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8 improvements that make FIFA 16 the best yet
The beautiful game just got even better thanks to a host of changes, big and small.
It's a wonderful time of year for footie fans. The annual football game competition is upon us and we're all excited to get our favourite game and play it to within an inch of its life, which is exactly what we've been doing.
Thankfully, competition breeds an environment that makes things better, and FIFA 16 is superb this year, thanks to a handful of improvements – both large and small – which all add up to make for an excellent game of football, with something for every player type. We've been taking the game for a kickabout ahead of release and here are eight ways one of the biggest selling games has become even better.
1. Astonishing levels of authenticity
Last year, FIFA 15 looked incredible. At times, you could be playing the game when someone would pass through the room and mistake it for a TV broadcast. Not content with that, EA Canada has gone further than ever before by adding even more visual flare to the presentation.
Now in FIFA 16, at the beginning of a match you'll hear about players making their debut appearance, including how much they transferred for, or even key players' head-to-head stats. In the middle of a game, you might hear about a breaking transfer, or even have statistics appear that show what has happened while you were playing.
The commentary is so on point that it seems like Alan Smith and Martin Tyler are really there, watching your match play out. Where FIFA 15 had some silly nuances to the commentary, 16 dials it back to a more realistic tone, all while helping to evoke a sense that you're part of the larger football story.
Adding the Bundesliga presentation options, on top of all of this, means that EA gets it absolutely spot on with the authenticity of the presentation, and in that respect, retains untouchable.
Vicarage Road in FIFA 16
© EA Sports
2. Career mode has finally gotten some proper attention
There have been some ridiculous omissions over the years when it comes to FIFA. The lack of pre-season tournaments may seem minor, but when the game is so life-like everywhere else, it's the smaller things that break immersion. This year, wonderfully, the tournaments make their debut. It's a brilliant chance to try out some of your young players. Our Arsenal squad was playing against Dortmund, but being a 'friendly' tournament, it was an opportunity to try out youth prospect Joel Campbell on the wing and discover that his rapid pace can change a game.
But that's not all, new training methods have also been added that let you go hands-on and actually make your players better. Instead of setting an instruction and it being carried out behind text and menus, you can take to the training field and do it yourself. It's another small change that truly makes for a better overall game, and makes you feel like a proper football manager, even if you're not wearing a knee length puffa jacket.
3. Accessibility like never before
While there's a huge audience that play FIFA (a staggering 387,342,888 matches were played as Real Madrid alone, from September to July), there's always those that find big games too daunting to get into. This year, EA Canada has added a trainer that gives you ideas for where and when to pass the ball, or when to switch players. For most of us it'll be switched off right away, but it's good to see a developer trying to make its game accessible to all.
4. Inclusivity reigns supreme
For the first time in a FIFA game, women's football has been included. There's an argument to say that EA could have just added this mode and been done with it, but instead, it's made women's football play wholly different, and rightly so.
As you'd expect, the players look as they should, but the pace of the game is different. In fact, at times we found it preferable to the pace of the Premier League. New animations created especially for the female players means that it isn't tacked-on in any way. This wasn't a half-baked idea, and gives hope that it'll be a long tail inclusion. Perhaps one day we'll even see a women's FUT mode.
Steph Houghton in FIFA 16
© EA Sports
5. Draft mode adds a new way to play Ultimate Team
The biggest problem with EA's killer mode, FUT, is that it's almost MMO-like in how much time you can and will sink into it. Unless you're willing to make it your main gameplay mode of choice, you're never going to get those key players, unless you either get lucky opening packs, or have as much disposable income as Messi.
Draft mode gives you some fantastic players to choose for every position, so take them online (you can also play it offline) to test them out, and compete in the hope you'll get far enough to win the prize. An entry fee of 15,000 coins may seem steep, but if you take home the bacon, you'll get two jumbo gold packs as prizes. They cost 7,500 each normally, so you'll make your coin investment back.
The chances of seeing the rare players seems far higher in Draft Mode, with five players available in each position. We even saw a George Best (one of the new legend cards) appear right next to an in-form Ronaldo, which was as hard a choice as we've ever been forced to make in FUT.
6. A refined FUT mode is still king
Simple touches when opening packs, like being able to flick up on the right analog stick to select multiple players at once (perhaps to send to your club, or sell) mean you're wasting less of your valuable time. Elsewhere, the manner in which you sort your team out is refined, too – you can immediately switch players in and out, with better search tools. Whether you're swapping from a player you have in your club for one on the transfer market, or even to one from a concept squad, it's all quick, easy, and a joy to do.
FUT Card changes in FIFA 16
© EA Sports
7. Realistic team play styles
In FIFA 16, if you play against Barcelona, they will dominate possession. This is interesting, and new, because it's frustrating. Hear us out, though, and think about real life football. Barcelona genuinely do dominate possession. But if you can do it (and we did, in a 5–2 comeback for Real Madrid, after being 0–1 down), it's an exhilarating experience.
It's not just Barca and the women's football that play distinctly. This is a something that pervades much of the top teams and leagues in FIFA 16. Chelsea are powerful and aggressive, while Manchester City are quick and dangerous thanks to Navas and Sterling on the wings. Play a career mode as Arsenal and you'll instantly want to find a better striker (sorry Giroud, we love you really), and even Liverpool seem short in key areas, despite their flurry of activity in the summer transfer window. These uniquely different feeling teams mean that FIFA is better than ever this year.
8. More freedom on the pitch
While we loved FIFA 15, at times it did play as though it's slightly scripted. FIFA 16 is so much better where it matters; on the pitch. There's been a clear effort to make more of the midfield battle, and this, combined with certain players feeling more individual, means that you'll experience some superb battles in the key areas of the pitch.
The game difficulty scales well, too, meaning that if you play on a low level, goalies will stumble and fumble, but on a higher one, they'll be as good as real life, and defenders will muscle you off the ball unless you're strong, or clever.
Tricks are less essential to winning online, too, thanks to more control over the ball when dribbling. A clever player shouldn't have to resort to overtly flamboyant tricks to get past a defender, not if he's got that ball glued to his feet. You can bamboozle a hulking centre back by moving about in front of him and then bursting through with sudden, lightning pace. It's a wonderful sensation, and one that is newly apparent in this year's game.
It almost sounds trite to say, but on the pitch, FIFA 16 plays a little looser, which is a good thing. Put too much power into a pass, and it will end up going out for a throw in. Try a speculative over the top through ball, and it'll end up in the keeper's hands, or out for a goal kick.
But there's so much more to play, and new changes and intricacies to discover. In the months to come we'll truly get to discover how good this year's game is, but on our extensive play time so far, it does appear to the be the best in years.
