FIFA 16 Interactions between players still is a bright spot when it comes to authentic exchanges while fighting for the ball. When a bigger and stronger FIFA 16 attacker is faced against a shorter defender, maybe built for speed, mechanics will illustrate the smaller man having trouble moving or getting around his opponent. In reverse, if the smaller player is using his lower center of gravity, it will work to his benefit to stay low and take the taller stronger challenger off-balance. The realistic motions to these physics help keep each football player in the match, enabling them to utilizing their strengths, even when they may be outmatched in other categories.

 

Scoring in FIFA 16 helps drive a lot of the game's emotion, of course, and scoring gets a lot of help this year with new momentum-based ball physics. Defenders and the goalkeeper will get in the way of more shots, but their rebounds will be less predictable and more apt to bounce further away. In past editions, the absence of momentum meant balls would stop dead and fall to the earth once they hit something; that made it easy for the defense to take possession of missed shots, and thus shot opportunities were almost too precious.

 

"Feel the game" is the advertising slogan this year. At first it sounds like another meaningless phrase spun by marketing men, but the more you play FIFA 16 the more it makes sense. The new stadium, the remodeled players, the live news feeds, the ultra-slow replays of crunching tackles - FIFA 16 feels more like football than ever. The chance to get a second bite at the apple is nice, knowing the scoring chance I so carefully created doesn't go entirely to waste if I can keep the ball low and try to play a rebound.

 

You get to play it once for free but after that, each play will cost 15,000 FIFA 16 Ultimate Team coins or 300 FIFA Points. In real terms, that works out to about ￡2 per play. Like we say, you'll generally win back the cost of entry, but given that you could be rewarded with gold packs that contain nothing but seven contract cards, a stadium you don't want to play in, a ball that you don't want to use, a manager from the Tippecanoe and three players from the Saudi Arabian Premier League, there's the chance that the cost of entry will appear to be a bit high.

 

Online is as fun as ever with a brand new addition to FIFA 16 Ultimate Team while adding in the training sessions to actually mean something in career mode is a wonderful and very welcomed addition. I say it just about every single year with sports titles in that the key is to avoid being called a "roster update" and nothing more. FIFA, year in and year out, has avoided getting slapped with this moniker, and this IP has separated itself from the pack. There is no reason you shouldn't be picking this game up at launch.

 

These are the decisions you’ll be faced with, but with the entry fee standing at 15,000 FIFA coins or a Draft Token (unless you want to pay real cash), there’s the total possibility you won’t make any profit from winning the four-game tournament. Prizes are generally gold packs if you’ve performed well, but the value of these can vary wildly, making Draft less rewarding than many will have hoped.

 

There are other minor tweaks to the way the game plays. Referees now play advantage more intelligently - although we did have one of them blow up for a penalty just as the ball was headed in off the bar, which is the opposite - and they also get to deploy the magic ref spray for free-kicks around the box. For hardcore FIFA fans, though, there’s enough in FIFA 16 to keep you occupied. And by the time you’ve finally mastered it, it’ll be time to do it all over again.