“FIFA 19”: The latest and greatest game that brings “The Beautiful Game” of soccer and the ever-expanding world of video games together. That is at least what EA Sports, the creators of the game, would like everyone to think. While there is plenty wrong with this year’s rendition, loyal fans like myself are still going to play it for hours upon hours, as there is no other soccer video game with the budget and marketing to even come close to being considered “competition” with the FIFA brand. Although it is easy to pick at the negatives of the game, “FIFA 19,” released on September 28, 2018, is another respectable version of the yearly series.

It is safe to say the game has a goal-encouraging nature about it. After watching Nepenthez, a YouTuber with over 1.7 million subscribers play five games, I could not help but notice how massive the score lines were. From 6-5 to 7-3, it is clear to see that the game encourages goals upon goals.

When I got my hands on the game, I found it easy to put the ball in the back of the net, but only after learning the mechanics of the game that are necessary to exploit. Like all video games, some things work, and some do not. There is no room in this game for holding down the shoot button as hard as you can, as composed shots aimed to the corners seemed to find their way in all the time. Players will have to adapt to what works, or else they will quickly be left behind by higher skilled competitors.

Another thing I enjoyed about the game was the fluidity of the passing. Arguably the reason why so many goals can be scored, it seemed easy to effortlessly spring the ball from one end of the field to another. Additionally, players seemed to be able to dribble the ball with speed up and down the field, while defenders struggled to keep up.

Given the offensive firepower of the game, defense must come at its expense. It was certainly frustrating to concede so many goals, but obviously is something that must be accepted when the goals are flying in. It was hard to stay in front of attackers and on corner kicks, the offense always seemed to jump higher and get on the end of them.

Maybe the biggest concern of the game is Artificial Intelligence/computer involvement. As only one player can be controlled at once, the computer must do the rest, which made it extremely difficult to play defense while leaving trust in the hands of robots. When switching from one player to another, the transition was not smooth and certainly should be looked at being changed in the first update of the game in which bugs are fixed.

Overall, I certainly have no problem with spending $70 on “FIFA 19”, as I can always depend on the game to entertain and keep me engaged for long periods of time, especially when playing with friends. The little bugs and discrepancies of the game do not seem to ruin the fun of the game. I would encourage all who seem hesitant to get their hands on a copy and try it out.