Gameplay improvements from FIFA 14 include dribbling and increased accuracy in passing and first-touch mechanics. The game's campaign mode, Road to Rio de Janeiro, allows players to play through qualification and the actual FIFA World Cup. For only the third time in the history of World Cup video games, the entire qualification series will be playable. The 2010 version only presented the UEFA and CONMEBOL groups in their true to life form. Another mode, Road to Rio de Janeiro, will allow players to compete in an online tournament across the 12 venues of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It is similar in format to Seasons in FIFA 14 and Expedition mode from UEFA Euro 2012. Captain Your Country, Online FIFA World Cup, Story of Qualifying, and Story of the Finals modes from the 2010 edition returned to the 2014 edition. For the first time in the FIFA'' series, coaches as well as spectators, either in the stadium or through FIFA Fan Fest and generic viewing events worldwide, are included to improve the immersive feeling. Coaches and spectators will react to happenings on the pitch, from scoring a goal to getting a card and winning the World Cup. Then-FIFA president Sepp Blatter even appears to present the World Cup trophy to the captain of the winning team at the final.
Teams and venues
The game contains all of the 203 national teams that took part in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification process. The national teams of Bhutan, Brunei, Guam, Mauritania, Mauritius and South Sudan, all of which did not participate in World Cup qualifying, despite being FIFA members, do not feature in the game. Some teams have licensed kits as well as kits worn during the World Cup for select teams, while most get generic unlicensed kits which resemble their official kits. The game includes all 12 venues used at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, as well as stadiums from each qualifying region and a range of generic stadiums.
Soundtrack
The official song of the World Cup, "We Are One " by Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte, was included in the game's opening cutscene, as well as "The World Is Ours" by The X Factor USA contestant David Correy, which was soft drink company and World Cup sponsors Coca-Cola's theme song for the 2014 tournament. Additionally, the game features EA Sports Talk Radio, where players can choose one of three channels, each featuring a pair of pundits commenting on user-controlled teams' progress and answering e-mails, texts, and tweets. Andy Goldstein of TalkSPORT and Ian Darke of ESPN host one channel, while the Men in Blazers host the second channel and the third channel features the voices of Ian St John and Jimmy Greaves, famous for their partnership at ITV hosting Saturday afternoon football preview show Saint and Greavsie between 1985 and 1992. The game includes 34 tracks from artists all over the world including Australia, Canada, Israel, Mexico, the United States and Brazil.
Reception and platforms criticism
The game has been criticized for being available on only a few platforms. Despite releasing the game during the eighth generation of video game consoles, Electronic Arts decided against developing versions of the game for the PlayStation 4, the Xbox One or the PC, as there were several major regions in the world where such systems were not adopted widely enough, especially the host country, Brazil.
