FIFA 19 Review: 6 Ups & 4 Downs
1. House Rules Isn't Online
First off, House Rules is to Kick Off what last year's transfer negotiations were to Career Mode. EA have breathed new life into what was fast becoming a pointless and ignored feature by shaking things up a bit.
The stand outs are 'Long Range', 'Survival' and 'No Rules'. More on the latter later, but the first two take advantage of the new tweaks to shooting and FIFA's tactics system. In 'Long Range', it becomes a game of risk and reward with the new timed shooting. In 'Survival', players on the winning team leave the field with every goal scored, and this turns matches into a thrilling attack vs. defence mini-game.
So, why isn't it online!?
Despite being a mode tailor-made to battle against gamers around the globe, House Rules is (bizarrely) an offline-only experience. Surely this is something EA will patch sooner rather than later. Are they that determined to shove players in the direction of FUT? It's not like people will stop playing that in favour of exhibitions.
Maybe EA are flying the flag for on-the-couch co-op play. Maybe. More likely, they're holding something back for a later update. More content and even more match variations, perhaps? Let's hope so.