FIFA Soccer 13 follows in the footsteps of its lineage by being the best-looking game of soccer out there. No, there isn't much competition out there, so that statement might not do the game justice. FIFA Soccer 13 is a crisp, attractive, and stunningly well-animated game. Even the quickest movements that we take for granted in real life are replicated with an astounding level of detail. Players jockey for the ball and collide more realistically than ever before, and it's obvious that the folks at EA Canada have watched a lot of soccer. As always, the interface is slick, giving the impression that this game really isn't playing around.

FIFA Soccer 13's soundtrack is every bit as varied and diverse as that of its immediate predecessors, though there's a heightened emphasis on party music and electronica. Personally, I've always thought soccer had a certain kind of punk edge to it, but that's just me. Martin Tyler's been a FIFA mainstay for quite a while now; he and Alan Smith's commentary is par for the course, which is shorthand for imperfect, but solid at the same time.

I find myself in a tricky situation. I'm no more than a casual sports fan across the board. I like my Tigers and I like my Saints, but that's about it. Soccer just isn't a game I'm personally invested in. Having reviewed FIFA Soccer 11 two years ago, I can say with no hesitation that FIFA Soccer 13 is better. However, I did not play FIFA Soccer 12; if the major improvements I've noticed between 11 and 13 were introduced last year, you may only end up paying for roster updates and the smattering of new modes and features.

Fortunately, the underlying game is still stellar, and it offers a healthy supply of online and offline modes guaranteed to keep soccer fans busy for months to come. From standard exhibition matches to Ultimate Team, there's a lot to do. Whether you want to build and manage your teams and squads or just get to the action, FIFA Soccer 13 has something to offer to fans of all kinds. Lots of the management stuff seems to favor the hardest of hardcore, but it's designed well enough to keep their attention. Personally, I couldn't care less about cards and statistics, but I'm sure many will.

The Skill Games are a great series of challenges that also act as impromptu training exercises. There's an art to playing FIFA well, and these little diversions allow you to practice the finer points of virtual soccer.

More and more games these days have their own feature that encapsulates the entire experience. Need for Speed has Autolog, and FIFA now has EA Sports Football Club. This is a quasi-social network/persistent upgrading system. You can assemble your team and use credits you earn to purchase unlockables. It's nice and enticing, but the solid gameplay is enough to keep you coming back anyway, rendering the Football Club little more than sweet butter cream icing on the top.

With games like FIFA Soccer 13, you're required to look at the difficulty through two perspectives: off and online. If you've played a FIFA game in the past, this one will gauge your recommended settings regarding controls and play style. It got it completely right for me.

In terms of actually playing the game, your skill will be partially influenced by how well you actually know the game. If you spend each match beelining for the ball regardless of which player you're controlling, you're going to have a bad time. You'll have double the bad time if you push the physical abilities of your players too far past their limits.

If your experience with soccer is limited, rest assured that the legions of FIFA faithful out there are ready to clean their cleats with you. A lot of the people I've been playing with have clearly been playing for a very long time. Either that, or I just plain suck at the game, which is absolutely possible. After all, it's one thing to school the computer, but another thing entirely to go up against a flesh and blood opponent.

Excellent controls are a hallmark of the FIFA series, and there was no need to fix anything this time around. Thankfully, EA Canada didn't try to. Everything is responsive within reason, and if it's not, it's simply because you're doing something wrong. You might think that it's incredibly complicated if you're inexperienced or looking at the remarkably complex player animations, but once you actually get your hands on the controller, those worries will evaporate almost immediately.

A few things in particular feel different about FIFA Soccer 13. The first is a big one: defense in general. Tackles used to be almost completely automated; I remember holding a single button down and homing in on my quarry. That's not possible in this year's installment. You can still hold the tackle button down, but your player won't go in for the kill unless you press the button again -- and an improperly-timed press will result in the attacker beating you every time. It's a smartly-designed system that forces you to weigh the risks of aggressive playing in the same manner that real life soccer players must.

I played FIFA Street, so the second big change didn't surprise me as much. Dribbling can be automatic if you so choose, but if you mess around with the Right Analog Stick, you will control exactly where the ball goes in relation to your feet. Of course, this mirrors NHL's juking system, but soccer and hockey have enough in common to make this mechanic feel natural enough.

I always grimace when I see the purple stripe at the top of an Xbox 360 case that sports the always-dubious claim "Better With Kinect Sensor." I don't own one, but soccer fans who do own one and are dying to get some use out of theirs can opt to change their tactics with voice commands. Provided it's functional, that's a neat touch if you're into that kind of thing.

Hardcore soccer fans will already have purchased their copy of FIFA Soccer 13 by the time this review goes live. The ones on the fence should at the very least give this one a rental. However, there's a certain air of familiarity with the entire package, and not everybody is going to be so eager to pay full price. However, I can't imagine anyone being disappointed with the game itself, as it's the pinnacle of sports gaming -- at least as far as I'm concerned.