I was one of the many to line up outside GameStop at 11:45 p.m. and get my pre-ordered copy at 12:01 a.m. It was worth the brief wait.

FIFA 14 offers the rare mix of visually pleasing and challenging gameplay that soccer fans are used to from game developer Electronic Arts, or EA.

At about 12:30 on Tuesday morning, I scored my first goal, a header by Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge off a cross by captain and midfielder Steven Gerrard.

I beat Everton 1-0 in the Merseyside derby, and was only slightly annoyed by the commentating of Martin Tyler and Alan Smith because they kept talking about Liverpool signing Mamadou Sakho and how he scored a hat trick and was given a red card in the game I was playing — I didn’t even have Sakho in my starting XI.

Still, I was impressed by the immediate update EA put out for the game.

Everybody at the midnight release was complaining because Mesut Özil wasn’t on Arsenal and Gareth Bale wasn’t on Real Madrid. Before you could advance to the kick-off mode, you had to download an update that made all transfers, loans and injuries current.

The biggest competitor to FIFA, Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer, or PES, is getting rave reviews for their FOX engine that makes the players look even more lifelike, but compared to FIFA 13 and the PES demo, FIFA 14 is just as good. Özil even has his characteristic beady eyes.

The game is fluid, the artificial intelligence is smarter on the offensive and defensive side, and even though offside calls are way too frequent, the interface makes everything feel cleaner.

The passing is touchy, and a cross that would normally go halfway over the box now goes well over the net and out of play. That’s not a glitch, it’s just something that will take some getting used to.

Probably the most obvious change to the gameplay is that during the career mode, in the transfer market, there are no longer rating next to any of the players.

As a manager, you can send scouts to all corners of the globe. Depending how big the club you manage is, and how much money, they have you can send more scouts out and get more ratings.

FIFA Ultimate Team, the mode that acts as a fantasy soccer team that you can manage, remained pretty much unchanged other than updated jerseys, badges and a couple new stadiums.

All in all, this is definitely a step up from FIFA 13, and way better than any of the PES family of games.

Don’t worry girls, you’ll have your boyfriends back in a few weeks.