EA Sports ultimately brings in the football video game that they were aiming to build since FIFA 2012. Pure flair in the gameplay department, with presentation determining the core of the emotional immersion. Amidst a lot of criticism for its unskippable intermittent cutscenes, I give FIFA 16 a double thumbs up for heralding the kind of fan immersion that determined every sport video game today except football. FIFA 15 was a mere stepping stone for EA Sports’ obsession with realistic football experience. As a highly polished IMPACT engine appears in FIFA 16 and breaks your heart and mends it, all within the same game, quite beautifully. First touches are clearly not randomized, as more physical aspects of the real game are brought alive in this so called video game, every moment of the reaction time and every pixel of your boot determine how the ball will end up.

 

Repeated button mashing will not help the casual FIFA lovers any more, and the aspect of PVP completely changes with a bit of flair and reaction determining who is going to win it in the end. EA did an incredible job to fix some of the FIFA servers, as now I experience my game with an online buddy with hardly any lag time. The updates to the actual gameplay side of FIFA 16 are perhaps more subtle than in some of the more recent previous releases. The game’s case suggests that the key changes this time around are “Agility and Control, Man to Man Battles, Correct Contacts and an all-new Squad Management system”. Agility and Control are certainly elements which feel as though they have had some level of overhaul. You seem to be able to speed up, change direction, perform tricks and receive the ball much more nicely and realistically than has been the case before, and this makes play feel much more flowing.

 

The Correct Contacts are also very clear addictions. For example, if you run straight into somebody else on the pitch now, you are liable to fall over them and knock them down, not just straight up bash into them like the old unstoppable force and immovable object scenario we have been used to in the past. Goalies also have improved A.I. Goalies are harder to beat now, and are able to get their hands on most shots.The new save animations are impressive, and goalies will contort in amazing ways to stop shots. It makes it all the more rewarding when you manage to deke the goalie in a one-on-one move to score. It seems a little easier than in past titles to score short side when running up from the corner, though I can’t say for certain if that’s a side effect of the new focus on. One of my favorite features is the ability to set up custom team sheets for any team you’d like from the main menu. This lets you set player match-ups that work more smoothly against certain teams or strategies.

 

This is particularly useful in cups or tournaments where you can quickly set up an extra defender when you only need a draw without having to waste time before the match. There’s also a new match type for Ultimate Team - ‘Friendly Seasons’. With this, you can challenge your friends to a series of matches between your respective FIFA 16 Ultimate Team squads. Just why it’s taken so long to implement a reliable way of playing your mates online in the game’s most popular mode is a mystery, but it’s better later than never. Ultimately, you already know whether you’re going to buy this game or not. No FIFA fan doesn’t buy the latest version every year, that would be madness. But hopefully now you can at least rest assured knowing that you’re still going to be getting an excellent game of football.

 

To sum up, if you’ve been a fan of this series down the years I think you will be delighted with EA’s effort. They have struck a great balance between the familiarity that long-term players crave and more than enough new stuff to justify putting your money down. From a pure, dollars to hours standpoint this will be the best investment I make this year. Especially with those long fall and winter nights ahead. Do yourself a favor and grab FIFA 16!