There’s a question mark stalking EA’s football series with the unshakeable tenacity of Fabio Cannavaro in his prime. While Fifa 20 is mostly very good, the issue of card-purchased loot boxes in its most popular mode, Ultimate Team, has led to calls for the game to be classified as gambling.
A recap, for those unaware of the brouhaha: in Ultimate Team, you build a fantasy squad by opening loot box-style packs of individual player cards. You can use in-game currency to buy these packs, or do so using real money – but the chances of finding Messi, Ronaldo or Salah are … well, we don’t know, because EA doesn’t disclose unambiguous odds. There’s your first problem.
The second is that this is a family-rated game, with teenagers around the globe spending money they don’t necessarily have chasing cards they’ll likely never get. In Belgium cash sales ceased in January, but elsewhere it’s business as usual. Some plan to boycott until EA makes pack odds clearer or implements an age rating, as neither is present here.
The issue isn’t all weighted one way. For those disciplined enough to avoid micro-transactions, Ultimate Team remains the best mode in all of sports gaming. Squad building challenges – in which you complete puzzles to earn superior cards – rely on skill rather than luck, and savvy use of the transfer market earns top players without spending a penny. A new XP system, where everything you do builds towards rewards such as Wilfried Zaha or Lucas Vázquez, also eliminates fortune from the equation.
Plus, for anyone weaned on Panini collections, opening packs is the most euphoric part: to remove any chance of randomly unearthing last season’s top scorer or your club’s cult hero would be to disarm the mode’s magic. Change seems inescapable, but an age gate feels like a more balanced compromise. Finishing your album never felt quite so fun when ordering specific stickers direct from the manufacturer.
Judge Fifa for its on-field abilities and you discover a football sim keen to deliver big, memorable moments: crazy, mazy dribbles and thunderbolts arrowed into the top corner. Defending is difficult, and 0-0 draws as rare as a VAR-free Match Of The Day episode. There’s no attempt to match PES 2020’s cerebral passing game: Fifa 20 is all-action all the time. It won’t suit purists, but the just-one-more-game pull at 11pm when you have work/college/school the next day is gravity-strong.
This is particularly true of Volta mode. Inspired by fan requests to exhume the Fifa Street series, it enables teams of six or fewer players to do battle in small arenas based on real locations. And it’s superb. Claustrophobic pitches prevent pace being overpowered, and passing and shooting are reassuringly snappy – while skill moves are equal parts outrageous and hilarious. You’ll chuckle at some of the celebrations, too. When was the last time a Fifa game successfully delivered humour?
Volta is best enjoyed using real-world teams, but its bespoke story mode also hosts light-hearted build-a-player amusement, albeit without the subtle performances that made Alex Hunter’s The Journey tale so likeable across Fifas 17 to 19. That, sadly, is gone – though some of its best elements now inform career mode.
For much of Fifa’s history, career mode was the series’ focus, yet this decade it’s taken on the mantle of sacrificial lamb to Ultimate Team’s more immediate dream-team thrills. As such any kind of upgrade is welcome, and being able to converse interactively with squad members and the press – as occurred in The Journey – does break up the match-match-match grind. Variable potential ratings for young players add longevity, too.
Whatever your mode of choice, the usual array of authentic teams and kits are included, with a noteworthy exception: Juventus are now exclusive to rival, Pro Evo, and rebranded Piemonte Calcio. Although player faces aren’t affected, it’s certainly curious to see Cristiano Ronaldo charging round in Sunday league garb. Still, one missing licence shouldn’t go down as a game-breaker. The new additions to Fifa 20 elevate it above “standard annual update” fare.
