Football is the most popular sport in the world. I won’t even dignify people who call it “soccer” simply to placate idiot Americans. Football is played worldwide, watched by millions and the players are adored like movie stars and celebrities. It only makes sense, then, that game developers would seek to emulate this amazing sport and make a videogame that tried to replicate the drama, intensity, passion and skill shown in the real thing. There are two main, playable, football games that have sought to do so over the years, Pro Evolution Soccer hailing from Japan, and the most popular football simulation in the world; FIFA.

 

FIFA has always been about empowering players or, if you are looking for a more cynical term it’s easy. It rewards people for performing the outrageous skills, the overhead kicks, the 60 yard long balls and defense splitting passes that people swoon over on the television. What the game fails to capture is everything else; the nitty gritty, the minute details, the drama and, most importantly, the unpredictability of the world’s greatest sport.