Traditionally, one of the good things about sports games is that they run acceptably on almost any gaming device they release on. It's a reason why so many decide to stick with their PlayStation 3 (PS3) or Xbox 360 a little while longer before taking the plunge to newer consoles or a gaming PC. This however, is about to change if FIFA 16 is any indication. Publisher Electronic Arts has outlined what features will be available to all platforms and what won't. Although the list of what will make it to last generation consoles is voluminous, some expected elements have been removed.
What can be said with some clarity is that both EA and Konami appear happy with last year's vintage. For the first time in a fair few years, FIFA 16 and PES 2016 offer only incremental improvements to their match engines rather than drastic rebalancing. This makes for a pleasingly gentle transition for those who upgrade - little relearning is required - assuming, that is, that they are as happy with the state of play as the developers seem to be. I'll do my best to spare you the marketing spiel - FIFA apparently offers "Confidence in Defending" this year, which, as a Liverpool fan, sounds right up my alley, while PES offers "Celbration Control" [sic] - and a focus on what's most apparent after kicking off in both games.
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To avoid this happening we advise the players to remain calm and to leave those first games for later. You can start playing after you’ve finished all the stages in the checklist. First you have to make your club selfsufficient, and that is done with coins. This is the first great step: transforming all you have at your disposal in coins. As little as it is we need something to later transform it into more. You can choose to take another path but we suggest this one: sell all the cards you received, except obviously the untradeable ones. But it doesn’t mean you have to do it at sale prices. Although time is money you don’t want to stay with your actives for stuck long, verify if there isn’t any valuable card you could sell for superior price than expected. This procedure will also allow you to make a team from scratch.
Many gamers eventually build a team around one or two players that they get in a pack. Why should you do that if, by the same amount of coins, you can build a team without any limitations?! There has been a mixed response regarding the changes that EA Sports have made to the passing side of the game, as the consistency of last year's title has seemingly long been forgotten. My initial reaction was that the FIFA 16 demo allows the better teams to play around with it, show their quality and dominate as they should. From the games that I've had so far, the passing is much more consistent with the likes of Bale, Iniesta and Busquets, whereas when I played with Chelsea for example, John Obi Mikel's distribution was pretty lacklustre to say the least.
High through balls were hugely effective on FIFA 16. They were easy to produce and could be spammed by opponents looking for a cheap way through. Like with the passing, a good product is achievable, but it will require skill rather than just a lazy tap. This will see a greater variation in how players break down defences, and means that the days of being endlessly tormented by lofted through balls every game are over… Until somebody learns how to master it, then you’ll need to be on your guard. One big improvement that I noticed is the slidetackle animations. EA Sports stated that they were trying to improve them so we wouldn’t see so many canned animations. They were correct but the collision detection for the demo is a mess.
FIFA 16 is a very realistic football game, perhaps too realistic for its own good. There are several changes that players will have to get used to (like the new dribbling without the ball and the strong passes), and if you don't master all of these gameplay elements, you will have trouble with the game. The worry is that players who struggle to adapt might find FIFA 16 to be a tedious and even frustrating experience.
