Ultimate Team, for those not familiar with the mode, grants participants player cards, which represent players on their team. These cards can be earned via packs, which can be unlocked through achievements in the season, or purchasing with the in-game currency, or real-world dollars. This bit of microtransaction is actually fairly well accepted in the gaming world, as prices are decent and the chance of getting a Messi or Ballotelli each pack is pretty low. FIFA 16 also does a good job of mixing up pack content, so that players might get a good manager, a skill boost, or another perk that isn’t a legendary player every time. In addition, some pack players may be on loan, therefore only usable for a few games, so the risk/reward of using Messi on loan for his fourth match is that may be his last, and back to Real he goes.
Thankfully, the shooting and the goalkeepers, which I took great issue with last year, have returned to form this year. In fact, I much prefer the shooting and the goalkeeping in this year’s FIFA to that in PES. It has a bit more of a zip to it and is infinitely more satisfying. Unfortunately though, keepers are beat at their near post far too often, but that’s me nitpicking. Where FIFA excels is with the sum of its parts: the modes, the options, the sheer amount of gameplay possibilities. There’s a huge career mode, and the usual online and offline options. And the licenses too, of course. In this regard, FIFA 16 outstrips PES once more.
Fortunately, the team at EA Sports have been very respondent towards last year’s failings, noting the areas that were lacking and doing their best to encourage us that this year will be different. With the Pro Evolution Soccer series gaining steam once again, this is a crucial year for the team at EA to encourage us that FIFA’s gameplay isn’t slowly slipping into mediocrity. Despite these improvements, there are still downsides to FIFA 16’s gameplay, and nearly all of them revolve around the game’s AI. Last year’s goalkeeping overhaul felt like a rush-job, resulting in plenty of gaffs from the men between the posts. Goalkeepers have been heavily improved in FIFA 16, yet familiar issues still arise, such as making incorrect judgments and failing to pull off easy saves.
There is a ton of different options that you can choose from and it really gives you a realistic feel of what it’s like to be a real “FIFA” player. The graphics for “FIFA 16” will blow you away. The players look life-like and they all have unique actions and facial expressions which are awesome. The stadiums - all fifty of them - are incredible. Nine new stadiums have been added. There are some new weather conditions in “FIFA 16.” The weather conditions include sunny, snow, rain, overcast, hazy, foggy, partly cloudy, random rain and snow flurries. The sound effects also really add to the game play. You can hear the crowd cheer and boo. I was very impressed by the sound of the ball hitting the goalpost when you miss a shot.
FIFA Ultimate Team also worked, but that actually didn’t stop EA Sports from adding something new this year. Nothing within the mode itself has been changed, there just has been a new addition. Draft Mode is a way more players to earn even more coins within FUT, but at a significant cost. Players pay a hefty 15,000
FIFA 16 coins or 300 FUT Points entry cost to enter the draft. Meanwhile, FIFA 16 for Xbox One and PS4 are said to be a perfect package, we assume that EA should have at least given a bit more attention towards the old-gen console editions as well. No doubt football fanatics will still purchase the game on Xbox 360 and the PS3 despite it having so many glitches, however our advice would be if you’re looking to attain the perfect FIFA experience, buying the game on the current gen consoles would be a smart idea and definitely the right thing to do.
The enduringly popular Ultimate Team gets a major new feature in the shape of Ultimate Team Drafts. This lets you put together a dream team by choosing from five randomly drawn cards for each position, and tasks you with trying to win four games in a row with them (either against CPU or human opponents), with greater rewards the further you go. While FIFA continue to dominate when it comes to game modes, teams and official licences, a tactical change may be required for FIFA 17 if EA is to ensure its series once again plays the better game of football.
