EA is known for putting out cutting-edge sports games year after year. However, the one series title most of the world looks forward to is FIFA. With Soccer being the world’s most popular sport, its not a surprise that this series takes the world by storm year after year. Popular clubs such as FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Manchester City are among favorites for players who are both new and experienced in FIFA. With the franchise already being a major success, EA just needed to improve on, and add in new features to an already great game.

 

Last year’s FIFA was a ‘like’ on my scale. A quality iteration of the world’s biggest sports game no doubt, but it didn’t do enough to keep me playing all the way through the year like previous FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer games have. Your passes will go awry and short sharp passing becomes the name of the game until a gap opens up out wide or through the middle. New driven passes are a joy and my favourite new feature.

 

The only two improved mechanisms that we did see in FIFA 16 for Xbox 360 and PS3 were the team’s defense and the highly anticipated one-touch dribble system. With FIFA 16, EA announced players will find it hard to pass by defenders and that thankfully was the case when we played the title on old-gen consoles as well. At one point in the game where we almost passed by the last remaining defender, another of that team's defender sprinted towards us quickly and tackled us once again.

 

So it’s safe to say even though goal-keeping in FIFA 16 is not as strong as it should be, defense will be the player's only hope of survival against other teams. Negatives do pop up, additional to the universal, linked problems of FIFA's mechanics. There's a distinct lack of teams - 16 in total - with no club level competitions offered. You can only take part in friendlies or a tournament, without even leagues thrown in. It's taken 22 years to get to a stage where women are in the game, but the full women’s game is hardly represented in there.

 

Presentation in FIFA is undoubtedly one of the genre’s best. From stat overlays, to in-game updates from around the league, to slick menus, FIFA continues to raise the bar. FIFA 16 sees the introduction of the authentic German Bundesliga package after introducing the Barclays Premier League last year. Hopefully next year we’ll see an expansion to include Spain’s La Liga or Italy’s Serie A.

 

In-game, the crowd is boisterous as ever as you’ll hear familiar chants such as “When the Saints go Marching in” from Southampton supporters or Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge army yelling “Jose Mourinhoooooooo”. Commentary has been improved although as with any game, you’ll hear recycled lines as you pile up the hours played. The Soundtrack is catch as ever and new weather effects such as “hazy” and random rain showers are now available. Nine new stadiums have been added bringing the grand total to 78 (50 authentic, 28 generic).

 

The online multiplayer remains fun and players can continue to live out their fantasy football dreams on FIFA Ultimate Team, which now also includes a draft mode to make things more interesting. Meanwhile, Career Mode now has optional pre-season tournaments and includes a Training Mode where players can increase their individual players’ stats through practice drills (manually or automated).