It seems like yesterday that we experienced all night benders of free kicks and over the top goal celebrations in FIFA 14, skunking a buddy five to nil and picking the best kit for our Ultimate Team. Of course, FIFA 14’s time has come and gone. It was a sweet relationship we’ll never forget, and now we’re ready for something new to get our soccer fix. Enter FIFA 15, arguably the best entry in EA Sports’ longstanding franchise. In this article, we’ll touch base on a few of the basic tips you’ll need to hold your own on the pitch.
Of course, EA can’t change the rules of the beautiful game, but it did a great job making it feel brand new and inviting. Mechanically, this game shares similarities to FIFA 14. Not much changed controller wise to make you adjust your play style. That said, if you would like a refresher course from last year, check out these in-depth FIFA 14 beginner tips.
Don’t overuse the burst feature on defense
Beware the burst. We quickly learned these words while playing defense. When you associate speed burst (RT on Xbox, R2 on Playstation) with FIFA, you normally have to pick and choose your battles on offense. Defense up until now was a no brainer. You see opponent with the ball and sprint full speed towards him. Those were the good old days. With FIFA 15’s improvements, you’ll need to be more precise on how you go about stripping the ball from your opponent.
With EA introducing all new Agility and Control, Run Touch Dribbling allows players to keep the ball under control in a sprint and in close touch situations. Now, even a sprinting opponent with the ball has the ability to out maneuver the defender. Add that with the new Man-to-Man Battle system they implemented, and sticking your foot out for the ball could end up with a shoulder in your chest and you haphazardly lying on your back. The back and forth on the field has never been so physical as it is in FIFA 15. Even the most skilled back four will have a problem transforming into the human brick wall they get paid to become.
Trying to sprint through your attacker will most likely leave you in their dust with no ball and a goal down. The way you should handle sprinting on defense is to use it only to get into position or catch up to an opponent that slips past you. Once you are man-on-man, stop sprinting and square up with your would be attacker. Get in-between him and his destination, then hold down the Jockey button (LT on Xbox and L2 on Playstation). This will turn your chest to face the player and slow him up. At this point, you can attempt to remove the ball from this person or AI opponent.
GOOAAAALLLLLLL……… nope you missed.
FIFA 15 definitely makes you work for points. Its freshly polished Keeper AI does its best to prevent you from scoring. Goalkeepers are now more lifelike than ever, with more awareness and intelligence. They track crosses, corners and through balls realistically, so don’t be surprised when that one go-to play you used all the time in FIFA 14 all of a sudden doesn’t earn you the point.
Keepers now adhere to the laws of momentum, and are able to read and react to gameplay situations with uncanny realism. A keeper moving in the wrong direction now reacts to a change in ball flight to make a save by reaching back or extending a leg at the last second.
If that wasn’t enough to make you stay out late tonight and take a few more practice shots on net, shooting in general is way more realistic. Just holding shoot (B on Xbox and Square on playstation) won’t cut it anymore. Expect players to overshoot, undershoot and miss the ball completely if you get tugged on by a defensive player, or even injured mid shot.
Keep your forwards forwards and your defense back. This is one of FIFA’s cardinal rules that gets overlooked so many times. If you strip one of the attackers rushing towards your goal with one of your defenders, do not take that defender and run up the field with the ball. Doing this will leave a gap in the defense, thus making you open to a counter attack. Make sure you use each player at the position he’s in. If your defense assumes control of the ball, get clear and pass it to a midfielder, who in turn could make headway and allow your defender to fall back into his roll of keeping your keeper safe.
That about wraps it up for beginner tips in FIFA 15. If you take these tips into consideration and play smart, you should be able to achieve wins sooner than later. Now all you have to worry about is coming up with your own goal song. That’s a whole other discussion.
We’ll return later this week with FIFA 15 advanced tips!
