FIFA 2019 seems intent on throwing caution to the wind when it comes to the rules of the beautiful game with a new aptly named House Rules mode. We’re definitely not complaining.
As you’d expect, the next entry in EA’s clockwork-like yearly men-running-around-kicking-a-ball simulator features many of the kick off modes that have made the series a stalwart of sports gaming. Best of Series, Cup Final, and Classic Match are back among others as well as the newly licensed UEFA Champions League mode, which EA deftly pried away from Konami.
However, the standout reveal in a news post over on the EA Sports site was the House Rules mode. Say you’ve always been attracted to a looser interpretation of the rules or ever wanted to forego them completely, then House Rules allows you to do just that. EA have revealed five sub modes.
Survival Mode: pop the ball into the back of the net and one of your players gets booted from the game. The idea is to give the trailing team a chance to catch up, though upon doing so they would lose a player too. So on and so forth. As with real world football, should any team get down to 7 players the game will be called off and the highest scoring team awarded victory.
No Rules: Go in for those leg breaking tackles or have a man permanently posted in front of the opposition’s goal without having to worry about being booked. No referee, no rules.
Long Range: Goals scored from outside of the hallowed box are rewarded with two goals on the scoreboard. Go for those 50 yard belters in this one.
First To…: This mode is all about establishing fun win conditions such as first goal wins, or if your looking for a long session, first to 30 goals.
Headers & Volleys: Only goals scored from acrobatic aerial maneuvers count, as do free kicks and penalties. Any other time the ball reaches the back of the net, it won’t convert into a goal on the scoreboard.
These five modes offer a breadth of options to spice up the sometimes repetitive nature of FIFA matches. But, EA have not revealed whether more customization options will feature and the developer would be remiss not to offer more options to players. House Rules could potentially be the ultimate customization mode where players are given a blank slate to assign fun variables to all and every aspect of the game.
