To dream the impossible dream?
It’s 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…it’s time to try out EA’s latest take on the famous tournament.
If you picked up FIFA 14 last year, you won’t be surprised to hear that 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil isn’t 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 I’m sure fans will feel short-changed by whats on offer, including a mode that doesn’t even become active until the real tournament starts.
That’s not to say its all bad news, FIFA 14 was the best version of the series to date and the classic saying “if it ain’t broke” applies here, it’s just a shame that they released it at as a full price game and not at a discount…I’m sure it’ll 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. There’s 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 day’s 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 wouldn’t sell that much on next-gen, but it’s an odd decision and one that’s a shame…it would have been nice to play the tournament in 1080p at 60fps, but I guess we’ll 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, it’s a shame it’s not priced as such. It’s also a shame that it didn’t hit next-gen or contain stuff we haven’t 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, it’s worth a look.
