A Few Hours in FIFA 23 Was More Fun Than 300 Hours in FIFA 22
I had the opportunity to play an early version of FIFA 23. The last part of the series released annually for decades by EA is supposed to be a worthy farewell to the series and a sneak-peak of what awaits players in the future.
For many years, the FIFA series has been quite divisive – while many players eagerly anticipated new installments, others were critical of the annual release model, which, according to them, was tantamount to paying premium price for an upgrade, or patch, rather than a new installment. This year, courtesy of EA, I had the opportunity to test FIFA 23 long before the release. I got access to closed beta tests, and while the product is far from finished for now, it does give you an idea of the extent of changes that await us.
Watching matches on TV, or HyperMotion 2
The HyperMotion technology introduced last year has provided FIFA 22 with thousands of new animations on current-gen consoles, and the gameplay itself is very smooth. It turns out, however, that it was only a taste of what FIFA 23 will bring. During a few hours that I spent with the beta, I was able to get to know HyperMotion 2 a little closer, and I must say that I was very impressed. Touching the ball, dribbling, doing flicks, shots, and passes feels great; goalkeepers' interventions and improved steering responsiveness make the experience significantly better than before.
One of the first things that you can notice is that the creators have really spent some time to consider shooting. During the few hours of playing FIFA 23 , I saw more unique shooting animations than in over three hundred hours of playing 22. Strikers are more prone to shoot with the outside of the foot, and the ball's trajectory seems to be more influenced by the player's posture as well. I also liked the new hard shots system. After pressing the appropriate combination of buttons, the game goes into the strong shot mode, allowing you choose the shot direction (basically down to inches). Such a move is relatively difficult, but when done correctly, it allows you to score a really spectacular goal.
Passing animations have similarly been overhauled, and what I said above about shooting animations is also true here. The players very naturally take the right positions to receive the ball and the whole process looks much nicer.
It may sound strange, but right after launching FIFA 23 in bet, the first thing to catch my attention was the grass. Juicy green. I think the grass on the turf just underwent the biggest revolution since 2016. Pale turfs were one of the biggest shortcomings of FIFA 21, which was only slightly improved in the 22 edition, but FIFA 23 sets the bar to a completely different level. I played a few matches just to look at the new colors. Unfortunately, you have to remember that EA actually fixed a problem they created themselves, when they replaced decent grass from FIFA 17 with a brownish blend in subsequent editions.
I think FIFA 23 (at least in beta) is faster than FIFA 22 was at launch. The players seem more agile, so you have the impression that there's less time to react than before. However, I must also point out that in the early version of the game, I only had access to a few top teams, so maybe this impression was amplified by world-class players of Real, Chelsea and Manchester City. I'm curious to see if this higher pace of matches will be preserved in the release version of the game, as players rated well over 90 appear quite quickly in the FUT mode, making the gameplay look like a sprinting competition.
The beta did not give access to any online mode, but I must mention that FIFA 23 will support crossplay from day one. This means that owners of different platforms will be able to play with each other without any problems. It's unknown which modes will support multiplatform gameplay, but I will definitely try them one they're available. In FIFA 22, crossplay did appear, but in a limited form and quite long after release.
No revolution? That's good
As I mentioned in the introduction, many users (most often those who aren't familiar with FIFAs) mock the changes (or lack thereof) that EA adds every year. It seems to me that the "average" FIFA 23 player will not consider the game to be a breakthrough installment. The impressions of the game, favorite game patterns and other key elements of the game are roughly similar to what we got last year. However, this is not a bad thing, because I consider FIF 22 to be one of the most successful and innovative installments of the series. The FIFA 23 Beta showed what I had assumed before – EA Sports took advantage of the extremely solid foundations of the previous part of the cycle and added the necessary improvements.
I also believe that we must wait until 2023 for major, maybe revolutionary changes. That's the year when the 18×16 svgcontract between EA and FIFA will be concluded, with the series superseded by EA Sports FC. It will be interesting to see how this monumental even unfolds – after all, the series marked by FIFA was around ever since 1993.
