For the first time after many years, I’m not quite sure what to make of this year’s iteration of FIFA. Every year I feel as if EA Sports delivers, however the more I play it, the more I recognize its flaws. I promised myself that this year, I wouldn’t fall into the same trap. When the demo for FIFA 16 released, I must have spent at least 8-10 hours alone playing the new FUT Draft mode and women’s matches. I absolutely loved what the demo had to offer. However, if experience means anything, I wasn’t going to fall under the same trap of instantly assuming that the final game would be equally as great. Unfortunately, FIFA 16 has left me confused and torn more than anything else.
Then we have minor additions that I genuinely feel have no point to the game. Things like cutscenes for vanishing spray just aren’t needed. I get that it adds to the authenticity and realism of a football match, but there needs to be a balance between realism and fun in a game, and I think vanishing spray crosses it. Perhaps this is all coming out of frustration due to the fact that there are untouched modes like Clubs that EA refuses to spend any real investment on, but I feel that my frustrations are justified. I’m not one of those folks, and if you are, this review isn’t for you. Sorry about that. I’m part of the mass that plays games like this much more socially and nowhere near as indepth as the total obsessives.
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After you have learned the theory of FIFA 16, it's time to put it into practice, and for this there is nothing better than beating the various Skill Games with top marks. Some of these challenges can be quite difficult, but after several attempts, you should be evolving. If you can master theses Skill Games, you will be better prepared than ever to face FIFA - online and offline - and will know most of the secrets of the gameplay. Defending in FIFA 16 is a complicated task, and it has been this way since EA Sports changed to a manual defensive scheme. If it actually proves too challenging, you can change back to the classic scheme, which is almost automatic. In the controls section choose the "Legacy Defending" option. Other than that, try to stay calm when defending. Don't rush to the ball, or you will be dribbled past with ease. Calm, patience and timing are the foundations of a good defence.
The controls work fine and you'll be using the buttons for most of your players' actions and swipes for corners, penalty kicks, and free kicks. Of course, no one actually tells you about the swiping part unless you go into the help menu and read about it. You can play with a floating joystick, which will promptly get in the way if you are trying to perform a free throw to the left side of the screen (the game thinks you are trying to use the joystick instead of touching to pass to a player). You will also use a few huge buttons (especially on the iPad) of various bright colors which might be pretty responsive, but are also so opaque you won't be able to see any player on the right flank of your team. Literally, the buttons will often hide the players, and since the game doesn't offer a radar to show the players' positions, you'll often miss out on what's happening on the one side of the field.
The first thing we always need to check is how the game plays if our Internet is down and thankfully EA have not put anything behind an online firewall that isn’t absolutely required. You can enjoy the entire single player experience without ever going online and while being online adds a social element with leaderboards and the ability to share your experience, it is entirely optional which is the way all games should be made. Another big change in FIFA 16 from FIFA 15 is the physicality. Last year the physical play of the game was more useful than this time. If you were worried about the presence of Yaya Toure, Lukaku, Hulk or Christain Bentke then don't be - because your central defending midfielder won't allow the opponent to create any panic.
Attackers also improve to keep up with the renovated defense and midfield with better dribbling, crossing, and finishing. The new addition of no touch dribbling allows you to create space and tear apart a defense. Crosses are now more accurate and your target men will go after the ball with more ferocity. Additionally, changing details on the location of the ankle and foot provide a better shooting mechanism.
