Another year, another FIFA game
The latest edition of EA Sports' sector dominating football series, also known more commonly as
FIFA 20, will be hitting digital stores and shop shelves at the end of September.
As with every incarnation of the series, fans are desperate to find out what separates this year's version from last year's, and what new features to look forward to.
Well, we here at JOE were lucky enough to receive an invite from EA Sports to get a hands-on with the new game before its release, to check out its new features and see what improvements and alterations have been made to the world's most popular football game.
We can't talk about FIFA Volta just yet, but here's what we learned about changes made to FIFA Ultimate Team - if you don't play it then either your friend or younger relative does - for the upcoming season.
Customisation is key
For the upcoming edition of FUT, customisation will play a much bigger role for players. While the ability to change your team's name, kit and badge have always been there, FIFA 20 will see the introduction of fictional badges, tifos and stadium themes - gained from reaching milestones within the mode.
This will include a 16 bit ball, 16 bit stadium themes and a rather nifty unicorn stadium theme that we witnessed. It's not exactly game changing, but it will offer a different element of change for those who desire the PES customisation days of lore.
House Rules and more
Fans of
FIFA 19's House Rules mode will be pleased to hear that it - as well as four additional modes - will now be included in FUT friendlies online, as well as couch play which will allow you to track your stats against a friend.
The new modes include Max Chemistry, which will let your team have top chemistry for the duration of the match, regardless of their actual chemistry level.
Swaps will see players allowed to swap three players from their teams at random. This has pros and cons since it is random, so while you may get Virgil Van Dijk, you may also get Dejan Lovren.
King of the Hill is a particularly strange mode, which will see a particular circular area of the pitch light up for a period of time. The person in possession of the ball can then - should they want to - run to that area of the pitch.
The number of seconds they manage to remain there will then see their next goal multiplied by that power.
Mystery Ball is another properly odd but undeniably fun choice of mode in which the ball goes out of play and returns with a power up for the player now in possession.
These can include stats boosts such as scoring and dribbling.
There are a number of other changes to FIFA Ultimate Team, but the fundamentals of the actual mode remains the same. It will depend on fans of the game whether cosmetic alterations and fun additions will be enough for them.
