This aspect of FIFA 23 offers a choice of 21

[Meade Dorian]

The next update to the FIFA series arrives mere months after the World Cup edition, but the 2007 edition of EA’s game looks to be shaping up nicely FIFA 23 coins. It plays quite a different game to last year’s iteration, with a more free-flowing and unpredictable style than we’ve previously seen. We’ve had a number of opportunities to try it out in the run-up to release, and you can read about the advancements made to the engine in our previous coverage. With the final PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable editions now in our hands, we thought we’d run through some of the other aspects of the game ahead of our full definitive review.

The right analog stick can be used to perform some nice special moves.

One of the more difficult elements to assess during our previous play tests was the management mode. This aspect of FIFA 23 offers a choice of 21 different preset avatars (including four women), who can represent you at any club in the game. It’s typical from the exquisitely presented series that you’ll first see in the game an officially licensed newspaper report on your signing, but the way that FIFA 23 reacts to the likelihood of your signing is nice. Go for an average club such as Blackburn Rovers as a new manager and the papers will shrug their shoulders, but head to a quality club and British newspaper The Sun will exclaim, ‘Where did Arsenal find this guy?’

Dig beneath the surface, and FIFA 23 is no match for a dedicated simulation, but the management mode allows you more depth than simply playing through a normal tournament. All the basics such as training, transfers, and signings are covered, and you can choose to play any of your fixtures or watch them summarised in text form. The main considerations for FIFA 23 managers are quite simple–play your team’s star player often to appease the fans and work on finding young stars to be nurtured into the first team.

You only have one scout with which to search one country at a time, and while you’re trying to find the next Wayne Rooney, you also need to focus on upgrading your backroom staff. There are other minor considerations, such as the ticket price for your grounds and the sponsorship of your kit, but aspects such as training are lightweight buy FUT 23 coins. You seem to have a better chance of winning games with a poor team if you play the matches yourself, so if you’re going for the management experience, it’s best to watch the text-based match reports. Also, you can transfer your 15-year career to a PlayStation Portable and play your game on the move.