FIFA 19 was officially presented at E3 in Los Angeles. Since then, a video of the playable demo with the first in-game gameplay has been circulating on the internet.
The release of FIFA 19 is on September 28, 2018 and it will be available for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and the Switch. Since E3, there has been a lot of news and information about the new installment of the football simulation. If you want to stay up to date, you should check our overview article on FIFA 19 – we update this regularly.
Leak shows Champions League match between PSG and Juventus
In the 15-minute video, we see gameplay from the Champions League final between Paris St. Germain and Juventus Turin. Two visitors at the E3 event reportedly played against each other and recorded the video with in-game material.
Especially the passing game looks a bit shaky, but we obviously don’t know the level at which the players are playing FIFA.
Three goals, as they often only happen in FIFA
Goal 1: At minute 1:45 you see the first goal of the match. Paris crosses from the wing to the center, where Neymar stands in the back and shoots from a turn towards the goal. The shot actually goes wide, but at the edge of the five-yard box, Rabiot is standing and brings the ball to goal. The shot goes directly to Buffon, but he cannot control the ball, and it rolls over the line.
Goal 2: The second goal happens at minute 4:55. A long ball into Dybala’s run is safely intercepted by the defender. He wants to play back to the goalkeeper, but the pass is too short, Dybala gets a touch and blocks the clearance attempt. Higuain skillfully converts the rebound.
Goal 3: In the third goal, starting at minute 5:40, Cavani receives the ball in front of the penalty area. He powers through against several defenders with some luck and then gets the ball past Buffon.
Our Game Analysis
Goal Analysis: Even though especially the first two goals look a bit like FIFA slapstick, it should be put into perspective. The defender’s back pass during the second goal was simply poorly executed, and the first goal can also often happen in reality – only the goalkeeper error makes it look bad. The third goal was fine, again the defender was inconsistent in clearing the ball.
Passing Game: Both players seem to have problems with passing. This correlates with the reports from other players who got to test the FIFA 19 demo. Passing is said to be more difficult, especially when turning and under pressure. While this sounds bad at first, it could ensure that the close diamond formation and quick short passing will be nerfed a bit. Additionally, the passing stats of players like Kroos or Thiago would finally matter more.
Dribbling: According to multiple reports, a lot has been done regarding dribbling. In FIFA 18, with the new “tight ball control”, it was possible to dribble well with almost any player once you figured out the mechanic. This is said to have changed. At minute 8:35, there is a nice scene showing the dribbling. Dani Alves has a good dribbling stat and it looks beautiful how he weaves through the defenders. In contrast, at minute 11:45, you can see Rabiot, who is less of a dribbling artist, struggling with ball control and holding the ball primarily due to his robustness.
What Else Caught Our Attention
The HUD: On the minimap at the bottom center, both teams had circles as symbols in FIFA 18. With some colors, these were hard to distinguish. In FIFA 19, one team has circles and the other has triangles – this should resolve this issue.
Passive Player Triangle: As we know, above the selected player is a red triangle, and with multiple players at one console, it can also be a different color. New with FIFA 19 comes the passive triangle. Thus, the defending team has an additional gray triangle above the passive player. This player is the one who pressures the opponent while passively defending using the R1 or RB button, and simultaneously the player you switch to if you want to switch players using the L1 or LB button.
The Goal Kick: Previously, when changing direction during a goal kick, the camera would pivot. This would reveal to your buddy on the couch where your goal kick was going. Here, it looks like the entire field is in view from the width. Thus, this problem should also be history.
Our Conclusion
FIFA 19 looks beautiful, especially with the Champions League and everything that comes with it. There is not much to say about the modes yet. It will be exciting to see what the new licenses mean for Ultimate Team and hopefully for the Career Mode.
The gameplay in this clip looked a bit shaky at times. However, it is quite possible that this was mainly due to the more difficult passes. Additionally, we also do not know if the testers actually play FIFA regularly. It would be welcome if they had to approach the gameplay more slowly and carefully.
The dribbling looks great, the shots were a bit inaccurate, but as mentioned: Often, the problem lies with the controller. Only the goalkeepers were extremely disappointing again; hopefully EA will make adjustments before the release.
In summary: FIFA 19 looks similar to FIFA 18, with more challenging passing and some minor improvements. However, there is still much time until the demo, and it is safe to assume that EA will make quite a few changes to the gameplay. All that remains is to wait until September to try the gameplay out for yourself!
