If your timing and positioning in FIFA 16 isn’t perfect, it almost always results in a foul or a completely ineffectual lunge in the wrong direction and several frames of animation priority before you have control of your defender again - now ten yards behind the attacker you were attempting to dispossess. The FIFA 16 game never feels unfair about it, but given the robot brains often controlling your opponents, their propensity for mistiming challenges is much less frequent and so it is often frustrating that you’re making errors the opposition never does.
Keepers in FIFA 16 have been vastly improved, too. Don’t expect many one-sided batterings here, unless you’re playing on Beginner. They will parry, save, punch or otherwise stop you from easy goals, and that’s if the defenders even let you get a shot away in the first place, as they throw their body into the way as if their life depends on it. Keepers can be inconsistent, though, and you’ll go from the sublime to the ridiculous; suddenly scoring the most outrageous long-shot you’ve ever seen, before then taking part in a complete shut-out in the following game.
So here we are, another year, another FIFA, and after a few months of hearing EA Sports hail its upcoming FIFA 16 as the greatest yet, and the biggest in terms of innovation, guess what? It’s not. In fact, it’s almost stagnated a little, and aside from the gameplay, which feels quite different in many respects - and not all for good reasons - it’s still the same ol’ FIFA. As it is with Jell-o, so it is with FIFA. There’s always room for FIFA. Right? With fall comes EA Sports’s soccer juggernaut, an annual release more widely celebrated around the world than even the venerated Madden.
The biggest change in FIFA 16 comes in the form of a revamped UI for career mode. While the UI will still be very familiar from last year, the changes come in the form of upgrades to the sub-menus. The best example is with a complete overhaul of setting the Starting XI, substitutes, formations, and roles. The cumbersome list is a thing of the past, scrapped for a sleek overview that allows quick substitutions and formation changes. Instead of having to select a player and then scrolling through the roster, simply highlighting a player and pressing “Y” will result in the game offering up the best options at that position to choose from, and not just limiting it to that specific position.
The increased detail for Barclays Premier League teams is pretty cool, with re-scanned faces, intricate arena detail and some authentic crowd chants. For example, I played as Hull City in career mode, and it was fun seeing dramatic cuts of the crowd in KC Stadium and its unique semi-tiered layout. The two-plus hours of crowd chants and songs are evident as you make your way around the BPL. Martin Tyler and Alan Smith continue to provide excellent commentary, and the natural feel to their delivery continues to impress me whenever I hear it. By the way: the soundtrack this year is one of FIFA’s best - ever.
FIFA 16 is probably the worst online iteration in the series and PES 2015 is still struggling to give players a fair experience. When both play without their faults, PES 2015 shines through. The lag is minimal and the improved matchmaking means games are more even now. FIFA on the other hand, is still exciting and still always playable, no matter how frustrating. FIFA 16 is definitely an improvement from FIFA 15. I know that football fans and especially those that have played the FIFA titles throughout the years will enjoy this one even more. I have included an actual in game video just to give you an idea of what it looks and feels like playing the game. I hope you will enjoy this as much as I have so far. Also, take into account that this is by no means a perfect title, but in my opinion the best so far. Like with any game, there needs to be tweaks and updates here and there, but overall EA has made a great FIFA title.
