The FIFA 16 Beta offered a glimpse into the still-in-production title, with most every facet of the game available to try out from the outset. I tried out my favorite portions of the game, the “Kick-Off” and “Career” modes, and was happy to discover that every team and league, including the women’s national teams, were available immediately. The typical cosmetic changes were there, and the game’s many menu screens are brighter than last year’s offering. I’m talking vibrant blues and sunny backgrounds here. Unsurprisingly, there’s a new intro as well as a new loading screen with enormous floating EA logo.

 

Namely the Asia PS Store. If you were one of those naughty users who created an Asia PSN account just to get into the Black Ops 3 beta, you can now head back into that account and download the FIFA 16 demo on PS4. We can confirm that the FIFA 16 demo file size on PS4 is 4.5GB so it is a fairly hefty install. We can also give you a heads-up to say that our FIFA 16 demo download time was very slow - which could be an indication that many users are racing on to the Asia store and downloading at the same time. To recap, the demo will feature 10 teams, including the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester City, PSG, Chelsea and Inter Milan.

 

Women’s football was an intriguing addition to the game, and a welcome new feature to FIFA 16. It was interesting to see how differently they feel compared to their male counterparts, and there are distinct differences. One the whole, the German and US national teams playable on the demo are a lot shorter than the men. This is visible on the pitch, and it instantly feels like there’s more space there. The women have a separate rating system to the men, so 80+ rated players flow throughout, yet still there’s a higher proportion of high-pace players in the women’s game. Whether that’s just a coincidence or not, I’m not certain, but the team certainly felt far more agile and nimble. It’s an interesting mode that slots seamlessly into the game, though it remains to be seen how often people will use the women’s sides.

 

Now Goalkeepers. A LOT of people have not been overall impressed in the way goalkeepers have played in game in the past. At times they make remarkable saves, in which gives us the false impression that EA have finally fixed them. But then they do something completely stupid in which makes you want to throw your controller out the window. So how do they play this year? Well from my experiences so far, they have gradually improved. They do feel more steadier in game and do make some great saves, BUT, they are still prone to do some stupid mistakes unfortunately. Will this be the game in which goalkeepers will be finally fixed? Sadly I believe not yet, but it is only a matter of time that a FIFA game will finally fix this.

 

But how does it play? Compared to the console versions, FIFA 16 on PC didn't feel as responsive. Performing basic actions like passing and shooting even with a controller felt rather labored, as we found ourselves exerting more effort than we had to versus the console versions (even with the same settings). This made matches feel like a chore. Adjusting the controls for passing and shooting didn't make it any easier either. Also, on all versions of the game, heading the ball always netted a goal and every cross was a perfect cross. Scoring seemed too easy and playing as the women's teams resulted in gameplay that was a lot faster, while the men's teams felt sluggish.

 

FIFA 16 improves greatly on its predecessor; however, it only brings by improvements that make it seem like a better version of FIFA 15, rather than a completely new variant. EA is likely to face tough competition from Konami, with Pro Evolution Soccer 2016; however, EA will still have an edge thanks to its licensing issues, as well as smoother online game play. FIFA 16 will surely bring by a lot of revenue for the company, and EA can still bring by some tweaks to offer a better experience than it is currently offering.