Ten years ago Pro Evolution Soccer was by far the most popular football game in the world. Despite having a limited number of licensed players (Von Mistelroum rather than Van Nistelrooy, anyone?), the gameplay was better than anything else on the market. However, after PES 5, the game started its long, steady decline, before eventually playing second-fiddle to Fifa for the coming decade. But this year PES will finally close the gap between. Well, nearly. Here's why it's still not quite beating Fifa 16. It's time to play some football as "FIFA 16" has already been released and copies are now available in store shelves. Over the years, the football simulation game has delivered to various fans a satisfactory gameplay enough to urge them to update every time a new version of the game comes. But is the latest installment of the long-running franchise worth the update?

 

The problem with FIFA 16 is not its gameplay, then, but in pretty much every aspect that surrounds it. First-off, you're forced to play Ultimate Team. That's the one that's basically a trading card game that sees you opening packs to (hopefully) unlock rare players. You then make a team out of them, paying careful attention to their playing positions and chemistry with teammates. The new function to trade your unwanted players for better ones is very welcome and allows you to progress without throwing down real cash. I wanted to avoid making a direct comparison between this year’s PES and FIFA, but the one area to comment on is their approach to what they respectively offer. PES is about more, modes galore, while strengthening gameplay. FIFA focuses on fewer aspects, only adding a few new things and sticking with their already solid gameplay.

 

Both make tough cases, and it is obvious this has been the closest race to date. As a whole, FIFA 16 plays well and fantastic visual cues. It will be interesting to see how EA will be pushed to produce a winning title if PES continues to keep the pressure. At first, FUT Draft sounds similar: rather than Ultimate Team, in which you collect players like Panini stickers and slowly build a squad, you are given a random draw of five players per position, a choice of five formations, and encouraged to cobble together an unlikely squad of superstars. Win streaks are rewarded with packs of players for your regular team; when you lose, the squad is disbanded, and you start again. There’s only one problem, which is if you want to play it, you have to pay: 15,000 in-game coins, which are earned by playing games in regular Ultimate Team, or 300 FIFA points (around ￡2.50) for a ‘draft token’.

 

This game needs more than little changes. It needs a serious overhaul. There’s precious little that’s new about FIFA 16. From the menus to the commentary team to the halftime replays, it’s tough finding genuinely fresh and meaningful additions or improvements to the core FIFA 16 experience outside of a new draft system in Ultimate Team, some extra depth to manager mode and a promising (though quarantined and barebones) women’s game. OK, so I felt like writing about this separately, since it’s not only split off into its own section of FIFA 16, it’s something PES simply doesn’t have a competing feature for. I also spun it off because I don’t feel like it adds that much to FIFA to warrant opting for it over PES. At the moment.

 

It’s somewhat irritating that in the year 2015 we even have to go through this, but the especially annoying thing about the negative reaction is that it’s not even a feature that’s being forced upon these gamers, if they’re so desperate to avoid it. Do you know how you will be able to avoid playing with the female teams in FIFA 16? By choosing not to play with them. To quote EA’s own publicity, FIFA 15 contained “35 licensed leagues, over 600 clubs, and 16000+ players.” I strongly doubt that the majority of FIFA fans have played matches with even a tenth of those available teams - so why is the addition of twelve more teams such a big problem?

 

It certainly doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but FIFA 16 does enough to compete for the championship once again. Changes to defensive awareness and structures make the game more punishing, although they can also lead to a slower, duller football experience. Draft Mode in FUT 16 is a great addition, although the pricing makes it hard to really appreciate if you don’t have the time to embrace the broader FUT experience. The women’s football component is a step in the right direction, and hopefully an insight into a larger and deeper offering in next year’s game.