FIFA 16 enters the fray this year with one of the most diverse rosters in video game sports. From your favourite Premier League pro's to a dozen Women's National Teams to hallowed football legends and more, everybody is prepared to take to the pitch, so get ready to take control with EA Sports' latest take on "The Beautiful Game". Career Mode sees a few new innovations in FIFA 16 as well. Firstly, this year sports the introduction of Pre-Season Tournaments. Each year your club will be invited to three of a possible nine tournaments played across four continents. Just like as in the real world, this is a great opportunity for you to test out your team, work out some kinks, and develop your best strategy moving forward toward the regular season. And the best part? The prize cash from winning these pre-season tilts goes directly into your budget, giving you more to work with in your championship quest.
In a change apparently designed solely to please Arsene Wenger, FIFA 16 is a much slower, more deliberate game that requires a bit more patience, especially when you're playing against a well-organized defense. Start out by making short, safe passes backwards and forwards towards the left or right side of midfield, and then look for opportunities to switch the play using the driven or bounce pass. If the midfield area is looking a bit crowded, trigger a teammate run with the left bumper and then quickly try to play a through ball down the wing. If a runner tracks the player, you'll often find that this leaves the space you need to play through the center.
To take best advantage of the chances, use a bit more force kicks. This way, it will hamper the lives of goalkeepers and you can even get real exploit. Placed movements and crawling are also great choice to hit the target without problems. Real Madrid, Barcelona and other major European football teams seem obvious choices for the matches of the game, but in practice, the story is quite different. Even with so many high level players, the teams have different strategies and are very different to control. Be sure to try several teams in the game modes. In addition to not get tired of a team, you will also learn different playing styles, which are often imposed by limitations and formations.
When stood in a congested area of the pitch, trying to feed a pass to a marked man can be very tricky. But now, you can fire the ball into your player’s feet with the new drilled pass. By holding down RB/R1, your standard ground pass will be delivered with much more venom with FIFA’s new ‘Passing with Purpose’ mechanic, making it more difficult for defenders to intercept. But by the same token, it also makes it more difficult for the receiver to control, so you have to make sure they’re primed and ready to take the pass, otherwise you’ll see QPR-quality first touches all over the park.
What has changed? Will it improve on last year? Is the Women’s footy just as good as the lads? Questions are on everyone’s mind. EA Sports have forever been at the forefront in the football game biz, and this year is no different. Dont get me wrong: Pro Evo is a fantastic game but FIFA is just…better. If you aren't facing the player you are passing to, you are likely to give away the ball. The change in AI means you have to play in a more realistic way but the new defensive AI which forces you to play this way feels untrue to real life. Defenders intercept the ball too regularly with their touch off an opposition pass being near perfect.
For the first time in many years I wouldn’t mind which game I played and I think that both are stunning, but the worry for EA will be how to invigorate the series to stand atop the podium once more as the true number one football simulator in the world. Now though, I couldn’t tell you which I prefer but I can tell you that 16 is awesome and quite probably the more widely favoured given a choice. This game will take up many hours in the build up to watching live games and I can happily place 15 away knowing that it did itself justice, something that 16 will do too.
