With the potential to construct a play like that of the Egyptian pyramids only to have it crumble in disarray like a game of Jenga, the FIFA 16 experience now better encapsulates the moment-to-moment susceptibility housed within football; the risk/reward mantra that's so ingrained in the very fundamentals of the sport. For once, it finally feels as though there are separate phases of attack and everything just feels a lot more reactionary and purposeful.

 

The passing, for instance, has been revamped and doesn't feel nearly as choreographed as previous years where it sometimes felt as though the game had devolved into a bout of pinball. This time around passing can regularly be too short with the propensity to be miscontrolled, which can subsequently drag players out of their respective positions leading to more avenues to explore enroute to that elusive goal. It's a far more dynamic, and frankly realistic, way of depicting the sport and treads the line much closer to Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer than ever before.

 

What does the Chemistry mechanic mean for your time playing FIFA 16 UT? While the game purports to let you build "your fantasy team," you'll actually be hunting for players from the same country and/or same team instead. The developers are so aware of the value of Chemistry that one of the most-expensive packs you can buy will give you a complete Barclays Premiership Club to ensure perfect chemistry. In other words, while the game sells you the dream of building an Ultimate Team, what the mechanics are actually telling you is to have as many players from the same real-life team as possible.

 

So, it's not a stretch to say that if you don't pour plenty of dollars in EA's mouth, you won't have a competitive team because you can be sure many others will feed the beast. On the defensive side of things, new AI gives players better awareness of dangerous space on the pitch, allowing them to track back to stop advanced attacking runs. Players also now anticipate passes and move to shut down passing channels and options, looking for more opportunities to play through the midfield. There’s also new standing, slide and fake tackles that make attacking the ball more responsive.

 

And while some might say that this is part of the challenge of building your team, it actually felt more like a way for the game to pressure you into buying more and more packs. You'll really need to buy lots of packs to find players whose chemistry works well enough to make your team perform well. Another couple of innovations are the driven passing and no touch dribbling - the former allowing you to pelt fast, but controlled, passes to your team mates to instantly open up defences, while the latter sees you feint, shimmy and shield the ball - to distract opponents and draw fouls.

 

Many demo users complained of a “catch-up bug” where defenders would disregard speed ratings and catch up to attackers. At first this appeared to the case, but after becoming more familiar with the new dribbling mechanics I was able to vary my dribble (with the use of the R-Stick to tap the ball ahead) distances as well as put my body in front of the defender to ensure that if they wanted the ball they would have to go through me thus creating a foul.

 

Elsewhere - and long overdue - FIFA 16 introduces female teams and players for the first time in the series' history. The biggest stumbling block is that it costs a fair bit to enter - 15,000 coins, although you do get a free pass when you start playing - but you're given a choice of five top players in every position, before taking part in quick, four-game tournaments either online or in single-player.