT before anything else blah blah blah.” Although all this is true and I was a little angrier than a normal person should be, I was left with a little lifeline as EA promised career mode information the following month in July…
Well July came and went and we got nothing. In fact the only FIFA related news we had was that they had lost the license for Juventus to rivals PES2020 meaning that the old lady of football would not be gracing the game this year.. yeah I was raging. Just ask my PS Pod co-host, I was all but done with my once beloved footballing franchise. Then something surprising happened.. EA announced their career mode details and I changed my tune quicker than Ronaldo can put away a penalty from the spot! …and who says footy fan are fickle huh?
I’m sure most of you FIFA lovers out there know all about the new career mode details but I want to go over them again anyway because I’m excited for once! First feature I want to touch on is create a manager (not sure if that’s an official name but I’m sticking with it), we can finally create our own manager however we like! Gone are the days of picking one of the sad looking ready-made avatars that all seem to be based on Steve Bruce. I can be me! My only gripe is that this is a relatively simple additional that we really should have had years ago but hey, I’m starved and I’ll take whatever I can get at this point.
Now let’s talk about how we’re going to be well and truly spoilt! Player morale… one more time ladies and gentlemen.. player morale. This is music to my ears. Managing player morale is nothing new to us who have played Football Manager over the years but to see it make an appearance in a FIFA game is something that I’ve craved for many years. You’ll communicate with your team through a messenger app where you’ll be fully responsible for keeping every individual player happy. Did you decide to drop a player? Then expect to explain your reasons why when they drop you a text to moan and groan about how YOU promised them they’d be a first team regular. Not only that but talk about a player in the wrong sort of way in a press conference and expect that player to react positively or negatively depending on how that player likes to be treated. This sort of thing adds a whole now layer to career mode that easily doubles the enjoyment for a nutcase like myself. Oh did I just brush over press conferences?
That’s right, we have press conferences! Yes we’ve had them in the past but it’s been nothing more than a few options on a screen full of text. Now, inspired by Journey Mode, we’ll have fully fleshed out conferences with your created manager answering the media front and centre! It’s a small touch yes but a welcomed one.
Last but certainly not least is dynamic player potential. Now this one is for the hardcore career players out there. Those of us who have high expectations of a young star only to find they’re capped at a 75 overall rating. Those of us who couldn’t help but sign an ageing Zlatan Ibrahimović just to see his stats plummet the minute he hits the age of 35. Well those days are thankfully in the past! Got an older player who you want to see play at a high level for longer? Then play them in every game, train them right and keep their morale up and they’ll be just fine! Want to save a bit of money on a youngster with little potential? You can do just that and with the same proper treatment, that kid could still be a world beater. This dynamic player potential really does change everything, especially for those wanting a long term career save.
All in all these additional features to career mode have lit a fire in me that I haven’t felt for a long time with FIFA. Whereas this time last month I was expecting to be playing through the same worn out career mode with Piemonte Calcio (fake Juventus), I have now done a complete 180 as I find myself counting down the days until I can finally get my hands on the new career mode regardless of if Juventus are in the game or not! Now I realise that this could all backfire if these features aren’t all what they promise to be but if EA can live up to the hype then I commend them. Roll on September!
P.S I’ll just keep quiet when they announce FUT details…