While most people may know the central commentary team of Martin Tyler and Alan Smith from their work together on Sky Sports, players of FIFA will also be well aware that these two provide the primary English commentary in the game. It is also possible to choose the ITV pair of Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend, who also provide the default commentary for cup games, and while this provides a certain level of variety, there is no doubt that after a while, the commentary in the game becomes very stale. Phrases like "Well football is an amazing game, and this has been an amazing game of football" and "A good team, sides evenly matched, let's just hope we see some good football" wear a bit thin after a while. Also, players who regularly play as Manchester United (or previously Everton) will be well aware of Tyler's insistence on pronouncing Fellaini as "Fell-i-eeni." In real commentary he can pronounce it correctly, so why exactly can't he do it in FIFA? In FIFA 15, there are a few improvements EA should consider when recording the in-game commentary. For a start, get rid of the recycled audio bits that seem to crop up every year, because at this stage, they just sound very lazy. Another big improvement that could be made would be regular patches to the commentary. At the moment, a similar system is used when it comes to squad updates. For example, an update to the commentary in the past few months could make a point of the improved form of Jordan Henderson, or the rise to prominence of Adnan Januzaj. Finally, a big leap for the in-game commentary would be the induction of even more region specific commentators. For example, players in Ireland would find it a nice little perk to be able to listen to George Hamilton and Ray Houghton of RTE in the game. Of course, other small to medium size countries such as Scotland and Belgium should get their own options as well.
A keen observer of gaming, television, film and football from the distant outpost of Ireland, Shane is studying Sports and Fitness and dreams of joining the Irish Army. Yes, that really does exist.
