EA Sports has done a great job of implementing new features for every new installment of the FIFA series. For example, FIFA 17 has a "story mode" named The Journey - which follows the career of a fictional striker - Alex Hunter; or the Champion League getting integrated into career modes is also a noteworthy feature in FIFA 19.
And this year, Electronic Arts has continued their tradition with FIFA 20, bringing new features and as well as improvements and changes current modes as well. Those changes make the game better, attracting more and more soccer-craving players to the franchises.
So, what are they? Let's find out in this article. But before getting to the details, we invited you to watch this launch trailer of FIFA 20. Might be it's enough to drag you into the game, and maybe you don't have to bother reading the rest of this article:
VOLTA
Right at the demo stage of FIFA 20, EA has packed VOLTA mode into the demo, and they've done it for a good reason. Basically, VOLTA is a separate play mode from the original soccer matches. The best title to compare with this game mode is FIFA Street back in 2012. To make it even worse, if you want to try FIFA Street, you'll have to find a PS3 or an Xbox 360 to have some experience.
Street football is heavy skill-centric, which is solely about style, ball control, and tactical nous, and VOLTA is the best game mode if you're looking for these kinds of experience. The rules of original soccer matches will not be in here, as you and your friends will have to rely on your controlling skills to become the Street Kings. It's either playing your opponents or get played.
Even better, as VOLTA also approaches street soccer through the realistic scope, as it provides a multiplayer mode beside the story mode. In the multiplayer mode, you can get in the 3v3, 4v4 or 5v5 matches, in which you can only control one player to win, not on your own, but as a team.
In short, VOLTA has blown in a fresh wind to the soccer series that is currently experiencing some stagnations. Hopefully, this mode will be popular enough to the point that EA has to keep it in the next installments, making it a permanent feature.
Ultimate Team Season Rewards
Ultimate Team is not a new feature in the FIFA series anymore, and many have known this mode as FUT (short for FIFA Ultimate Team). If you've been familiar with FIFA Online, FUT is quite similar. In this mode, you can create the dream team that you've been wishing for using cards that unlocks your favorite soccer players. They vary from all major leagues across the world, and if you're lucky (or have a lot of money), you can gather all of them together.
However, as the nature of RNG, it's very difficult to pull out your favorite players in previous FIFA games. Gamers have been complaining that it's nearly impossible to build their team with the players you want, as the reward system only give them trash cards. Even with good cards, the chance of getting good players is very low, making gamers unable to build their team without spending a decent amount of real money.
Fortunately, with FIFA 20, EA has turned this story over with Season Rewards. The developer has added more rewards for grinding in both single- and multiplayer modes, making this year's game the most generous one. In details, the more you play, the more EXP you'll get to level up, that will grant you some player packs to try your luck. The higher level you are, the better the collection you'll receive.
Furthermore, Season Rewards also work like the Battle Pass in many other games. There will be certain missions and objectives that you can complete, which will give you great rewards for your efforts. Even better, as this mechanic doesn't require you to pay for anything to claim your prizes. And if you don't like or need the player you've rolled out, you can sell most of them on the trade market.
Hence, players who don't have a large budget and mainly rely on grinding now have a reason to get back to FIFA 20.
Career Mode Player Interaction and Morale
Career Mode has never attracted much attention from gamers like other play modes, but Electronic Arts also work on this as well. It's very much the same as FIFA 19, but this time, you can actually interact with the player to boost their morale before the match.
If you are not familiar with this mode, basically every player has their form - a statistic that decides how the player will perform in matches. The higher one player's morale is, the better he will play in the next match. In previous titles, managers can't do anything to affect this stat, as it's mainly decided by the player's previous performance.
However, everything changes in FIFA 20. Now, at press conferences and interviews both pre- and post-match, you can opt to give some praise to the players to make them feel better. This will increase players' morale, making them perform better. This is not only good for the players but also keep your job secure.
Apart from speaking to the press, you can also speak directly to the players to influence their morale. To be more specific, players will send you some texts asking for your opinion or advice, and you can reply to them to make them feel better.
This feature is very simple, but it better portrays the life of a manager in real life, as well as adding some depth to this mode.
Conclusion
In my opinion, FIFA 20 is the best game in EA's franchise at this moment.
It's perfect for both old fans and newcomers, and hopefully, you enjoy these new features just like I did.
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