FIFA 23 finally gets real innovations again: Standards are much more data-based, for free kicks we specify exactly the trajectory, pay attention to the stats of our kicker, decide exactly where we want to kick the ball. Also, everything about new sprint types, technical dribbling, the coolness attribute and the pro mechanic power shot. FIFA 23 – The world premiere.
FIFA 22 made only small steps forward, with FIFA 23 EA Sports finally wants to make a leap again: Completely new standards, new sprint mechanics, technical dribbling, HyperMotion 2.
FIFA 23
and it feels surprisingly different from FIFA 22, for example when cover star Mbappé flicks the ball up with his studs, then heels the leather just above his head and volleys it away. Everything is a shade more individual.
Not revolutionary, FIFA is still FIFA, and soccer isn’t Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, it doesn’t reinvent itself every year. But we really like how spritely Mbappé feels. His drive, how he pulls off sprints and rows his arms. Or even how he pulls off his nasty feints – leaning to the right, pulling through on the left. Or even tunneling the defender, giving the ball just enough spin that it bounces off the studs and the opponent accidentally gives us the deadly pass.
One of FIFA 23’s biggest innovations is much more data-driven standards: Distance to goal, trajectory calculation, player’s stats, completion percentage – all of which gives us much more brain fodder to put the thing in nicely with free kick god Toni Kroos
Then there are completely new sprint mechanics. Players are now differentiated into three categories: explosive sprint, controlled, and long-term sprinter. That’s interesting because these types of players can often dominate a team’s strategy. For example, in the German national team, we had a defensive leader in Philipp Lahm who provided an enormous number of set pieces for goals because, although he wasn’t the fastest, he was an absolute endurance runner. He permanently ran the whole distance from back to front, which made the German game very unpredictable. FC Bayern still uses this tactic today to keep an incredible amount of pressure on the opponent’s goal for almost the entire match, a true German virtue. Borussia Dortmund also drives this hard pressing.