We say it every year. The next FIFA game is always better than the last, but what EA Sports has achieved with FIFA 16 is a chic Football simulator with precise passing, strict control and near-life like visuals. I love Football and I love Chelsea but admittedly I’ve grown tired of the FIFA franchise. Like clockwork, EA spews out a new installment every year with barely enough substance to justify a different cover-star (there’s a joke in here somewhere.) and while some - including me - would argue that professional Football is constantly evolving, FIFA 15 felt more like a next-gen arcade game than an authentic experience.
That’s not to say that FIFA 16 hasn’t improved upon its predecessor, but its advantages are a lot more subtle, though not completely dismissible. Lighting has been significantly improved and model details have been refined very well overall, which is most apparent during replays where you’ll get a more up close and personal view of these details, which range from improved player models to the detail of the stadium and pitch itself. The newly added female players share the same visual fidelity as their male counterparts, with the same level of touch to the animations as well, albeit some instances of repeated animations throughout the game can make for some slightly jarring results at certain moments.
The transfer system for FIFA 16 Ultimate Team is slightly different from that of previous mobile editions of FIFA. In addition to the transfer market where people can sell or buy players, there is also a new option called Player Exchange. In Player Exchange, users can trade in their unwanted players for player(s) of equal or higher rating. This is an incredibly beneficial addition because users can use this function as a free way of possibly getting better players that will increase team chemistry. Interested? Thought so. It’s time to embark on your quest to gaming greatness and by following these 10 steps you will soon notice a significant change in your reaction speed, accuracy, creativity and all round life existence.
You can now decide when your player decides to touch the ball and therefore fake a left or right movement that will throw your opponent off balance and allow you to dance round them in true Lionel Messi (who developed the feature using motion capture) fashion. If you manage to get the ball out wide and have your inside forward cutting inside against your oppositions’ left or right back then the move can be a devastating way of leaving the defender for dust and getting a cross in or going for goal. During these pre-season tournament games you can really get to know your side and experiment with the best formation and tactics. This means you will be well-aware of your best team and system when you come to playing your first league fixture.
If you were paying attention to the display image in this article, you may have noticed something that is unfortunately almost unheard of in the world of sports gaming. Yes, that is a woman (gasp!). And not just any woman, that is the supremely talented Alex Morgan who helped lead the U.S. Women’s National Team to a World Cup victory earlier this year. With the exception of my girl Ronda Rousey (I call her ‘my girl’, but there’s a decent chance she would see it differently) and the rest of the UFC female bantamweights in EA’s UFC game, we really haven’t seen any kind of female presence in sports games.
ESPN reviewer James Tyler, for instance, highlighted an increased realism in the game’s updated defence and passing mechanisms and he praised EA for taking the long overdue step of featuring female teams. The Guardian’s Ben Wilson was similarly effusive in his praise of EA’s accomplishment with FIFA 16, awarding the game a maximum five star review. “With its biggest rival matching its dynamism and beating it for fluidity and responsiveness, EA Sports has work to do if FIFA is to regain its title as king of the digital sport.”
