Those who opt to pick up FIFA every year will know the folly of claims that the game is “just the same every year”. If there were a way to somehow remove graphics from the equation and provide a ‘blind’ test involving a spread of FIFA 14, FIFA 15 and FIFA 16, I’m pretty confident regular players would be able to tell the difference. I know I would. However, there is some underlying (and maybe under-realised) truth to the saying. EA’s licensing deal means they are contractually obliged to release a FIFA title every single year, and this annual churn means the last time the game engine was radically overhauled was for FIFA 06.
There was a big marketing push surrounding the ‘Ignite’ engine for FIFA 14 (15 on PC), but tell-tale ‘legacy’ glitches showed that this was more of a cosmetic than substantial change. I did manage to enjoy a couple of online season games against opponents and to be honest I was quite surprised at how well that worked. Finding games was fast enough and the lag in game was more than acceptable with me being able to hold my own against equally-matched opponents.
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One addition I’m absolutely in love with is the refinement to the passing game. Lob passes are still going to be abused, but to a far lesser degree. This year, incisive passing is the name of the game, primarily in the form of driven passes. Holding RB and hitting A will result in a powerful ground pass that is meant to break an attack almost immediately. This is another addition that will take a bit of time to master, but it will become crucial in any attack and may make the difference between the attack sputtering out or getting that open blast into the back of the net.
Something clubs do in real life, is look at players based off how their season went, it often happens. How many times do you see clubs chase a striker after he has had an amazing season scoring so many goals in one season? The way most players move to big clubs is because of how well they’ve been performing for their club. It means that you will assume that if they are capable of scoring x amount of goals or completing x amount of tackles a match in a season, you would then understand they must be a good player. However this mentality does not apply to FIFA.
It’s a refreshing change, and while not perfect - EA Sports’ post-demo tinkering being one of the culprits - it means that every match plays out in a more distinct and individual way. And unlike years before, playing the computer never feels too formulaic or monotonous either - a testament to the effort leveled towards arguably the most important aspect of the game. Add to the low rewards the fact that even single player Tournaments you participate in expire after a few days, and you start to see how much grinding you’ll need to do to get decent packs since Gold player packs that get you 2 players cost 3500 coins (or 50 Premium coins).
If you want a pack with 3 Gold Rare players, that will set you back 35,000 coins, an astounding number to be honest. Some packs can only be purchased with premium coins (if you want the “best of the best”), which again tilts this primarily-multiplayer game definitely more to the Pay-to-Win side. Truth is, you have to try really hard to see FIFA 16 UT as anything more than EA's attempt to milk mobile players.
This year’s game prioritises an entertaining and accessible formula over the complexities of football. The short, snappy basics are key to success in a title that replicates real football in everything but the on-field gameplay. If PES 2016 plays with the intricacy of Pep Guardiola, FIFA 16 can be considered gaming’s Ian Holloway. Entertaining, fun, but not for everyone.
