Earlier this week I was at a PlayStation preview event in Dublin and EA decided to bring an earlier version of FIFA 13 to the event. Here are my thoughts on the game as it stands at the moment.

Before I start previewing FIFA 13 I have to state that I played an earlier build of the game. According to the EA rep at the event it was a pre-alpha build and so it may not represent the final product. Well on with the preview.

I have to say FIFA 13 was very easy to pick up and play. I hadn’t played a FIFA game since FIFA 08, but the controls were the same and as such I could jump in and be able to play the game with relative ease.

What really struck me about FIFA 13 was the lack of apparent changes to the game. The game still felt like the same game series I started playing back in 1994 with FIFA international soccer for the gameboy, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing in my eyes because it meant I didn’t have to relearn the game. That said FIFA 13 does boast some changes that weren’t apparent to me at first.

One nice change is to how tacking is done with the games new player impact engine. Tackling felt smooth and lifelike as you trying to get the ball of the opposing player and winning the ball cleanly in a well timed sliding tackle felt rewarding.

The Attacking part of the game has also gone under some changes. When attacking forwards will time their runs better to try and beat the offside trap. I found when the AI were attacking they seemed to be more aware of their surrounding because when the AI attacked and when I got my keeper to run out the AI would look for a player in space and try to score.

FIFA 13 does boast more improvements like better dribbling etc. but I didn’t really see it on offer that well. Also you can make the wall jump during free kicks (not sure if that is new or not since I skipped a few of the more recent FIFA games).

FIFA 13 offers a much greater challenge compared to previous FIFA game which is something I have wanted personally in the game serious.

There really isn’t much left to say about the game from the preview since the game was far from finished. I do have to say FIFA 13 made me realize why I started playing the FIFA series because of the fact it was fun and a challenge.