I’m sure you’re going to be seeing tonnes of people talking about the FIFA 16 Demo, talking about all the new technical features and why it’s better than FIFA 15, however if you’re like me then you’re also going to want a very short, very human breakdown of what’s going on? Amiright?
Here’s mine:
For years I’ve been smashing in goals from all over the field, that’s not going to happen this year because they’ve made the shooting much, much harder. Even a one-on-one can end up with Cristiano Ronaldo turning Sunday League, kicking the floor and putting it out for a throw-in if you don’t time it right.
I have been impressed, once again, by how EA Sports have managed to improve the realism of the game. I don’t mean in terms of the graphics (which are great the way), more about how the ball bounces and how players move. Pass a ball too hard and the receiving player will struggle.
Female footballers. Personally I think that this is quality. I think that including the women’s national teams is brilliant from EA because it is meant to be a game that is inclusive. Having female footballers on the game is amazing for those that follow the female game and for young, budding female footballers. Also, who is it hurting? Nobody! You aren’t forced to use Alex Morgan, Hope Solo and Co. so if you’re that moron whining in the corner about it being a ‘mans game’, it’s simple. Just don’t use the girls.
Another thing that EA seem to do well is sticking new little aspects into the game that aren’t necessary, but that make you smile a little bit. They’re just nice little touches. This year they’ve stuck in the vanishing spray and added camera/substitute celebrations where you can run to the cameracrew or bench to celebrate after scoring. Like I say, pretty pointless, but also pretty cool.
Do I dare whisper it? I may just have got lucky so far, but it seems like the guys over at EA have finally changed something that costs me (and probably you too) hundreds of games a year. Passing out from a goal-kick actually seems to go where you tell it to now, not straight into the grateful feet of some smarmy attacker who’s going to just pass it into your net. Bloody delightful. In fact there is a whole new aspect to the passing system where you can ping ground passes by holding R1/RB. Lastly, and it’s also about time, but I think they’ve finally managed to master the bending, early cross into the box. You’ll score lots of headers and volleys on this game. I can promise you that. Eager beavers like myself, who downloaded the demo during my work day and scived off a little bit so I could play, have probably got some decent time in on the game already and noticed that the AI is improved again this year. Your teammates make more intelligent movements on the field and players are quicker to intercept rather than just let the ball pass by them while you sit with your controller screaming at them to “Just put a bloody foot in!”. Me? I love a tackle. Scoring great goals and doing neat little tricks is a bit of fun for me, but sliding across the field and taking the ball and the man is something that really tickles my fancy. On FIFA 16 they’ve changed up the whole tackling system so the slide tackles are more realistic and you can even pull out of them if you think it was the wrong choice. Oh, and as for the FIFA Ultimate Team Draft teaser that’s in the demo, it’s a bit pointless to be honest. You can only select your team and then can’t play as them, so yeah, that’s a bit naff. I’ll only start exploring that when the proper game is out.
I think I’m getting used to this #FIFA16 thing… @EASPORTSFIFA pic.twitter.com/nQqZhOyatB
— Joe Crann (@YesWeCrann) September 9, 2015