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Parents' Guide to

FIFA 19

By Marc Saltzman, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 10+

Ad-heavy Champions league play shoots and scores.

Game Nintendo Switch , PlayStation 4 , Windows , Xbox One 2018
FIFA 19 Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

  • FIFA 19 Screenshot #1
  • FIFA 19 Screenshot #2
  • FIFA 19 Screenshot #3

Community Reviews

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age 7+

Based on 3 parent reviews

Matt19
Matt19 Adult
June 12, 2020
age 3+

The worst football game in the world!

If you want to play or buy FIFA 19, think again! If you grew up with the classics don't bother with his game! The shooting has really really messed up this year. You get 3 things, smashing it over the bar, smashing it wide or tapping it to the goalkeeper. You rarely get it on target. Even toddlers and primary school kids can kick it better than those useless professional players! The only sensible teams are the computer controlled ones. Why charge £50 for a useless game! I just want to play football without all the new rubbish they added this year. For example the league tables has messed up a bit. In the previous editions you could see all of the table. This one you can't. Also the penalties are so messed up you end up missing or them being saved by the keeper. Rubbish! Transfer window is pointless too try signing a player they end up rejecting most of the time! If you want to get frustrated and disappointed, this is the game for you. Stop messing up EA I will never play this FIFA or future ones. Shame on you.
Matureone
Matureone Parent of 7 and 8-year-old
September 27, 2019
age 16+

Disaster

I have an 8 year old son and he advised that to build your perfect team as a competitive child you need to buy points to move on in the game, to build a dream team with the best players... £300 later we realised he had spent the money building his “dream team”. That aside on further research it suggests that the strategies used in these games are preparing children minds for gambling and taking great risks, I don’t know about you, but I think it’s a disaster. I would advise that parents monitor and supervise play in younger children so that they can interject and advise to play responsibly and that it is fun. Children should not be looking to these devices for esteem and self worth. The Xbox is now sold and the £300 replaced, we may consider it again when he is older. Big mistake.
See all 3 parent reviews

What’s It About?

Like past games in this franchise, EA Sports' FIFA 19 is a soccer simulation that lets you play as or against your favorite professional teams from around the world, or you can create a new player from scratch and begin a journey to stardom, on and off the pitch. FIFA 19 introduces a few new features, including, for the first time, the prestigious UEFA Champions League (to engage in a dramatic tourney with any European club, or create your own). It packs in the third and final installment of the story-driven narrative, The Journey, called Champions, a new mode in the popular FIFA Ultimate Team mode (including support for live updates), and additional leagues in Career mode. There's also a refreshed Kick Off mode featuring new match types, stat tracking, and more, as well as new commentary tracks from Derek Rae and Lee Dixon (UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and Super Cup tournaments). In the gameplay department, EA Sports has integrated its Active Touch System found in other sports games, to add some extra control, timing options, and finesse to players on the pitch.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3 ):
Kids say (11 ):

While Career mode and some gameplay features are starting to feel old, this is still an attractive and ambitious soccer sim that gets a lot of gameplay right. FIFA 19 has included new modes and made some updates to existing ones to add a little more meat to the soccer experience. The new Champions League license rounds off the other modes nicely. Along with its sister Europa League, Champions League is a fresh new experience, punctuated with the Dixon-Rae commentary. This is added along with all-new elements, including a new league theme, ball, music, and more. The Ultimate Team mode was also super fun this year for its easy pick-up-and-play accessibility, solid pacing, and strong production values. Another highlight was the latest -- and dramatic finale -- to the story mode, The Journey. While it might not have the replayability of a regular soccer match, it's an engaging and rewarding experience, with memorable characters, strong writing, and the option to play as the main character, Alex Hunter, his sister Kim, his friend Danny Williams, or a surprise addition to the storyline.

But aside from these new extras, and more responsive handling, it does still feel like something is missing here. Maybe it's the bland Career mode, limited Pro Clubs, or a reduced goaltending focus. Rather than an across-the-board improvement over all modes and features, there are clearly some modes that have gotten a larger amount of developer focus, while the other modes have just floated along on the strength of older installments. But overall, if you want a pretty game with a ton of licenses and modes, there's a lot to like about FIFA 19 -- just know that there's also still a bit of room for improvement.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about consumerism in FIFA 19, which is full of branding, including logos, clothing labels, billboards, and broadcast graphics. Is it OK that the publisher makes money from gamers and advertisers, too? Is product placement harmful?

  • Do you prefer to play as male soccer players or as female ones in FIFA 19? What is the basis for your choice? Do you think adding female soccer players to the game could encourage more women to play soccer on consoles or in real life?

Game Details

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