FIFA Points are FIFA World’s virtual currency and can be used to purchase in-game items

FIFA World is in an ongoing open Beta, and the review reflects the game at the time of review. By basically taking the Ultimate Team concept introduced in 'FIFA 09' and moving it online, EA Sports has just launched the open beta for 'FIFA World,' a new kind of free to play online sports game for all soccer fans across the globe. The game marries 'FIFA 14's gameplay engine with a collectable card game as well as bringing a bit of RPG elements into your team building in the process.

I’m not sure if there’s a single person on this Earth who thinks there should be more FIFA games. The series has become a seemingly irreversible constant in this industry and continues to sell in stratospheric numbers, and whether you love it or hate it, a football fan or not, pretty much everyone has played a FIFA game. So it does seem a little odd, on first inspection, to hear that there’s a free-to-play version of the game currently in beta on PC. FIFA World may not be the equivalent of its big brother, but that’s precisely why it’s much more interesting. Football games have, for many years now, followed the same ritualistic structure, but FIFA World represents an intriguing step in a new direction.

The lack of aggressive monetisation may just be because this is an open beta and EA wants to ease people in, but if it were to remain this gentle then it might just wash away the bitter taste of the Dungeon Keeper fiasco. FIFA World's Ultimate Team still encourages you to buy packs, and flashes the famously elusive Team of the Week players in menus to entice players further, but without that initial outlay on the main game, spending a little money on FIFA World now and then feels more acceptable. Or at least it would, but I've played 50 matches so far and haven't felt it necessary to spend anything.



And while this is not that different than your run of the mill soccer game, the hook is in the fact that you build your team yourself. The players you can acquire are grouped into four classes. Bronze players are cheap and plentiful but don't offer great abilities and mostly top out at 65 in rating. Silver players range from 66 to 75 and Gold from 76 to 88. Players above 88 like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are 'Special' players and can only be unlocked via the transfer system (basically buying them from another user online) or buying card packs from the online store with FIFA bucks (which costs real money to acquire). Either way, if you want a transcendent player on your team, you're going to have to pay through the nose for one, just like in real life.

FIFA Points are FIFA World’s virtual currency and can be used to purchase in-game items. Larger FIFA Points packages include bonus points to give you more FIFA Points for your money. FIFA World FIFA Points cannot be used in other EA SPORTS FIFA titles such as FIFA 14. Here’s how FIFA Points work: you purchase a set number of FIFA Points and in turn, use those points to purchase in-game items, drawing down on your balance. This is a convenient way to purchase items as it simplifies the buying process.

You can add FIFA Points to your FIFA World account by clicking the plus sign next to your FIFA Points balance in the top left corner of the game or by clicking one of the Get FIFA Points buttons in the in-game Shop. You can also add FIFA Points on the website. Whenever you buy FIFA Points you receive a purchase confirmation email.

Key Features:

    Accomplishments – Complete challenges and earn rewards for in-game tasks revolving around gameplay, transfer market, tournaments, online play and more. Check FIFA World daily for limited time accomplishments that reflect activity from the real world of football and accomplish to earn coins, packs and XP!

    Match Invites – Challenge your friends to an Ultimate Team showdown and see who has what it takes to rule the pitch.
 
    EAS FC Social Hub – Capture and share spectacular goals and beautiful moments you create on the pitch and instantly post them to the in-game social feed. Keep up with your friends’ in-game activity and debate and discuss the latest results and highlights with the community.

Here are the FIFA World PC requirements:  

CPU with Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4GHz / Athlon II X4 600e @ 2.2GHz on Windows XP SP3 2GB / Windows Vista / Windows 7 4GB. 2 Gigabyte of RAM. DirectX 9.0c, Shader 3.0, GeForce 8800 GT / Radeon HD 3870. 3.96GB of free hard disk space (1.96GB initial download). Broadband Internet 1Mbit/s download, 256kbit/s upload.