5 Ways to Make the Most of EA Sports FIFA 19

It's the most exciting time of the year for any football fan: FIFA 19 launch week. It's been less than a week since EA Sports dropped the latest edition of the world's most popular sports game and you've probably waved goodbye to your social life ever since you got your hands on a copy.

Since the current generation of consoles dropped at the end of 2013, we've seen EA Sports keep up a pretty relentless pace when it comes to innovating upon the game we all know and love. FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) has developed from a part-time game mode into one of the most powerful forces in eSports, gameplay and physics have (mostly) evolved to unchartered heights, and in 'The Journey', EA Sports has reimagined what a sports game can be by introducing narrative and character development to a franchise previously built on pure simulation.

FIFA 19 sees more seismic changes. 'Kick Off' mode – untouched for the best part of 20 years – has finally been given a bit of impetus, FUT has been transformed yet again by a new form of competition, while overall gameplay and physics have been reinvented once more.

It's tough to keep track of everything that's happen – and even more difficult to know how best to experience and maximise each new feature. We're here to run you through the 5 things you need to do to make the most of FIFA 19.

While it's definitely easy to only play multiplayer FIFA online, or – when you do have friends over – to pile straight into FUT and enter a 'Draft', you should definitely take time to rediscover Kick Off mode in FIFA 19.

The most exciting addition to the mode is a host of new match types that change the way you play FIFA 19. As opposed to the standard 11 vs 11, there are five new 'House Rules' that will bring back playground vibes. Among those up for selection are: Headers & Volleys, Long Range (goals outside the box count for two), First to..., and No Rules, which is the closest FIFA is ever going to get to 'Red Card Football' on PS2.

The final 'House Rule' mode is Survival, which some have characterised as EA Sports' attempt to pull back some shine from Fortnite: Battle Royale. In Survival, each time a goal is scored, the scoring team loses a player at random – creating a new challenge for the player with a score advantage. It's pretty much football meets last man standing.

Each mode is a lot of fun and encourages different playing styles, breaking up the usual pattern of gameplay. Whether we'll still be playing these modes at the end of the game cycle remains to be seen but for now at least, they're refreshing and a lot of fun. This sort of reflexive thinking from EA Sports will only heighten expectations that we're slowly moving closer to a return of 5-a-side or a 'FIFA Street' mode in FIFA 20...

After low driven shots became the modus operandi to scoring lots of goals since its introduction in FIFA 17, EA Sports has introduced 'Timed Finishing' to revolutionise shooting mechanics.

While tapping shoot twice in quick succession previously resulted in a low, driven shot – doing so in FIFA 19 affects how perfectly your player strikes the ball. Tap shoot a second time too early or too late, and your striker is likely to either roll the ball harmlessly into the keeper's arms or shank the ball high into the stands.

The new mechanic is mostly window dressing – you can get by perfectly okay without using it at all, especially in one-on-one situations – but if you're a player with an eye for the spectacular, it's worth taking time to master this technique for acrobatic volleys or long range drives.

The technique is best used when you've got enough time to breathe before making your second tap – i.e. if it's a volley following a long aerial pass, tap shoot as soon as the ball is in the air and on its way to your striker, and then again a second or so later as the ball reaches your player's foot. Contrastingly, tapping it twice in quick succession in a goalmouth scramble – with players all around you – is a recipe for scuffed shots and wasted opportunities.

While it can be difficult to excited about the use of tactics in FIFA – it's not 'Football Manager' and never will be – newly-introduced 'Dynamic Tactics' is a genuine attempt to give gamers different tactical systems and play styles that suit the way they prefer to play the game.

'Dynamic Tactics' gives gamers the opportunity to create different tactical presets – with easy-to-use sliders – that you can switch to at different times of the game depending on how you're performing. These new options allow you tweak your offensive and defensive approaches, including pace of play, team width and passing style.

Selecting a 'possession' style of play will see your AI teammates making lots of short runs to make themselves available for the ball, while opting for lots of width in attack will see your wingers hug the touchlines while you've got the ball as oppose to making runs inside. It's easy to use and the affects are obvious, which is a big upgrade from previous tactical options on FIFA which weren't so visible. As you create your Ultimate Team, keep 'Dynamic Tactics' in mind as a way to really unlock your team's potential.

Another new FIFA year, another new Ultimate Team game mode to sink our life into. As FUT Champions and the Weekend League continues to be the end goal for most serious FUT players, FUT 'Division Rivals' is a new mode that brings a similar level of competitiveness into everyday play.

'Division Rivals' is replacing the pretty redundant 'Seasons' mode in FUT and unlike the latter, 'Rivals' has a direct correlation to FUT Champions – each match you play in 'Rivals' sees you collect qualification points that you can use to unlock access to the Weekend League. This should make the Weekend League more accessible to casual games – you no longer need to win 'Daily Knockout Cup' to qualify (also now removed from FUT).

Unfortunately, for those of you who used to win a 'DKT' in one or two attemps to qualify – meaning you could get to the Weekend League in as little as four games – 'Rivals' requires you to acquire 2,000 points to gain Weekend League qualification. In the lower 'Rivals' divisions (there are 10 different tiers), this can equate to around about 40 wins. This means entering the Weekend League every single week might be a thing of the past – unless you can truly commit your life to it. Your Weekend League qualification points do carry over week-to-week though, so you don't have to get 2,000 of them in every single period.

The bonus to this mode is that it hands out weekly rewards – much like the offline mode 'Squad Battles' – and these are pretty good. In another first for FUT, you'll be able to choose your reward – typically a choice between high-weight untradeable packs, mid-weight tradeable packs or straight up coins. Start grinding.

After making his debut in FIFA 17, this edition of the game gives us the final chapter in the Alex Hunter trilogy. The third part of 'The Journey' sees Alex Hunter complete his dream transfer by joining Real Madrid – while we also have a chance to get to know the mode's supporting cast a little better.

'The Journey: Champions' also gives us control of Hunter's best mate Danny Williams and Alex's sister, Kim, who's fighting to represent the US National Team at the FIFA Women's World Cup. Having such a prominent female presence in FIFA is a very positive thing, and this game mode deserves support from its user base for that alone.

While not much is new in 'The Journey: Champions' – the series follows the same basic premise of playing a match and then watching cut scenes – it's certainly worth seeing Alex's story out. This has been an important step for the FIFA franchise, and sports games generally. It'll be intriguing to see how much further EA Sports can take the idea of fusing an RPG and sports simulation together from here on in.

EA SPORTS FIFA 19 is available now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.