If You Thought FIFA 20 Was Terrible, the Switch Edition Fares Worse
FIFA 20 is among the year's best-selling videogames but is hardly among the best. | Source: EA/Nintendo
This year’s iteration of EA’s soccer cash cow, FIFA 20, released last week and almost instantly garnered angered backlash from players on most facets of the game, with a particular focus on Career Mode. #FixCareerMode trended on Twitter as players pointed towards EA’s neglect of the mode which has long been a fan favorite in favor of the lucrative monetized Ultimate Team.
FIFA 20 Career Mode Completely Misses the Mark
On a granular level, FIFA 20 players report drastically unrealistic match results, botched lineups from AI teams, irrelevant post-game press conference questions, player hoarding, top-tier teams dropping down to lower divisions, sketchy ball clearances, questionable goalkeeper decisions, ineffective heading and crossing mechanics, match scheduling oddities (over 75 games in a season !?), and a raft of bugs.
In other words, a lack of realism for a game that touts itself as the pinnacle of footballing excellence. We called it first.
A red in the face EA, clearly rattled by the backlash, penned a length Q&A over the weekend that wavered between scrambled justifications for the perceived issues with Career Mode and promises of upcoming patches.
If you thought that was bad enough, then take a gander at what EA has conjured up for Nintendo Switch owners.
FIFA 19 In Disguise
EA has dubbed the Switch version FIFA 20: Legacy Edition and packs into that all too telling name nothing more than FIFA 19 with a roster and jersey design update. That’s it; no Volta mode nor any of the new gameplay features found in the PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One version of the footy sim.
The only noticeable difference is that all the in-game menus now sport 20 instead of 19, giving credence to a complaint that players oft-level at FIFA with each successive version: a thinly-veiled reskin if there ever was one.
And all this for $60.00 – the price of full AAA game.
By EA’s own admission ;
The FIFA 20 Legacy Edition will feature the same gameplay innovation from FIFA 19 without any new development or significant enhancements.
FIFA Bombs On Metacritic
Unsurprisingly, FIFA 20: Legacy Edition is the proud recipient of a 44 review score over on Metacritic, alongside what must be a record 0.1 user score. The full version hasn’t fared much better either, with the PlayStation 4 edition boasting a 1.2 user score as of writing.
Despite this, UK sales of the physical Switch version are rumored to be better than last year, while FIFA 20 is topping sales charts everywhere.
By this point, players only have themselves to blame. Buying FIFA 20 is akin to enabling EA’s predatory monetization and neglectful behavior.
All we can do is sit back and watch as Ultimate Team bolsters EA coffers in the months to come before we start this mad charade all over again come September next year.
FIFA 20’s overshadowed rival PES 2020 is looking like a mighty enticing proposition right now.
