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We take a closer look at the IAPs in the iOS version of FIFA 14

Is money ruining football?

We take a closer look at the IAPs in the iOS version of FIFA 14
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iOS
| FIFA 14

To our slight surprise, FIFA 14 went live on the New Zealand App Store yesterday.

This has given us a chance to get some hands-on time with EA's latest digital incarnation of The Beautiful Game and find out what's changed after the transition from premium to free-to-play.

You actually get a decent chunk of game in FIFA 14 for nothing. Only one of the big modes is included in that initial free download, but there's definitely enough content here to enable you to get a feel for how the game plays and whether you're going to get along with the new touch controls.

There is a one-off payment to unlock the Kick Off, Tournament, and Manager modes. That's currently set at £2.99 / $4.99, which is on a par with the total cost of the previous instalments in this mobile series.

As you might expect, EA's big free-to-play 'push' takes place in the Ultimate Team mode. For those of you unfamiliar with Ultimate Team, it's essentially about collecting footballers to create your perfect line-up.

You buy packs of players with the gold you earn from playing, and you can trade with other players to boost your roster.

Alternatively, you can splash some real-life cash on FIFA Points. You can spend these on new packs, which come in a variety of bundles for a whole range of prices.

The IAPs look pretty well balanced in FIFA 14. During the short time I played with it, I didn't hit any sort of paywall. Technically, you could download the game for nothing and play Ultimate Team until the end of days for zero outlay.

There are some other neat touches in the game, and the touchscreen controls feel smooth. Plus, you can replay recent games from leagues around the world to see if you could have changed the result.

The game should be available globally on September 27th. In the meantime, though, why not check out our extensive hands-on preview with FIFA 14.

Note: This hands-on assessment of the IAPs in FIFA 14 is based on a game in 'soft launch', so any prices and mechanics are subject to change before the game's worldwide release.
Harry Slater
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.