Before I begin my rant, I want to tell you something. Me and my friend have been playing FIFA at least once a week for a couple of hours for years. So I would consider us to be fairly decent at the game. We play various game modes, against other players online. We very rarely play against each other, though. So we know how each other play and this works to our advantage when playing online.
However... With the new generation of FIFA, things are different. With FIFA 13, we would play, let's say 15 games in an evening, and win roughly 13 of them. On FIFA 14, nope. We'll play roughly 15 and win about 8. Now, I'm not saying the game is too hard. We've found that when a guest is added, it just becomes a lot more difficult. My friend decided to have a game by himself and won comfortably. I joined him for the next game and we struggled so much. This happens time and time again. We know we play well together, because of having played for so many years.
I fully understand that when two people are playing online against one, there are certain advantages. Like you can make your own runs, or cover for your friend. So it's understandable that AI assistance is decreased. The annoying thing, however, is that it's too much in certain areas of the game. The run assistance is fine. But defending is something completely different. When we play a game, the opponent's AI makes a fair amount of interceptions. Does our AI do that? Not really, no. The ball seems to roll passed them without the player sticking a leg out. I know, it's just a game. But it really is infuriating when the opposition receives a "helping hand" as it were.
This doesn't just happen to me and said friend. He and his girlfriend also have the same difficulties that we experience. I just can't get my head around how much more challenging it can be to play, compared to the previous FIFA. I want to like FIFA 14, I really do. It's good fun having a tournament between a few friends, but it will definitely take more time to get used to and enjoy multiplayer online play.
