PREVIEW – Back in the good old days, Electronic Arts made a bold move to release a yearly football game to its fans. The FIFA games evolved from year to year, the gameplay kept getting tuned, until it reached its current form, which seems like will be the „final” version. Of course we can get a few new gameplay elements – that expand the possibilities – but real big changes will probably not be made. At least in the near future.

 

With FIFA 15 the general gameplay features have been finalized, and a template was made that is probably good for the next three or four games. The controls are neat, and tight (passing, shooting etc.), so there is no need to make changes to it (just refine them from FIFA 15). This method was needed because it has become quite annoying that when once you got used to one FIFA you’ll have to start over as the new game probably tried to do something entirely new.

“Get a job as EA programmer, they said! Dream job it will be, they said!”

Those who feel that the yearly games do not have enough new features, should think about what is to be expected from Electronic Arts’ development team on FIFA. They are expected to deliver a new game every year, and it is impossible for them to stuff each new game with loads of new fresh features. Which is also absurd in a way since we are talking about a sports game and not RPG, or FPS game, but a realistic football game that tries to follow the trends of the modern world.

Of course the management part of the game is really fun, and we get the proper updates and new features for the yearly releases, but the Football part of it still tries to reflect the real world. That is why it is difficult to pack in brand new things every year.

They still got it!

The previous paragraphs were simply there just to inform our readers of my expectations of a FIFA game, as it is difficult to pack in a bunch of stuff without degrading the overall quality of the product. Still I can say that it seems the guys at EA have really outdone themselves. FIFA 16 is shaping up to be a really great game, with new features that make the game more interesting.

It will feature women soccer teams, twelve to be exact ( Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Sweden, and the United States of America), a FUT Draft game mode, which tries to expand on the card collecting part, and the gameplay was also changed.

Women, Beer, Soccer!

We missed the ladies from the world of FIFA for a long time, as they are also part of the world of FIFA, not just the great beer drinking men. Women have proved that they are also good at soccer, and not just in the kitchen or as an assistant. Finally they also get their place in the Electronic Arts series.
Of course this does not mean that the developers modeled the ladies, and then did a copy/paste job of the move sets from the men.

The women teams, and players were handled separately and it shows. Their movement is more heavier, and their running is much slower compared to their male counter parts. We do get a few special moves, but the style of movement is pretty much the same as the male move set. The real difference comes in speed. For example while a female will do a quick stroll around the playing field, the men will by that time ran it two times, and even ate a burger. So those who are interested in women’s football should be cautious, and the player should be prepared that the developers created a realistic gameplay.

Forward!

The Ultimate Team game mode will also be expanded with the FUT Draft mode. Which will mean the following: after getting gold from the matches, we can start Draft matches, where we can play with a random team against an AI or a human player for four rounds.

The new gameplay mode allows us to select from five random teams, where we get to decide which player takes the roles of the team. Once the team setup is complete, we just have to focus on winning the match. The more matches we win the bigger the reward, and there is a chance we get a gold card after winning four matches.

Pure Diamond

The gameplay also has a few new features, which is hard to imagine. It is commendable that with all the new background features, the Canadian boys still had time to add new gameplay features for FIFA 16. In FIFA 16 we will not swear as much as we used to because of a few passing errors, or because of the goalies weird glitches. These have been amended, and more to the point, we can finally shoot more accurately.

As the strength of the shots have been setup for different buttons on the controller. Another interesting thing that has been modified in FIFA 16 is the tackling. We will now have the opportunity to do body tackles, without touching the soccer ball, so basically we’ll just imitate the movement to sort of trick the opposing player.
The defending has been optimized a bit, although this can only be felt on the sliding. If we press the button, and hold it for x amount of time, then that will be the distance of sliding.

It has a good taste

Electronic Arts has once again put down a wonderful game for us. While the FUT Draft, and the Women’s teams are not that much of a big deal, the gameplay has been expanded finally, and diminishes the monotony of the older games. The developers were probably thinking if the gamers want new stuff, then they should add a few stuff, so the fans will be quiet a bit.
Finally it is worth noting that after many years, the replays have been fixed by the team. The player will be able to access the replays easier, and can watch the entire event if we wish.

A drop in the ocean

Although FIFA 16 will not be a sea of changes, but it will be a product with a few hefty changes. The new content seems fun, even if it is not much, and the refined gameplay gives us a polished game. Although the „where could they possible even go next” theory folded, luckily this happened when a lot of features were added to the game. I think FIFA 16 will be one of the best games in September, so it will be enough for those waiting for the Christmas releases

Summary: I’m waiting for FIFA 16’s release for a lot of reasons, but not because of the Women’s soccer team. The most anticipated parts for me are the FUT Draft, and the new tackling modes. I’ll have fun with these for a while…

A FIFA 16 will be released on the 25th of September 2015!

–Kese and Blokad–

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Publisher: Electronic Arts

Developer: EA Sports

Genres: Football simulator

Release date: September 25, 2015.