When a football player uses his or her first touch to trap a long, high cross-field pass, it’s not uncommon for an entire stadium packed with people to let out a gasp of astonishment. Commentators remark on the feat, not in their role as hype men for whatever league they’re paid to narrate, but because it is actually a remarkable thing. Football games often make the extraordinary seem routine. Balls stick to players’ feet, passes have an uncanny ability to hit their target - moments that should be breathtaking happen so often that you either engage in some auto-erotic asphyxiation as your team of impossibly talented gents stroke the ball around the pitch, or you shrug and decide never to be impressed by anything ever again.
After logging a few games, I experience EA’s new attention to detail in the weather patterns offered within the game. The rain simulator made the players and the ball actually feel like we were playing in the rain while the winter flurries gave me the sluggish sense one would expect if they were playing during these conditions. I like that the game provides players with nine separate weather conditions that uniquely impact the player’s ability, and inability, to play. The only issue I had regarding the weather was the lack of detailed contained within the snowfall.
For whatever reason the snow flurries looked like they were pulled right out Madden 97 rather than FIFA 16. However, the attention to detail paid to the other 8 conditions, and the fact players might never experience snow within a game, clearly picked up the slack where the snowfall fell short. Certainly the most publicized addition to FIFA 16 was that of women’s team. I think it’s a great start and I hope we see it expanded in future years. The women’s teams player considerably different to the men’s, and the quality is akin to that of Championship League teams: not great, but still pretty good.
The pacing, attacking and defensive styles of the matches stand out, so there’s certainly an element of differentiation there. It’s limited to one tournament, which is a shame, but kudos must go out to EA Canada for building a women’s football experience that feels different enough from the way the men’s teams play. The quality is still quite high and these teams are great fun to play with, but with little there to actually expand upon, it feels like more of a demo of things to come. For those new to the franchise, there are new basic level skill games that help the absolutely unfamiliar players get a gentle introduction to the sport.
The presentation is absolutely fantastic in FIFA. They capture the look and aesthetic of the sport to a tee. It is done so well that it is really the major selling point of the franchise. It is what attracts so many people to buy it in my opinion. The presentation is the best reason to own FIFA in comparison to everyone else. No one does it better. Having all the licenses is what gives it such a edge and advantage over any other football franchise and they make great use of the licenses in the game. One new presentation feature that I really like in particular is the ability to have a stadium of your choice from the huge catalogue of stadiums as the dynamic background
The FIFA series has fallen victim to what I like to call “crabbing” over the last few years. This is where an obvious exploit-such as the over-emphasis on pace or through balls-is fixed, but in the transition, an old annoyance is carved open like the Sunderland defense. For some more eclectic and chaotic styles of play, you need to take FIFA 16 online. Here, a lot of people (including myself) are still flailing around trying to get to grips with the new passing systems, and winding up with pass completion rates of about 65%. It’s not pretty, but, in the lower divisions at least, it’s plenty entertaining.
