Reviewing FIFA 16 for PC is a tricky proposition. Sure, EA Canada has yet again laid out an all encompassing soccer that boasts immaculate presentation and dizzying production values. Yet it's hard to fight off the feeling this season's effort feels more like a glorified DLC pack, rather than the full priced annual update you'd hope for. No touch dribbling looks great but it requires a player of considerable skill. The other noticeable addition to this year’s version is the ‘no touch dribbling’ control option, which allows you perform feints and fake shifts of direction while running just behind the ball, without actually touching it. The animations are spot on and playing online multiplayer with a four or five star-rated team, it is a cunning tactic that often draws fouls. Against the AI with players of lesser ability, however, it is less effective.
That doesn't mean the offense is left in the cold. On the contrary, one potentially addicting new feature for offensive players is no-touch dribbling, where a player essentially fakes out his defender by moving his body in various directions without actually touching the ball. (Think of it like a fake crossover of sorts in basketball.) Putting a feature like this at the feet of offensive sorcerers like Messi or Ronaldo is a bit of ridiculous fun, even if you're not remotely good at using it, like me. In addition to this, EA has also refined its shooting system to provide a more diverse selection of goals and goal-scoring opportunities, which fall into the FIFA 16 pillar of providing more "magic moments."
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Once the mechanics have been put together and the basic foundations have been laid, the best part of the game comes into practice and that is the beta testing phase. During the beta phase some lucky users will be able to gain early access to the game and help the team find glitches and errors because not every game is created perfectly. After the testing has been signed off and approved, the marketers come in and make the covers, they brand the product and they help get it too the fifa franchise on the shelf. Fifa has been one of the most sort after games for many years and there looks to be no end to it’s powers as it gets set to dominate our shelves and lives again for another year.
Depending on what country you are in, may depend on the cover that you get. UK buyers will have the treat of Jordan Henderson being on the cover which comes after a vote from twitter. Arguably one of the biggest highlights during FIFA 16’s marketing campaign has been the inclusion of women’s national teams to the playable roster - albeit only against other women’s national teams. Limited to friendly matches and offline tournaments, female players move and play in a distinctive way, leaning towards a faster, more skilful match with more time and space on-the-ball. It is also notable that the FIFA 16 makers have amended an issue in FUT’s settings where the image of the ball shown on screen did not correspond to the selected match ball as well as a glitch which caused a shared “Concept Squad” to be displayed as a playable squad in the “EA Sports Football Club” news feed.
EA have also confirmed that an issue relating to the use of historical kits by opponents in “Play a Friend’s Squad” mode has been fixed. This wouldn’t be such a negative thing if the offensive AI, your teammates, shared that same competency. Instead, your teammate will sit there and watch as the ball is intercepted by the defense like Ryan Tannehill’s teammates do when he’s throwing against the practice squad (sorry, I’m more qualified to make NFL jokes than FIFA jokes). This can get pretty frustrating.
FIFA 16 is probably the best FIFA game I can remember playing over the past two decades as it becomes more and more a complete package. The continued refinement makes the game feel more deliberate and asks the player to use their brain a lot more which is extremely refreshing. FIFA 16 plays and feels more than the real thing than ever before.
