The first thing you’ll notice about FIFA 16 is that it’s harder to score goals. Messi may be on the box art again, but the latest edition of this best-selling football sim focuses on defence. In previous games it was fairly easy to draw out opposition players, creating space in behind for an attacker to occupy and a pass to be played into. FIFA 16’s teams, however, have been watching Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid and now hold their shape much more stubbornly. The result is a game that’s more realistic and tactics-driven than ever before. Especially if you fancy yourself as an armchair Mourinho. The thing that stands out is the first touch of players - when Messi receives the ball you can beat an opponent with one touch - whether it be a beautifully animated pivot or a conservative touch on the outside of the boot - it brings a smile to your face.
Ultimate Team has never been a big draw for me personally, as it was always a little abstract, not unlike MOBA’s or the CS:GO community, I always thought of it as Twitch streams of folks opening packs and doing obscure actions while yelling and playing music. Luckily FIFA 16 held my baby hands through the experience of making my Ultimate Team, and played well on my Hearthstone (read: addictive) tendencies. The experience of learning the true rules of the game and how to build the strongest team possible were utterly intuitive, made total sense, and got me planning out the relationships and chemistry throughout each and every swap made on the newly christened FC Denver.
To counteract that, the game is much more physical. There are more tussles for the ball. There’s more aerial battling. It's odd then, that the referees will blow up for even the tiniest amount of contact. Dear EA, football is a contact game. Yours sincerely, a football fan. Sure, you’re only going to get the most out of FIFA Ultimate Team if you have a huge amount of time – or cash – to spare, same with FUT Drafts as you have to pay your way in – using either real cash or the FIFA in-game currency – but it’s a satisfying journey if you’re willing to put the time in. There’s a lingering feeling as though you’re never confident that your goalkeeper is fully in control of what he’s doing, and that goes for your teammates as well. Fully powered headers can occasionally bounce off a player’s head like a flat football, and an easy pass will sometimes control so poorly that the ball will bounce into the path of an oncoming attacker.
Aside from these issues, the opposition AI provides a good challenge for those who like to play offline, adapting their styles to different situations and playing like their real life counterparts. The other new mode is "Career Mode." You can choose to play as a player or a general manager. I played as the player. You can choose which player you want to control, then you could train to increase your stats, decide to accept offers with other teams for more money and request funds. I really enjoyed listening to the brand new commentary during the matches. It was interesting hearing stories about each team and their stats. I played over thirty different matches and I don’t think I ever heard the same line used twice.
Footballers in FIFA 16 for Xbox 360 and PS3 look pretty fake, its normal to expect the graphics to be a whole-lot realistic on the current-gen consoles but that doesn’t mean EA shouldn’t have focused on improving graphics for the old-gen console. Apparently, teams in FIFA 16 look pretty “cartoonistic” even if compared to the previous FIFA game. It seems like developers of the game have put no interest in the games texture for FIFA 16 teams on the old-gen console. Not only do their faces look bad, even the hair and their body movements differ as well. For example, popular Real-Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo who in actual is 6 ft 1? in height looks much shorter in the game.
Likewise, if you’re a football fan first and a gamer second, FIFA is the game that will give you what you see on Sky with all the Premier League kits and stadiums and annoying commentary from Martin Tyler. All of that stuff counts for a lot too, it does for me anyway. I love all those stadiums and all that shit FIFA has. The only problem is, I don’t see it if I don’t want to play the game and there’s still too many issues for me to keep going for a whole season. I still feel that FIFA’s focus is in the wrong place; EA are all about FUT and tweeting Youtube videos where young offenders are made to show you how to perform this year’s new skill moves.
