FIFA have finally made constructive use of the well crafted skill games they have in FIFA. You have 5 slots to use per week, the choice is to either use 5 players in them slots, or one player to 5 slots, or somewhere in between such as 1 player on two slots, one player on one slot and another on the last two slots. This is what I often do, and works best for me. You then select training drills/skill games to assign to the player which will boost their attributes in that field, for example doing a particular passing drill will increase short pass and vision.
The meat and potatoes of the offline experience comes in the form of a revitalized career mode. Remember all those skill games that were fun to play while a match was loading up? Sure, they're fun to take on but they didn't really serve any kind of a purpose other than to get a few practice swings in before a match started up. Well, now they mean something. Week-to-week training and development might be the most exciting addition to career mode. Each week, a player can assign up to five training sessions for any player that is on the squad.
There are some limitations in that only certain levels and certain types of training can be used once or twice in a week, but there's no real limit on who to utilize them with. And it’s useful down the other end of the pitch, too. It allows you to up the urgency when passing the ball between your back four, or play out quickly from the back in an attempt to catch the opposition off guard. While casual players will always accuse each new FIFA game of just updating the database, those of us who play it religiously notice the subtle differences. This year’s are perhaps more subtle than usual but this general tune-up does the job it’s meant to.
An added online mode is the FIFA Interactive World Cup. Previously, gamers could only qualify if they were playing on PlayStation platforms, now the tournament is available on Xbox One as well. Similar to Online Seasons, users play a certain amount of qualification games per month. The only monthly seasons are October, November and December. This is something that will only give the FIFA series more attention now that it is available on Xbox One. In fact he carried on running in a straight line, the ball went past him and the forward was through on goal. Twice. In the same game. Welcome to FIFA 16.
It's a steep learning curve and the reduced level of AI involved when controlling a player means the days of lazy defending - and attacking - are long gone. I lost count of the number of penalties I gave away early on by assuming that charging at the man with the ball would mean I would simply come away with it. Women are also not represented in the game’s Be a Pro career mode. Instead, you’ll have to settle with creating a male player to go from a young prospect to superstar. This mode is similar to previous years, as it smartly allows you to improve your player by achieving milestones on the field.
For example, if you score five goals, then your shooting skill will improve. It’s a smart way to handle progression, and the career mode is as much fun as it has always been. If you just want to be a GM instead of a player, that is available too.
None of the main game modes have really received huge changes (poor old Pro Clubs has been left out in the cold for so, so long), unless you consider ‘slightly different way to put together and play with a star-studded squad in Ultimate Team’ meaningful. Across-the-board gameplay tweaks, though, are largely positive this year. The weakness of basic passing (and the weak-minded refs) can irritate, especially when your player stands rooted to the spot as an opposition player bounds in for the ball like a flappy-eared puppy, but the need for greater accuracy in both passing and defending are broadly welcome. As is the long-overdue toning down of roadrunner strikers.
