FIFA 23 marks the end of an era as the final instalment of FIFA and EA Sports’ long-running partnership – and they’re going out in style.

From next year, any future FIFA games will have a different team behind them, while the gaming giant will have turned its attention to EA Sports FA.

Thankfully, gamers can be optimistic for the future with this year’s edition proving to be a storming success on and off the pitch.

Jumping straight into the gameplay itself, there’s a lot to get excited about this time round, with the new sprint feature – known as AcceleRATE – providing a welcome twist and putting a bigger focus on pace.

Now, players are sorted into three categories – controlled, lengthy and explosive – which determines whether they are quick off the mark with instant pace or take a bit of time before nailing their top speed.

WORK TO DO

Each player feels more dynamic when you have the controller in your hands, although there is some work to do in terms of where certain players are placed in this system.

EA has also introdued a new ‘power shot’ to the action this year, which gives gamers a chance to make some space for themselves to aim and unleash a powerful and accurate shot at the goal.

The risk element here is the extended animation which gives defenders time to interrupt, but the reward is high when you get it right.

As well as more passing options in terms of body parts, there’s a useful tool added for defenders this time round in the form of an aggressive slide tackles to really get the ball out of the way.

CIRCULAR TARGET GONE

Perhaps the biggest overhaul this year – not including the Hypermotion2 feature, which we’ll get to – is set pieces, which have a whole new system to get to grips with.

Gone is the circular target, in its place a graphic letting you choose exactly where the player will hit the ball, as well as direction and spin, while a similar approach is taken on corners.

Penalties come with a new timing system taking the form of an expanding and contracting ring around the ball, and, while naturally the player’s stat will play a key role here, so too does the actual time of the spot kick as the drama amps up later in the game.

Now, back to HyperMotion2, which only features on Xbox Series X/S, Playstation 5, Stadia and PC.

Although we played the game on Xbox One, those on next-gen consoles can enjoy a rich experience benefiting from full motion capture from both matches and training sessions, with the crowd and whole package looking much more believable.

The career mode is fun with the usual tweaks, including customisation and the chance to play as real world maangers like Jurgen Klopp, Erik Ten Hag and Mikel Arteta, while there are plenty of immersive cutscenes to make negotiations and transfers more dynamic, plus the addition of player personalities.

The hugely popular Ultimate Team mode has been given a major boost in terms of chemistry, which players will now receive from teammates at club and national level regardless of position, which means the mode itself doesn’t rely quite as much on microtransactions.

Moments are also new for this game, with mission to complete in a single-player mode to get stars, although you can only play if the required star is already in your team.

WELCOME MOVE

Volva remains largely unchanged from previous years, besides the addition of a track to earn rewards.

Finally, EA Sports has made a welcome move by introducing women’s club footballs, after previously only including national teams.

Overall, there was a lot of pressure on the studio to deliver something special and definitive, both for the ‘FIFA’ legacy and to inspire confidence for EA Sports FC.

Thankfully, they’ve delivered in spades with a fantastic effort that, while not perfect with some minor gameplay gripes, takes great strides and is undoubtedly a wonderful portrayal of the beautiful game.