FIFA 15: 10 Improvements EA Sports MUST Make

Just as you can be guaranteed the sun will rise in the morning, the annual September/October release of a new FIFA game is a certainty. Last year's FIFA 14 is widely considered to be a fantastic game, with both the seventh and eighth generation versions receiving universal praise, however, with the release of FIFA 15 on the horizon, EA will be expected to make better use of the power of the PS4 and the Xbox One. The version of FIFA 14 released on these consoles, while good, always felt like a polished version of the PS3 and Xbox 360 releases, and not games that fully took advantage of the available technology. So, with that in mind, just how can EA go about producing a true next-gen footballing experience? The current predicament the series finds itself in holds parallels to the last generation jump; while FIFA 08 received a seventh generation release, it was not until FIFA 09 that the series really overtook their Pro Evolution Soccer rivals. In this list, we will be running through a number of improvements and tweaks the game could make on its predecessor, ranging from superficial issues which seem to persist every year, to more technical aspects of the game. In short, this is the model to make FIFA 15 the true sporting classic we all deserve...

10. Reinstate Tournament Mode

In the next gen version of FIFA 14, a glaring omission is that of the classic Tournament Mode, which was a huge loss that only further isolated the large segment of FIFA players who don't like the online modes. As it stands, outside of Career Mode, there are basically no real single player modes of note in the game, which understandably is a big disappointment. Players may have found themselves basically choosing to turn off the game when they want a different experience to management, which is clearly not ideal for EA Sports or for the longevity of the game, and it also effectively renders the inclusion of international teams in the game pointless. Because outside of Tournament Mode, there were no single player options to play as your country, other than friendlies, which quickly lose their appeal. So why was Tournament Mode discounted? EA claimed that it was removed because it wasn't popular enough, but judging by the backlash from fans, this could not be further form the truth. A much more likely reason to exclude the feature is purely based on business: 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil is in development by EA Sports and is planned for release in April 2014, and it is using the FIFA 14 engine with updated rosters and kits, and it's no surprise that the features that are missing in the next-gen versions of FIFA 14 will be biggest selling point of the next-gen World Cup game. The good news is that this means we most likely see Tournament Mode brought back for FIFA 15.