The latest title, FIFA 15, while a decent entry, is merely an incremental improvement, as not much was hugely changed over the series’ solid next-gen debut with FIFA 14. To prevent Konami eclipsing it next time round, FIFA needs a massive shake-up to the starting line-up. Here’s what we want to see arrive with this year’s FIFA 16. As Ultimate Team has risen as the go-to game mode in recent FIFA editions, Career Mode has largely been neglected. FIFA 15’s career mode, whether you’re playing as your own pro or as a manager, feels like a carbon copy of the previous title, right down to the annoying email pop-ups and carbon copy transfer gossip. Putting aside the longstanding misgivings about how Ultimate Team commodifies the magic of football, and how it sort of encourages kids to gamble, it’s great.
Draft takes the pleasure of building a team--piecing together strong chemistry, the thrill of opening packs--and gives it to you without the need to pull your main team apart. It costs 15,000 coins (or 300 microtransaction FIFA points) to enter, and of course Draft mode is, in the end, about making more money. But that’s OK if it’s something worth paying for, and Draft offers something more substantial than the chance to simply reveal a randomised selection of players. Building a new team is a complex puzzle that’s different with each Draft, and winning a few games delivers substantial rewards (my first four-game winning streak gave me a total return of around 60,000 coins, which is a fine start to the season).
I still wish there were more for them to do. The modes in which the women's sides are available - an unbranded tournament that maxes out at six matches, or standard one-off play - don't provide enough context to support what is otherwise an admirably different way of playing soccer. EA Sports' forthright and respectable presentation of the differences in women's soccer means their players can't show up in a mixed-gender competition like Ultimate Team or Be a Pro. But if you want to create a larger story for any of the 12 women's teams, all you have to work with is a single generic tournament. What, I wonder, would have prevented FIFA 16 from offering a 22-match fantasy league of these women's national teams, playing everyone home and road, with the aggregated statistics and player progression enjoyed in the men's game?
It would be wrong, too, to underestimate the allure of FIFA Ultimate Team. Konami’s MyClub has made giant strides this season, but FUT triumphs on polish and immediacy. The new FUT Draft feature condenses it beautifully: it’s a way to get into it without having to invest hours building your team. Here, you’re given a random selection of players for each position, from which you should be able to assemble a world-beating squad. You’re then asked to play four increasingly challenging games, earning coin rewards and multipliers contingent on how well you performed and the difficulty level you chose. Win them all and you’ll earn gold and premium gold packs for your regular FUT squad. It might take a while to amass the 15,000
FIFA coins for the entry fee, though you can spend real money on FIFA Points to pay your way in. Microtransactions are rarely welcome in full-price retail games, though the cost of FIFA Points is reasonable, and the value of the reward is equivalent to what many would happily have spent on new FUT packs.
Strides are being made within Fifa 16 Ultimate Team, after a 12 month period in which EA was lambasted for meddling with its card-collecting, dream-team-building mode. Web and companion apps return although they require a (thankfully simple) verification process before use, and price ranges are much wider than those so heavily criticized last year. The new Ultimate Team draft mode, enabling the construction of an all-star squad for four games, also delivers a refreshing break from the mode’s typical early grind. It’s all very moreish for now, but could change again once the people who peddle in-game currency for real cash determine how to exploit the system. Prepare for a winter of Mourinho-style tinkering.
