One play and its aftermath fairly summarize the subtle distinction of FIFA 15 from the five-year run of best-in-class offerings that preceded it.
It was beyond the 90th minute in a match between FC Barcelona, one of the best teams in the game, and Tottenham Hotspur, under my frantic direction. We'd given up a goal at the end of the first half and now I was looking at a 1-0 loss. I sent the entire team into an all-out attack.
Then the miracle happened. Not only did it look like one, it felt like one.
My goalkeeper scooped up an indifferent Barcelona shot and boomed the ball well past midfield. Federico Fazio chest-trapped it and, in one motion, turned and lobbed a soft ball to Emmanuel Adebayor, steaming in from the left. The striker headed it into the back of the net past the bewildered defenders and a frozen goalkeeper. It must have taken less than 10 seconds, start to finish.
Adebayor raced to the corner flag, pursued by nine delirious teammates, and was pinned to the ground. White Hart Lane shook; the speakers poured forth the crowd's joy. The camera vibrated as the images cycled-there's Messi! Head down, hands on hips! Absolutely stoic.
In that scene are the key ingredients of the FIFA 15 experience: the new television presentation, the emphasis on player reactions and emotions, a lucky bounce or two from the new momentum-based physics added to the ball, a goalie caught flat-footed, and a big goal. Absolutely the big goal.
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