Free kick. Penalty. In the real game these words are likely to be greeted with expectant joy from supporters and players on the right side of the decision. In the Fifa series, though, they often invoke indifference or even dread.

My free kick attempts will tend to go anywhere row Z, out for a throw in, into another game rather than the goal. Most of the time, I just opt for a short pass. And penalties? The controls seemed so sensitive I always ended up tapping most of mine limply down the middle.

Last year, however, the Fifa development team at EA Sports finally realised something had to be done, so they introduced Skill Games, a selection of mini-challenges designed to teach you how to use various in-game moves and systems. The shooting and crossing ones were useful, but the set-piece tutorials were a bloody revelation, finally letting average gamers into an arcane world of penalty-taking confidence. Now, at least 68% of my kicks go into one of the corners of the net, rather than into the fuzzy face of a simply animated spectator. And it’s great because it doesn’t feel like a tutorial mode: in each challenge you can continually improve on your performance so it’s like a series of mini-games. It’s little wonder then that this new feature has been a success.

More interesting though are the team mate exercises. In one, your player has to run the length of the pitch making one-two passes with other players en route, before finally shooting. Better still, there’s a little group task, where seven players in a small box must one-touch pass the ball between them for as long as possible as defenders run about trying to intercept. This one will be familiar to anyone who’s actually played for a team, and brings more of a sense of actual football practise to the mode.

Elsewhere, the studio is making some key changes to the Career Mode, which lets you compete as a manager or player over a number of seasons. The user interface is being completely overhauled to make it easier to navigate and more logical the squad screen, for example, has a nice graphic of your first eleven, with each icon showing a range of stats so you get a visual representation rather than having to drill down into multiple screens. From the brief glimpse I got, there’s a slight look of Windows 8 about it all it has that clean, box-based feel.

Fifa 14 is also adding a new global scouting network, which will allow managers to set up searches for fresh talent based on player traits and tendencies rather than stats. This is about creating a much more authentic system. “A manager doesn’t search the ratings, you can think about the types of players you want and scout based on that,” says the company.

EA will no doubt be revealing more about multiplayer aspects as we head into summer. And while the release date is likely to be the end of September, the big question is over what formats the game will appear on. EA hs made it clear that they will only be discussing the PS3, Xbox and PC versions of the game which of course, pretty much confirmed that next-gen versions will be announced. It’s likely we’ll get Fifa 14 for current platforms in September, then updated special editions for the new PlayStation and Xbox platforms later.

One thing’s for sure, we can expect ever closer integration with the real sport and an increasingly pervasive feel to the series. Last year’s Match Day feature ripped information and stories from the actual season and put them into the commentary and player form stats. Meanwhile, the EA Sports Football Club smartphone app also allowed Ultimate Team fans to play around with their squads while on the move. EA Sports is keen on expanding these elements it wants us to be constantly in touch with the game; on phones, tablets and consoles, wherever we are, checking team info, tweaking formations, comparing real-world news to in-game seasons. Of course, some people hate all of this, but it’s increasingly where big gaming franchises are going and it will get much more interesting with the next-gen machines.

Guardian News and Media 2013