I only played 4 games last night but here is a mini review
Matchyday Live - it appears as if they eliminated the season component to matchday live, where in 13 you could play the next 4 games of any club's schedule. Maybe that was redundant since you could just pick them but I thought that was the best and most useful feature of downloading matchday squads and playing in this mode.
I chose the manchester derby as my first fifa14 game under Matchday Live. They had some boner for Fellaini because he was shown in every cut scene, talked about by the commentators repeatedly. First commentary was how disappointing that in his first game for his new club he went out with injury, even though he was in and healthy. Then, they congratulated him on his first hat trick even though the score was still 0-0.
Drop In Match - this was hilarious because it i played 3 matches, 5 v 5 or 6v6. No one knew what they were doing with the new feel.
You certainly cannot run up an down the pitch like you are playing basketball anymore. I am very pleased about this. The new play demands back passes but no one does this and I don't expect that will change. EA did us a big favor in slowing the game down and clogging the midfield better.
Joel, dreadlocks are locked. My VP started as an 80, not sure if that is tied to 13 or they just start you off stronger. I chose a playmaking DMF, and I noticed the value of stats categories were a little higher than where we started in 13.
Overall - I loved that the game play was slowed down. I played on "slow" setting offline and thought the pace was perfect. Online, this carried over well and didn't feel a big pace gain on Clubs Drop In.
You can no longer abuse the sprint button. I wouldn't hold the sprint button down to receive the ball unless plenty of green space in front of me because the first touch is a little more exaggerated than last season. Protect the Ball on clubs was nice.
Momentum is so much better. You have to plant a rear foot before starting up or changing direction. I imagine this feel is what angers most speed addicts but i love it. Perhaps a little too exaggerated but still, it is more realistic. EA most certainly just didn't give us only new kits and squads. At first, I thought it looked choppy, as if there were frame rate issues, but once you get a feel for what is going on it looks more natural.
Through balls feel different. I felt like you could put a ball on through in space for a winger more realistically. You can pass a ball between the LB and the keeper to have it end up deep in the deep corner for your running winger. In 13, the CPU would always unrealistically intercept this. But it is not a spam action, because even though you receive the ball, you won't be able to just turn it towards goal as the LB will cut you off. Seemed more realistic.
Overall, I felt the CPU allowed you conduct actions you could not do in 13. A lobbed ball is always met by the CPU head, but no more. There is better balance in cpu defensive ability. Less of a cheating feeling. It was noticeable in a few minutes of playing. But don't take this as weak CPU defense because they clog the hell out of the midfield.
I like this version. I am sure I will start griping later but I enjoyed what I played after my eyes got used to the differences.
