FIFA 14 arrived in September 2013 as EA Canada’s annual football simulation, published by EA Sports for PlayStation 3, PC and Xbox 360. It also shipped on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, Wii, Nintendo 3DS and Windows, and as a launch title for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One that November. That spread tells you what kind of year this was: one game asked to serve two generations of hardware at once.
Trailer, via MOBILE XTREME.
A September Release Across Two Generations
The PlayStation 2 version shipped only in PAL territories and Spanish-speaking markets, and it was the last game released for that system in the Americas. The PlayStation Portable version came only as a digital download in North America.
FIFA 14 Mobile launched as a freemium title for iOS and Android on 23 September 2013, then for Windows Phone 8 on 28 February 2014. Much of that game is inaccessible without an in-app payment. That is a real cost, and it sits awkwardly beside a full-price console release.
What the Box Says
- Developed by EA Canada
- Published by EA Sports
- Platforms: PlayStation 3, PC (Microsoft Windows), Xbox 360
- Genres: Sport
- Themes: Non-fiction
- Modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative
- Perspective: First person, Third person, Bird view / Isometric
Where FIFA 14 Sits on the Pitch
The modes cover the ground you expect: single player, multiplayer and co-operative. The perspective shifts between first person, third person and a bird view, the isometric angle that makes a pass read like a diagram.
EA Canada built a simulation, not an arcade game. The sport genre is crowded and the annual cycle is unforgiving, but the studio had a settled formula by 2013. The PlayStation 3, PC and Xbox 360 builds are the ones most players met first.
The Mobile Version Is the Weak Link
FIFA 14 Mobile is the part worth flagging. A freemium football game that locks most of its content behind an in-app payment asks a lot of a player who already knows what the console version costs.
The console game does not have that problem. It is a complete product on PlayStation 3, PC and Xbox 360, and it does not charge you again for the parts that matter. That difference is the whole story of this release.
The Score
The game received primarily positive reviews across all systems. The critic aggregate sits at 8.2/10 from 12 outlets, and that number holds up.
FIFA 14 is not a reinvention. It is a polished, broad release that covers more hardware than any football game should reasonably have to, and it does so without falling apart. The mobile version is the blemish, not the norm.
Key facts
– Released: September 2013
– Platforms reviewed: PlayStation 3, PC, Xbox 360
– PlayStation 4 and Xbox One launch: November 2013
– FIFA 14 Mobile: iOS and Android, 23 September 2013
– Windows Phone 8: 28 February 2014
– Critic aggregate: 8.2/10 (12 outlets)
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