FIFA 15

FIFA 15 is a soccer sim that gives gamers the ability to manage their favourite team to glory, play practice matches, or pit their wits against friends online.

As soccer games go, EA's FIFA franchise sits at the very top of the league and it's easy to see why. With official licensing, incredible animations and a fast engine, this simulator makes the beautiful game even more enjoyable.

Each year, EA works tirelessly to make its output even more realistic and FIFA 15 is no exception with improved ball handling and much easier attacking compared to the overly defensive fair seen in FIFA 13 and 14.

The sim's new emotion engine is a great addition as it means players react to actions on the pitch in a more realistic manner. This includes holding their head in their hands when they miss the target and becoming upset about a misplaced pass.

Electronic Arts are pushing FIFA 15 to make it as close to reality as possible. To accomplish this, EA's added many improvements that affect gameplay.

In terms of structure, there is not a great deal of difference to FIFA 14, with the options of playing as a manager or as a single player in career mode remaining in place. Indeed, while the old Be a Pro and Be a Manager tags are no longer used, EA have clearly taken the mantra 'if it's not broken, don't fix it'.

The beauty of a game like this is that it can be as simple or as complex as you wish. Many users may prefer to use simple formations and play with default line-ups, but those who like to tinker will be in their element as the game feature new customized tactic functions that allow instructions to be given to every player on the pitch.

Tactics can also be altered quickly in a match by changing formations and player roles inside the sim's menu or by clicking on the balance modes while the match goes on. In past editions, there were five options (ultra-defensive, defensive, balanced, attacking, and ultra-attacking), but FIFA 15 adds two more, which are Park the Bus (for those moments when you're clinging on for victory) and all-out attack.

Ultimate Team has also been boosted with some new features, including Concept Squads and a Friendly Season Mode. Like with FIFA 14, you still have the option of pitting your team against a friend in a one-on-one game.

There's also the option to manage your Ultimate Team from a smartphone using the official EA Sports FIFA 15 app.

Visual bliss

A new graphics engine is in play to give the sim an upgrade from FIFA 14. As well as smoother motion, you'll notice greater detail, including grass and mud build up on players and the pitch's surface deteriorating slightly as a match wears on.

The crowd still jump about randomly in team colours, but the more detailed and improved sound means you can clearly hear them getting behind your club. Fan songs are also tailored to each club, with Manchester City supporters, for example, belting out 'Blue Moon' during a match.

Stadiums feature much more detail than before as well, giving you a feel of what is really like to turn on the style at Old Trafford or the Nou Camp.

Better than ever gameplay

As mentioned, gameplay is much more fluid so it is easier to dribble and get past defenders even when pressing the sprint button. In past years, players have tended to run in straight lines and it has taken multiple button pushing to make even the slightest directional change, but with the more skilled players in FIFA 15, you skip into space more realistically.

Defending is still a little tricky but again more realistic that past versions where you could run around pressing a single button, hoping to steal the ball away. Now greater strategy is needed to cover space and effectively block strikers' paths.

One gripe in career mode, though, is that the sim is still too easy in some settings and ridiculously hard in the next level up. For example, you're likely to thrash teams with ease in Professional mode, but will find scoring difficult in World Class. To correct this problem, you can go into the Match Settings and play around with the speed and control sliders. FIFA 15 does have intuitive AI which reads your ability and applies an approximate difficulty, but generally it is best to work this out yourself.

A problem that has persisted with FIFA games for years is double clicking errors. This is when you click a button twice to make a tackle and even though the ball lands at the feet of one of your players, it is knocked on to an opposing player.

Crossing also remains incredibly hit and miss. Even with the world's best players it is difficult to get a pinpoint ball into the penalty area. Many either hit the first defend (when using the low cross technique) or sail over the defenders heads and go out of play on the far side of the field.

The game also contains some bugs and glitches, including players that seem to change ethnicity at random, crashing or freezing after certain languages have been chosen, and some users have suffered with an inability to reinstall the software after their PC has been interrupted unexpectedly.

That said, it is still the best and most popular soccer sim on the planet and offers gamers hours and hours of fun. Yes, there may be some areas of the game that cause annoyance, but these can typically be overcome through persistence or known work-arounds.