EA Sports’ FIFA 16 continues to reign supreme in UK game sales according to the latest charts via Gfk Chart-Track (which only covers physical game sales). It was also revealed that despite a 6.5 percent drop in sales from last year, FIFA 16’s monthly sales managed to hit 2.67 million unit. It’s sold more than both Destiny: The Taken King and Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain combined at retail in the UK despite having released on September 24th. Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain and Destiny: The Taken King occupied the second and third spots for the week followed by Mad Max. Gears of War: Ultimate Edition was in fifth place followed by Until Dawn, Forza Motorsport 6, Disney Infinity 3.0, Grand Theft Auto 5 and Super Mario Maker.
From the get-go, things feel different. Not in a bad way, either, unless you’re someone who doesn’t particularly like faster paced soccer. FIFA 16 has all of the intricacies that the hardcore players crave and require, but it feels quicker and a bit more arcade-y than before. Players don’t have as much weight to them as they do in Pro Evolution Soccer 2016, but they glide across the field with effortless grace and dance with the ball. I must admit that, at first, I wasn’t a big fan of the new feel of the game, but it grew on me and I ended up enjoying it a lot as time progressed. The gameplay is definitely improved from last year’s, which felt kind of stale and a bit boring, and this year’s FIFA feels like it’s own game instead of a rehash. Of course, it helps that the AI has been beefed up, the defensive side of the game has been improved and players’ anticipation has been heightened.
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No touch dribbling looks great but it requires a player of considerable skill. The other noticeable addition to this year’s version is the ‘no touch dribbling’ control option, which allows you perform feints and fake shifts of direction while running just behind the ball, without actually touching it. The animations are spot on and playing online multiplayer with a four or five star-rated team, it is a cunning tactic that often draws fouls. Against the AI with players of lesser ability, however, it is less effective. I spend a lot of time on Ultimate Team, but I spend even more time playing Clubs. It’s for this reason why I am appalled to see that for the third (possibly fourth year) running, nothing has really changed in Clubs. We still have to go through the same accomplishments to improve our players and there is no team customization. FIFA games in recent years have struck me as being very rapid paced compared to the Pro Evo titles.
I don’t understand why EA is not willing to invest resources on actually improving the Clubs mode. Being able to play 11v11 online is the most rewarding and enjoyable experience and this has the most potential to become a great EA Sports mode. Instead, EA is focusing all of its efforts on Ultimate Team and Seasons, which is a disappointment for Clubs enthusiasts. To add to the disappointment, at the time of writing this review, there is a glitch in the game that continues to reset Virtual Pro accomplishments. Considering nothing has changed, this is simply unacceptable and with no formal announcement from EA having been made yet, I worry whether this will be resolved in time. That’s not quite the same thing as them being “arcade” style titles, but it’s given them a sense of urgency that’s often verged on the arcade side of the fence, being particularly punishing for those learning FIFA’s multi-button skill set.
FIFA 16 has gone the other way this year, with a game that has a distinctly slower pace, much more akin to the Pro Evo titles. It’s an exceptionally welcome move, because it really opens up the deeper strategy of the game, presuming you brush the difficulty up higher than the amateur ranks. Combine that with a trainer mode that makes it easy to keep your eyes on the game rather than having to remember which button combos add up to a precision pass or a crafty lob, and you open up the game even further.
This years FIFA is a title that needs some more fixes and patches to balance out the bad things with what is good. The new elements give the franchise a second breath but still needs tweaks and improvements. I would recommend any regular FIFA-player to hold on buying it until it drops in price permanently. For all those people that enjoy their yearly installment, prepare for a lot of frustration!
