Here's some more details on the new mode, as well as info on regular Ultimate Team: You start by paying the entrance fee of
FUT 16 coins or points. Choose from one of five formations (this will be your default formation for the duration of the tournament) and pick a captain from a set of superstars. There are 10 new FUT Legends for players on Xbox consoles. The eight players currently confirmed are: George Best, Deco, Jari Litmanen, Gennaro Gattuso, Javier Zanetti, Vítor Baía, Alessandro Nesta, and Ryan Giggs. There is also Legends chemistry links between Legends and squad players. Individual defensive ratings need to matter more, and whether user control is in play or not, speed should not be the factor you look for in a defender or defensive midfielder, but rather his ability to play good defense.
The two big additions to the FIFA 16 mode are pre-season tournaments and mid-week training. Both will help develop the younger players you don't loan out, and the pre-season tournaments in particular provide an influx of cash for your club. Pre-season tournaments consist of eight teams total from around the globe, and range in difficulty. The three listed I saw were the Champions Trophy (Asia), American Challenge Cup, and Invitational Cup (Australia). It's unknown how many different tourneys will be available from year to year. The backline as a whole also seems to be on more of a string. Again, if you took user input out of the question, there were times last year where you just had to question what backlines were thinking in terms of moving in sync and keeping the right shape. It’s nothing I’m saying is “fixed” now, but it’s something where you immediately notice a smarter group in the back overall.
Again though, much like with passing, this goes back to hoping that defense as an attribute matters more. The strategy much of the time last year was simply stay in front of your man using defenders, and then have the fastest midfielders you could find streak back for the double team and attack the ball carrier. There are some good ideas this year, then - and the bot-smashing infrastructure changes probably represent a mountain of expensive work, so respect is due - but overall FIFA 16 Ultimate Team still feels a bit flat. In many ways, it's the best it's ever been and yet somehow I find myself losing interest in it quicker than ever.
Partly this is because the gameplay rebalancing seems to have narrowed the range of genuinely useful attacking options. This year the emphasis is on pace and dribbling skill, while everything else feels weak and underpowered. Heading, for example, was obviously too potent last year, but in FIFA 16 it's so feeble that it rarely feels worthwhile putting a cross into the box. Finesse shots are OK inside the penalty area, but it's difficult to achieve much from outside, so creative players tend to swivel and jink around trying to get closer instead. And shots in general, whether close to the goal or further out, are a lot harder to get on target unless you're using a very expensive player.
The truth is that those coins could be converted to real money, but right now this isn’t really a brilliant deal. In two months before the release of the new game you won’t be getting more than 2-3 euros for each million of coins, and for another month past this is reduced to half. So here’s a lesson: if you want to be best rewarded for your effort you’re going to have to think about starting your business sooner next time. If you’re a generous friend, find someone who’s not getting FIFA 16 and offer them you coins. They will certainly be very thankful. If you don’t know anyone in this situation, let us know so we can forward them to someone who needs. Bear in mind that very few people go back to playing an old FIFA after they’ve started playing a new one, so don’t worry about regretting a possible donation.
Across the entire FIFA franchise, we monitor fan feedback and consistently deploy fixes as and when they become available. Our first update for the mobile game was on October 17 and it addressed stability in the game among other fixes. Shortly following that we implemented a fix that was affecting a small number of fans that weren't receiving virtual coins after a completed match.
