Running through yearly iterations of hugely popular sports franchises has always been a challenge for EA Sports. Year to year, particularly with FIFA, fans expect changes, improvements, and notable additions that keep the series moving forward. But given that the game is based on a real sport, there are only so many things that the developers can change. It's quite a pleasant surprise, then, that FIFA 16 not only continues the legacy of offering a very good soccer simulation experience, but also brings enough fresh content to the table to make this year's version stand out. In the past, one of the most frustrating aspects of FIFA’s gameplay has been the lack of aggressiveness to a loose ball or in playing passing lanes from CPU controlled teammates or opponents. That’s been addressed this year, but seems to only affect one side, which has created a whole new reason for frustration.
As ever, Ultimate Team returns with some fairly minor changes to the main game mode, although the new addition of FUT Draft is certainly welcome. This gives you the option to build a super team to use in up to four games (a loss means your run with that team is over) by selecting one of five randomly selected players for each position. For those of us who will never have enough coins to buy the likes of Ronaldo or Messi, Draft Mode provides the chance to at least have them in our squad for a few games. How many wins you manage to get depends on the type of pack you receive as a reward, but with a 15,000 coin entry fee it can be considered a financial risk for those highly invested in traditional Ultimate Team.
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FIFA 16 includes a wide variety of teams and leagues, all of them with extensive licensing, which means players can certainly find a team to love and will be able to play with the biggest superstars, using kits, and on stadiums that are based on their real-world counterparts. EA hasn’t actually said too much about the EA Sports FIFA app this year and actually we can already see that it is live in Canada early as a test - the same pattern appears to have happened compared to last year’s test in Canada. Like the best professionals, FIFA 16 responds to an unexpected challenge with disciplined play driven by the knowledge of what it takes to win. FIFA 16 responds with a longtime pro's self-confidence, never too proud to shape up the softer parts of its game, and committed to winning on fundamentals, not reputation. It all starts with a strong upgrade to the intelligence of all computer-controlled players, teammate and opponent alike.
FIFA 16 is a fine soccer game, and arguably the most refined entry in this long-running series. But with only a few incremental changes and additions present, it might not be worth the $60 purchase. Every year, people always wonder about just how much EA can improve on something that’s already fantastic. Ever since the nearly flawless FIFA 12 released-which introduced a slew of dramatic gameplay changes like a new way to defend-the subsequent games have only felt slightly different. You’ll only catch a few new revisions here and there; however, it’s still always a blast to play FIFA, and it isn’t any different with this year’s entry. The terrific swift movement and speed, build-up play, shooting, dribbling, and passing all make for a great time.
While the budgets have improved and scouting makes more sense, transfer costs are still out of control. Here are a few examples of some of the transfers that happened in the first window of my manager save. Those are just a few that I experienced, so the out of control transferring that seems to happen hasn't been curbed much. I would definitely suggest turning off that opening transfer window for as clean of a start as possible, especially with the transfer budgets being higher right out of the gate.
With FIFA 15 EA changed several gameplay elements, but the game lost focus and direction, two essential pillars that seem to have been found again in this new edition. In terms of licenses, general presentation, graphics and game modes, FIFA 16 is superb, as it always has been, but more importantly, gameplay has been improved in all sectors. There are still some animations and physical reactions that need to be adjusted, but overall you will find a game where you can practice high quality and realistic football. Unless you go up against the higher difficulty levels. If that's the case, get ready for a few hours of frustration.
