The FIFA 16 release date is just days away and gamers are clamoring for a FIFA 16 demo to try the new FIFA 16 features on Xbox One and PS4. We’re seeing gamers ask, “Will there be a FIFA 16 demo?” and “When is the FIFA 16 demo release date?” Join us for a quick look at what we know about the FIFA 16 demo and what to expect from EA Sports on Xbox One, PS4, PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. If you’ve played Unreal Tournament’s Bombing Run mode, you’ll get the basics: two teams are fighting to gain control of a bomb (defused, in this) and launch it into the enemy’s goalzone. Except you only have melee attacks. It’s made tricker yet by playing from a third-person perspective, and having 11 characters yourself. You only control one at once, switching in real-time (no tactical pause!), while an AI babysits the rest.

 

For the four hours or so that I’ve played the demo, I’ve bounced around between Professional and World Class difficulties. I’m in that awkward single player skill-gap where Professional is much too easy, but World Class tends to kick my arse. Assist-wise, I generally use a mixture of manual and semi-assisted. I’ve not yet played around with the sliders, but eagerly await a decent tweaked set appearing for FIFA 16 once enough people have their hands on the full version. With all those caveats out of the way, my impressions of the demo are generally pretty positive. Pacey strikers have been reined in, which should help prevent people just burning past defenders, but does make them seem a bit ‘leggy’ and heavy. It’s not the battleships turning circles of FIFA 15; more like the feeling that an invisible leash is holding them back.

 

The FIFA 16 demo will give gamers the chance to try out Kick Off, a basic exhibition match; FIFA Ultimate Team Draft, the new mode introduced in FIFA 16 where you draft a team based on randomly drawn player cards; new FIFA Trainer mode; new skill games during loading and a chance to experience Bundesliga Broadcast Presentation. Liverpool's Jordan Henderson has been revealed as the cover star for this year's FIFA 16, joining Argentina international and Barcelona player Lionel Messi. EA has always chosen one player who has international appeal, in this case Messi, and then a more familiar face for local markets. Jordan Henderson was selected after a public vote beating out other Premier League players including Manchester City's Sergio Aguero, Chelsea's Thibaut Courtois and Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane to take home the cover prestige.

 

When it comes to their annual football sim FIFA, EA Sports are in an enviable position. The series has a well-established fanbase, which the developer knows will return to the franchise year after year, to keep up to date with the latest squad updates, to begin building their Ultimate Team for the season, and to participate in the game’s massive online community. The FIFA 16 demo is available now for those living in Australia and New Zealand. It comes several hours before it is available in other countries. Thanks to its immense popularity, FIFA 16 manages to attract a mainstream audience which may not have the most up-to-date PC to play the game. This is most obvious from the system settings available. While GTA V, The Witcher 3, and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain all sported a wealth of options for PC users, the graphic options for FIFA 16 are rather sparse.

 

The defending has actually been improved noticeably. The players feel smarter in the way they position themselves and how they read the play. It makes you feel that bit more re-assured of your back 4 during the game. Also, surprisingly the game feels way more physical than previous titles, in the way players attack, defend the ball and those one-on-one battles that occur I which I really felt those players hits made during the game. Though unfortunately, the players do still look a bit robotics at times during the game, mostly notably during stoppages, in which for me took the immersion out of the experience. Also this just may be me, but for some reason the referees seem a bit softer this years with the fouls. It may just be me though.

 

Dropping the number of draft rounds down to 5 or 6 means that half of the team will be stars and forces players to prioritize where they want to be strongest. EA could even add in an option that would mean players could only choose from 5 selections of gold-rated players, and the rest must be drafted from silver or bronze. It would give teams the chance to experiment a bit more, rather than repeatedly selecting world XIs for every game. It could lose replay-value if it isn’t more of a challenge to gain a top team.