Is Fifa 19 really as broken as the fans are saying?

Some even brand it as the worst Fifa ever …

Currently holding an abysmal one out of five star rating on all the major product review sites, the 7 month old Fifa 19 has proved to be a considerable disappointment. While most of the issues being reported are common to other editions of the game, the fans this year have been especially unwelcoming.

So, why is this happening? It’s not surprising that EA developers have religiously continued their vogue of ignoring the long-standing issues of the flagship football game. What is really interesting are the regressive innovations which seem to suggest the developers are not being paid properly to do their jobs.

First of all, the ball physics is way off. The gameplay feels like a mock-up. If you are playing an online multiplayer game and are up 2–0 in the first half, then good luck winning the game. The game tries it’s absolute best to ensure the winning team can never take solace in their lead.

With new features like timed finishing, you would expect it to increase the gap between average players and skilled ones. However, the concept has backfired. Forget about timed finishing, all you have to do is get on the edge of the box and put in a finesse shot with the stronger foot of your player. There is a 90% chance that it would hit the back of the net. So there is almost no need of using timed finishing at all.

Let’s look at the sentiments of some fans:

Even though this part or pattern of gameplay is very predictable and can be judged from some distance, there is practically nothing you can do to stop it.

It doesn’t matter what the shooter’s finishing stats are and whether or not he is facing the right direction. Sometimes, even the shots fired from the weaker foot (i.e. players with 4-star or 5-star weaker foot) manage to beat the keeper and hit the top corner.

Something that was consistently criticized in Fifa 17 & 18 and somehow got even worse in Fifa 19 is the AI defending. The best and probably the only trick to defend properly is to never use your back-line. Just defend with your midfielders and keep your back-line where it is and the AI will do the rest for you. Tackling is least rewarding in Fifa 19 and you have to press your way to death. You will find even the least experienced players using this trick, so it becomes even harder to break down a defense. Gone are the days when you could actively use your defenders to break down attacks and win back possession. Thus, the skill gap is even further reduced between players.

Moreover, tackling is way off, resulting in penalties and red cards leaving almost little to no room for even the smallest miss-timings.

With the increased use of auto-defending, crossing comes in to play. Having a target man like Lukaku, Giroud etc. and naturally good headers of the ball like Ronaldo, Icardi etc. are such a threat in the game. All you have to do is put crosses into the box and have your target man do the rest for you. As the AI defenders lack the capability to deal with over the head balls and since switching is so off in the game, crossing has become the best way to score goals after the overpowered finesse shots.

The lean towards AI defending is further increased by the inconsistent and unresponsive switching in the game. It is hard enough to switch to the player that you want, the time lag makes it even worse. In crucial moments the inability to switch to your defender or the delay in doing so could end up costing you the match.

The only way this can reward you is when switching to your goalkeeper. But that too is erratic. Sometimes your goalkeeper can virtually stop any shot coming towards it while sometimes he can’t even handle the easiest of the shots. Here is what we mean:

Watch the hole clip …I hit a green timed finish when the goalkeeper completely moved in the false direction. But GK movement is so broke that when you move the gk on the goalline he can still safe it.

It’s like there are too many bugs, glitches or shortcuts that you can exploit in the game. There is little to no reward for pure gameplay, beautiful moves and clever buildups.

Well, the answer to that is complicated. When the game was released, the initial fan reaction was that of relief thinking that the pace abuse is gone for good. There were still doubts as to how defenders can keep up with pacers like Mbappe, Bale, Sane and so forth. Many fans speculated it to be patched and sure enough, it did. Now, the game is like any other Fifa game. Putting a through ball to your fast attackers and having the run of your life is still rewarding to some extent. However, there are some major irregularities. There are times when defenders with 80 pace-rating can keep up the with 90+ pace-rating attackers.

Fifa Ultimate Team is as reward deficient as always. All the gameplay problems seemingly magnify in FUT. It looks scripted, to the extent that you can never comprehend how you lost that match. The poor connectivity, the lag, the input delay haunt fans and they’ve only gotten worse in Fifa 19. The pay to win system persists. Except the required payment has increased. Another reason why the game stands where it stands today.

Another glimpse into the thoughts of faithful fans:

FIFA 19 has to be the worst FIFA ever released. We’re not playing a football simulator, we’re playing a videogame where in order to win games, we have to abuse and exploit the mechanics.

I’m not having fun at all with this game.

FIFA 19 no matter the mode you play has been terrible.The patches just took the game from somewhat playable, other than OP TF *Red and Yellow & no scope 360 Jackie Chan karate kick BS to whoever parks the bus better.

Fifa 19 fails miserably at simulating the beautiful game of football. It’s about passing, amazing buildups, drama, last-minute goals, skills and amazing environments. These things are made impossible by the overwhelming abuse of mechanics that make this game a frustrating experience to say the least. It falls way short of the fans’ expectations and all we can do is hope that the next addition won’t be such an utter let-down. The Fifa community is regularly highlighting these issues and is as vocal as ever. However, EA developers continue to disregard the voice of the community and take advantage of the loyal fans.

Gameplay: 3/10

Graphics: 8/10

Online: 3/10

Modes: 4/10

Overall: 4.5/10

Do share your experience with the game and let’s spread the word until we can finally influence the poor choices of the team at Fifa.

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