Football gaming enthusiasts across the world have been eagerly waiting for the release of FIFA 16. The Ultimate Team app arrived first on the App Store for iOS devices and this was followed by the release of the Android app on Google Play. So that you can take a look at what it has to offer we’re sharing an FIFA 16 Ultimate Team review of gameplay. FIFA 16 Ultimate Team is a mix of good old-fashioned soccer simulator gameplay and a collectible card game. By collecting the best players, you can forge an unstoppable ball-kicking monstrosity that crushes all opponents.
Of course, this is an EA game, and that means you'll have to drop some cash to avoid grinding endlessly on your way to the aforementioned monstrosity. For similar reasons, price ranges, which establish a minimum and maximum value of players on the Transfer Market, will be much wider at the start of the season than they were last year. "Our aim this year is to keep Price Ranges as wide as possible throughout the season to offer a fair environment for trading and to protect the market against coin buying," EA wrote. "The less coin farming and buying we see within FUT 16, the wider the Price Ranges will stay."
The gameplay is quite challenging. There is no separate touch mode and the game veers from on-screen controls to swipe gestures. Skill moves like dribble and player movements are much more elaborate. For instance, when you are moving a player from the halfway line to the penalty area, you can actually see the player running in a curve with his body tilted on one side. Tackling is much more difficult; there is a separate button for it. Sliding it up will perform the slide tackle, just holding it and taking the player closer will ensure a standing tackle.
FIFA 16 is an interesting beast in many ways and if you’re looking for a recommendation from me, you’ll certainly get it. For one, I really like FIFA games, and two I really like FIFA games. But on its own merits in comparison with FIFA 15 at least, it’s a better game no question. It doesn’t have as many bombastic, over-head kick wonder goals, it’s certainly not as accessible, it doesn’t take kindly to 180 degree passes any more and it’s not easy to create guilt edge chances. But whilst some may look upon that as frustrating, I’m personally quite pleased by all those statements.
If you're the type who gets fist-deep into Ultimate Team, the new draft mode will be of interest, if you're willing to pay for the privilege, that culminates in a one-off tournament. Do well, though, and you'll rack up the coins. Don't and you won't, obviously. Even by Fifa standards, the gameplay progression from 15 to 16 is small, and matters are becoming predictable. Compare this with the more spontaneous-feeling (this might have something to do with questionable AI players, but still...) PES 16,and the choice between the two this year is far more difficult than previous years.
Fifa’s authenticity comes through in the way it looks and sounds too. I don’t think the series has ever been better visually, with the quality of graphics and attention to detail improving year on year. Crowd sounds are better than ever, and really differ from ground to ground. The broadcast-style presentation of matches is up to its usual standard - but this leads to the one production letdown of Martin Tyler and Alan Smith’s commentary being as tedious as always.
FIFA 16 stands as a high water mark for soccer games, and sports games as a genre. Its nicely balanced gameplay and innovative feature implementations reaffirm the franchise as an industry standard, and soccer fans everywhere are going to love it. Arguing about FUT draft or playing head to head online, this year is a great time to get the FIFA franchise or rediscover a forgotten friend. Put simply, there’s never been a better time to pick up the beautiful game.
