Evolution Of FIFA 15 - 21 Years Of Incredible Football Graphics

4. FIFA 12

There was a distinct rise to the visual quality of the FIFA franchise as we headed deeper into the sixth generation, but by the 2011 holiday season it seemed EA Canada has squeezed almost everything out of our beloved Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles. FIFA 12 was as incredibly detailed and near-flawlessly animated as ever, but we were clearly reaching the plateau of what was possible with the hardware at the time. Movement on the pitch was a thing of rare beauty, and up close these chaps had never looked better - definitely the best looking sports game yet to come out of the EA Sports stable - but there was little to get overly excited about. Which meant nothing to the football gamers of the world, who went on the make this edition the fast selling sports game of all time.

3. FIFA 13

After a run of chart-topping FIFA releases, it was clear that we were now dealing with a surefire year-on-year hit in line with the annual Call Of Duty franchise. And like Activision's FPS juggernaut, FIFA graphical innovations had stalled quite noticeably by now. Visually. EA Canada would be using the term "incremental upgrades" quite loosely by 2012 - during gameplay there was little to set FIFA 13 apart from its immediate predecessor. We cried about this obvious lack of visual advancement, but what did we really expect? There was very little room for improvement on the pitch, and within the restrictions of the aging hardware it was unrealistic to demand much more from this veteran franchise. It was high time for a new generation of consoles to take FIFA further.