While on the topic of players, let's discuss the glitch ridden transfer system at the core of both Ultimate Team and Career Mode. EA have really pushed the boat out in terms of presentation for FIFA 14 on next gen consoles, but the same problems still plague one of the most exciting aspects of world football; transfers. From marquee signings to deadline day bargain buys,there are few gameplay elements more addictive than targeting a player, scouting him and snapping him up after weeks of negotiations. It's just a shame then that EA present this mechanic quite well only to fall at the last hurdle. Career mode becomes a clustered mess once you start investing in your team and try to sign young starlets. The in-game scouts are totally ineffective and as you can't see specific stats of any player on the global transfer market, so most transfers become a case of trial and error. It's fine for the first few seasons but when players start retiring, it implodes into a mess of screens. The frequency in which players move is also quite disengaging; seeing Lionel Messi at Real Madrid after just one season disrupts the football world you've built in your head and serves no purpose to the mode. Meanwhile, fine-tuning this should be simple but it continues to be ignored by EA Sports, somewhat bafflingly. Online, things are just as bad: Ultimate Team has become almost too popular and it's clear to see EA still haven't found a way to balance the market. It's extremely hard to even navigate to the exact player you wish to purchase with literately thousands of each player floating around. This creates a much bigger problem which warrants its own self contained topic...
Barry O' Halloran has been a whatculture writer for the last two years and having recently graduated, now plans on writing about games & movies until his hands fall off. Follow him on twitter!
