Beyond the game's moment-to-moment action, FIFA 23 predictably focuses its improvements on the mode that makes EA the most money. The microtransaction-ridden Ultimate Team is flush with additions, but Career Mode and Volta Football barely get a look-in, which says much about EA's long-standing attitude to these modes, especially in this supposedly ornamental final FIFA-branded entry.

The same complaint we have with Madden NFL 23 and NBA 2K23: despite how we dislike how they have the advantage of tilting the playing field in the favor of the team who is paying the highest, enough players are playing and spending money on it that EA keep doubling down on FUT 23 Coins it instead of the balanced and fair modes we enjoy more.

FIFA 22 is the next digital football generation, although it's not reinventing the ball but the attacking and defense gameplay gains moment-to-moment fluidity. There are some visual glitches and goalskeeper mistakes aside this year's FIFA remains to be one of the most nuanced and enjoyable multiplayer sports games on the market, and new enhancements to Career Mode and Volta Football make FIFA's major modes more enjoyable to play.

Microtransactions continue to be a huge issue yet small tweaks as well as the performance of the latest generation consoles have made FIFA 22 feel like an important upgrade without anything groundbreaking or even terribly exciting by EA's side. - Jordan Oloman, September 27, 2021

Player Career has a new character system that lets you make the most dramatic quotes, take on the role of the player you choose to be. For me, this amounted to earning 25 'Maverick points in exchange for a 'High-end Hybrid Mattress' for a Serbian striker in the K-League so you can imagine how long I stuck with the system.

It is now possible to choose the real Manager (or Ted Lasso, however real you want him to buy FUT 23 Coins represent) to play in Manager Career and Manager Career, however, other than playing in the role of a mute Jason, or dress Eddie Howe in a lovely sweater, there's really no reason to enjoy the uninspiring cutscenes. The time you spend importing AFC Richmond for its brief novelty would have been better used on, like incorporating Women's Club Football into Career Mode, but that's still not in the game. It's unfortunate because the women's sport is an impressive example of the efficacy of EA's HyperMotion motion capture technology. It provides real-time animations that raise the intense tension.