For those who’re wondering what big changes and additions EA Sports will be bringing to FIFA 19 besides what’s already been announced, EA Sports have some pretty big and interesting news for you. Kick-Off mode, which is basically the one match, pick-up-and-play exhibition matches of the FIFA series, will be introducing some pretty goofy customization options that will allow players to add new twists to their matches.
One variant of matches is going to introduce a Last Man Standing-style rule, as revealed in previews at both, Eurogamer and IGN. According to creative director Matt Prior, this is inspired by the Last Man Standing mode that was last seen in 2012’s FIFA Street. Essentially, every time you score a goal, one of your players gets sent off (picked randomly), while the standard FIFA rules of having a minimum number of players on the pitch persists, meaning if you have less then seven players on the pitch, you lose the match.
Of course, this also means that the more goals you score, the less players you have and, in turn, the more vulnerable you are to attacks by the opposite side. This, of course, opens up some interesting possibilities- try to score more goals so that you win by having the edge in the scoreline at full time, or go all in all defence and park the bus right from the get go rather than choosing to attack, since scoring more goals not only makes you more vulnerable, but also opens up the possibility that you might lose the match by default if you don’t have the minimum required amount of players.
What’s even more interesting is that the commentary duo of Martin Tyler and Alan Smith will be remarking about this rule as part of their commentary (if you have it turned on, of course), as well as commenting on the possible tactics and strategies that might come into play as a result. Certainly sounds interesting, to say the very least.
There are other things you can fiddle around with as well, as far as rules in Kick-off games are concerned. For instance, you can turn off refereeing altogether, which takes fouls, cards, and offsides out of the picture, while another rule makes it so that only goals that are scored from headers or volleys are counted, and all others are simply disallowed.
As a FIFA fan myself, as well as a fan of the sport, this piques my interest a great deal. FIFA has been known for trying to be utterly authentic in its simulation of the sport for a long time, and now that it has more or less nailed down that aspect, it’s good to see it trying to shake things up and go for more unique and fun twists on how one plays the game.
Also, it should be noted that this is only going to be available in Kick-off matches. So while local multiplayer games against your friends on the couch are definitely going to be a lot spicier, online matches will remain the same as always. Who knows, maybe they’re just testing the waters right now, and if this proves to be successful, they might decide to go all in on it in future instalments. Additionally, whether or not this is going to be part of the game’s Nintendo Switch version as well is something neither of the two aforementioned previews confirmed.
FIFA 19 launches for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC on September 28.
