Barefoot players, hexagonal penalty areas, goalposts made of candy sticks: none of these things are in FIFA 19. In making the official game of football’s governing body, series developer EA is hard pressed to deliver true surprises every time September rolls around.It’s had a good go this year, though: the Champions League appears for the first time in a decade, and neat tweaks freshen up the match engine – such as a new risk-reward shooting mechanic.After a top-secret four-hour playtest of FIFA 19, we delve into both of those additions in greater deal below – and explore five other things to look forward to when the game hits on September 28...Champions League content is just the ticketLast month FourFourTwo revealed that the Champions League was finally headed to FIFA, and it’s every bit as great as you hoped.Pre-match scenes featuring players walking out under the official arch and lining up for team photos immediately set CL matches apart from the rest of the game, while Derek Rae provides commentary that’s both fresh and distinctive. Colour man Lee Dixon isn’t quite so natural in his unfamiliar role, but the pair are a welcome break from the tired Martin Tyler-Alan Smith combination used elsewhere.Playing with Manchester City, FFT found ourselves swept up in the final against Bayern Munich, and smiled like idiots when Vincent Kompany lifted the famous jug-eared trophy after a narrow 1-0 win.It’s fully customisable – so you can swap City or Liverpool with West Ham or Burnley should you wish – and integrated through career mode and Ultimate Team. EA appears to have done a masterful job on its newest, most notable licence.Physics, and physicality, really matter nowIt’s fashionable to criticise FIFA, but those hoping EA have torn everything out and started again will be disappointed – this was never likely so deep into PS4 and Xbox One’s life cycles. FIFA 19 feels familiar from the outset, with player physicality the most noticeable change.Strong forwards and/or defenders can no longer be shunted off the ball, so you have to demonstrate patience and timing for Kompany to whip the ball away from Romelu Lukaku, rather than holding square and going through the back of him without punishment.50/50 challenges feel robust and occasionally painful, with new contextual animations throwing up highly varied results. Players sometimes stay on their feet, but at others land on knees, backsides or shoulders; loose balls spin away from danger (yes!) or into the path of an onrushing forward (no!). It all amounts to a significant improvement where physics, and physicality, are concerned.New shooting won’t be for everyoneWhile additional physicality is a change that’ll appeal to both casuals and hardcores, the other major on-field tweak skews more towards the hardcore player.It’s called precision shooting. By holding down the shoot button and then tapping it a second time, you can launch efforts on goal that are more accurate, and deliver extra curve – so long as the second button press is made at the instant your player releases the ball.If you’re a microsecond too early or late, you’ll shank the shot dreadfully – as FFT discovered when through on goal with Fernandinho. As in real life, finishing isn’t his forte, and our mistimed ‘precision’ shot ended up brushing corner flag rather than onion bag.Thankfully, general shooting is improved though, with particular threat coming from rangy 25-yarders. But the revised model will take serious practice, and may be something for Weekend Leaguers alone.You can finally choose how many players to send up for cornersHurrah! Sick of your team refusing to load the box even when 2-0 down with five minutes to go? That issue is finally eliminated; you can use the tactics menus to specify how many players go up for set pieces, to a maximum of five.The move is one of a series aimed at expanding your tactical options; other settings enable you to dictate back four depth and width, pressing levels and attacking styles.Four hours isn’t long enough to state that it works perfectly, but we like the change in theory, and it should reward players who look beyond pace when assembling a team.Facial likenesses seem Premier League-focused...againWe get to play as nine teams as part of our hands-on, and can’t resist spending 20 minutes searching for new player faces. These ‘starheads’ are a colossal deal for the FIFA community, and our results will delight Spurs fans. First-teamers Davinson Sanchez and Serge Aurier have both been scanned for the first time and look great, alongside youngsters Jan Foyth, Tashan Oakley-Boothe and Anthony Georgiou.News from outside the Premier League is less promising. Atletico’s Saul receives a long-awaited official likeness, yet team-mate Sime Vrsaljko remains distressingly bland-featured. Both Borussia Dortmund and Bayern suffer from similar generic-itis, with Roman Burki, Maximilian Philipp, Sandro Wagner, Leon Goretzka and Niklas Sule – to name just five – still lacking scans.EA keeping Ultimate Team details close to its chestDespite repeated pressing from FFT, EA insists it’s saving specifics of Ultimate Team for the Gamescom trade show which takes place from August 21-25.Even so, there are improvements you can bank on despite the publisher’s wall of silence. New Icons, for instance, seem incredibly likely given that four were added for the recent World Cup mode: Gary Lineker, Miroslav Klose, Hidetoshi Nakata and Bobby Moore.One of the game’s pre-order bonuses, meanwhile, is an 80-83 rated player selected from teams who’ve qualified for the Champions League – and the card back used to illustrate it is different from a standard FUT card. FFT suspects that means we’re getting a Champions League-specific ‘team of the matchday' each fortnight, in addition to the traditional ‘team of the week’ released every Wednesday. Watch this space for more news as soon as it’s confirmed.Career mode and The Journey fans are catered for tooAlex Hunter is back for a third season of The Journey, and EA says it’s just as much of a priority as the Champions League and Ultimate Team.“Keeping everyone happy is always the challenge, because we are quite unique in the industry in putting a game out every year,” says creative director Mat Prior. “There’s no luxury of a two- or three-year development cycle. I think we’re very good at it, and our approach is to produce a suite of features that work together.”“This year [the focus] was [acquiring] the Champions League licence, then integrating it throughout the game irrespective of user type. There are career mode users, FUT users, etc, and we have to make sure everyone [is catered for].“So Champions League is its own mode but also in kick-off, in The Journey, and in FUT, and you get that experience irrespective of what type of user you are. And you have to balance between core and new users. Time and resources aren’t infinite, but I think we do a pretty good job.”FIFA 19 is released for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC on September 28More FIFA 19 • New features you'd love on FourFourTwo.com
