EA is known for putting out cutting-edge sports games year after year. However, the one series title most of the world looks forward to is FIFA. With Soccer being the world’s most popular sport, its not a surprise that this series takes the world by storm year after year. Popular clubs such as FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Manchester City are among favorites for players who are both new and experienced in FIFA. With the franchise already being a major success, EA just needed to improve on, and add in new features to an already great game. The most important aspects of any football game are how it plays and how realistic a simulation it manages to be. It's safe to say that FIFA has never played better - at least on mobile.
And that's largely thanks to the vastly improved AI the new engine has brought with it. Players now actively try to win back the ball and mark other players when defending, and make forward runs or move into space for a pass when attacking. The physics are also much better. Gone are the days when every player had the turning circle of a tank or the first touch of Messi. All isn’t lost when defending or attacking, though; teammates are as dynamic as ever and will aid in any offensive or defensive attack you are leading. Regardless of your style of play, the intelligence of AI is there, sometimes making up the experience gap, experience that can be learned and sharpened in a handful of familiar game modes.
Returning essentially untouched are career, tournament, skills, and online session modes, while a mode like ProClubs, where you can create a team with friends and play up to 11v11, keeps online competition exciting. Off the pitch, the most high profile new feature of FIFA 16 is the addition of women's teams. FIFA 16 features 12 national women’s squads, with full face-scanning and licenses. They play differently, too, lending towards a faster, more skillful game -- intricate passing and curled shots -- which makes their unfortunately limited implementation (they’re only available in Kick Off or tournaments, not career or Ultimate Team) one of the game’s best new features. This brings us to FUT Draft.
I’ve been playing FIFA (and its rival, Pro Evolution Soccer) since FIFA 2003. Since then, when friends come over we have a tradition called the draft: pick a random squad with decent kits (the Mexican Liga MX is great), assign an ability points ‘budget’, and sign a squad of your favorite players - like a simple Fantasy Football. You should try it. It’s fun. The players now feel like they’re actually inhabiting the same space, rather than models that are running around against each other, occasionally triggering animations. When there’s a crunching collision, for instance, it feels like two people are actually running into each other, and a little clip will set an opposition player tumbling in a way that doesn’t feel like it’s a preset animation. That gets rid of the often frustrating fouls that would happen when the computer decided that two players had come into contact, even though it felt more like they had slid over each other.
FIFA 16’s women’s mode, if you don’t know, adds 12 international women’s teams to the game. Your options with them are limited to just friendlies or a small tournament. Which isn’t much, but this is the first year they’ve been included, so baby steps. EA hasn’t simply added ponytails to its existing player models; instead, the women’s mode feels like a completely different game with completely unique handling. They feel snappier and sharper to move than the guys, and while mistakes seem more common (maybe a consequence of the lower stats?), it was just more fun playing this mode. Shame there wasn’t more to do with these teams once you play a tournament or two, but like I said, baby steps. I’m really looking thiforward to seeing where EA goes with this in the years to come.
FIFA 16 is a solid update to an already fantastic EA Sports title. While there are several new features that enhance gameplay quite a bit, there is still more of the same old, same old. For new players, this is a great edition to pick-up. For returning players, weigh your options. If updated rosters are a big deal for you, then you will want to get the newest edition, however, if you are more of a casual FIFA player, there may not be enough “new” to warrant a purchase.
