FIFA Volta is not good. I dedicated a paragraph to it in my 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:FIFA 22 review, because as a game mode that offers something completely different, I felt it was owed one. It also felt like a waste of time. No one buys FIFA to play🅷 Volta, and no one read my review to see how Volta stacked up. In fact, on𒁏e of the very things I mention is that as an online-facing mode, it’s immediately hampered by the fact no one is playing it. Celebrity endorsements from Lewis Hamilton, Anthony Joshua, and Dua Lipa helped a little last year, but there’s no in-game indication that they are coming back. Here’s the thing though - FIFA Volta could be massive.
How can a FIFA game mode no one plays ever be massive? That’s easy - take it out of FIFA. Volta is basically FIFA Street, a game that 168ജ澳洲幸𓆉运5开奖网:effectively died with the closure EA Sports BIG. While NBA Street is the more beloved iteration of the Street sport series, FIFA was arguably more successful, earning two sequels and a reboot - the only EA Sports BIG game at all to be rebooted once BIG was closed, in fact. 'FIFA Street should come back' is a thought I have pretty regularly, along with 'When are we getting Let's Go! Johto?', 'Jak and Daxter reboot when?', and 'fish fingers for tea tonight I reckon'. With Volta though, it feels like EA wants FIFA Street back too. So why's it not back?
Obviously, FIFA 22 sells more than FIFA Street on its own would, so having Volta included might be a good way to give it the gaming equivalent of a backdoor pilot. But this year the focus has been pushed from an offline story mode to more online play - considering no one plays it and therefore no matches are available, this isn't a great strategy. It also means FIFA Volta uses the same engine and controls as FIFA, rather than the tekkerz-heavy engine needed for FIFA Street. There's a weird 'auto trick' button for knock-ons, but other than that, all the gameplay is built for elite 11 v 11, not three on three streetball.
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FIFA has the underlying skills built in, and generally focuses more on arcade pace and high scoring clashes than the real game does, but it can't just be thrown onto the streets of Paris and be expected to adapt. A more cartoonish version of the game, designed specifically with Volta in mind, could be a game changer. Everyone wants EA Sports BIG back. I know dwindling sales figures caused the studio’s closure in the first place, but SSX Tricky, NBA Street, and FIFA Street are some of the most requested games for modern day revivals. Maybe just don't bother with Freekstyle, eh?
There's clearly some investment going into Volta. Nobody would really care if it wasn't there, yet all of the licensing deals, promotions, and celebrity cameos come in Volta. Part of that is that as a less serious mode it's easier to justify Dua Lipa pulling off rabonas, but another part must be because someone behind FIFA believes in it. Even if that belief is motivated by its marketing and streetwear tie-in potential, people will roll with that sort of stuff in a standalone title that's upfront about what it is. In FIFA 22, no one takes it seriously. As its own thing, it could exploit a gap in the video game sports market that it will never be able to fill while it’s anchored to the main FIFA series.