FIFA 15 proved to be a disappointment for the long-running franchise. With goalkeepers, the game’s marquee change, becoming an absolute mess, and pace becoming far too overpowered in favour of strikers against under-skilled defenders. With FIFA 16, rather than go after big-name changes, EA is looking to improve fundamentals across the board, which is having a profound effect across all areas of the pitch.
FIFA 16 is off to a very strong start, and has the potential to be the best game of football EA has produced in years. Here’s ten reasons why this year could return FIFA back to the top of the league.
In FIFA 15 your defence tends to spend more time watching the ball move around the pitch instead of actually trying to get it back. Thankfully, defender intelligence has been greatly improved this year. The back four (or three, if you're fancy) will try and step into passing lanes to attempt to win back possession, and try to nip in front of any attackers waiting for a sloppy pass.
FIFA 15 became a goldmine for goalkeeper calamities (just have a look on YouTube), but EA has made some improvements in the hope that September won’t see a sudden uptake in 'GOALKEEPER FAIL LOL' videos.
New animations have been added to give the keepers more tools to defend against certain situations, including the ability to tip the ball over the bar when tracking back to prevent a lob, which will help nix the infamous 'top corner' glitch that became prevalent last year.
Finally, women’s teams have been added. FIFA 16 will feature 12 women’s national teams, including England, USA, Germany, France and Brazil. Players will be able to compete in Match Day, Offline Tournament Mode, and online friendlies. Each player has had their likeness captured with EA’s face-scanning tech, too, plus the US and Canadian national teams have been mo-capped to provide full animation detail.
Although it’s not quite the extensive roster we might have hoped for, it’s a solid start and hopefully we’ll see women’s leagues in the not-too-distant future.
The introduction of women’s teams has meant male player models have also improved. Long hair was never previously animated during matches in FIFA. Now there are more styles in the game, meaning Ibra can finally let his hair down.
There’s also proportional scaling now. Producer Nick Channon noted that older models were unable to accommodate the larger players, and simply stretched them horizontally or vertically. But now, EA is able to build a player to scale, so Peter Crouch and Ade Akinfenwa will be appropriately gigantic.
You can now jump up from a slide tackle at the press of a button. No longer will you watch in agony as an attacker simply waits for your useless, lumbering defender to slide past the ball. Now, by pressing the slide tackle button again, the defender will jump up and keep fighting to regain possession.
This is great for when your slide tackle doesn’t change the direction of the ball or knock down the ball carrier, which most of the time meant they kept the ball last year. Now, a successful slide tackle is much more likely to result in a change in possession, and an unsuccessful one isn’t as detrimental. Even a half-decent challenge could mean you win the ball in the end.
If it’s in the game, it’s in the game, as EA says. (Apart from spitting, swearing, abusing the ref, and diving.) This year sees the introduction of the referee's trusty vanishing spray to mark distances for free kicks. You even get a little mini-cutscene of the ref marching the wall back before drawing the line in front of their boots, which we’ll all no doubt watch once, say “ah, that’s cool”, then never watch again.
Crossing has been given a massive overhaul so that players can now whip crosses in with curve rather than float aimless deliveries where it’s a 50/50 whether or not your player is strong enough to outmuscle the defence.
Previously, players consistently stood under the ball, waiting for the delivery to arrive. But ‘Dynamic Crossing’ means that players can anticipate the runs of teammates, placing deliveries ahead of play, allowing for diving headers and some pretty cool highlight moments.
By holding a button, the player dribbling the ball will now engage in ‘no-touch dribbling’. This means that you'll be able to feint and dummy to try and trick your opponent into running the wrong way, creating just enough space for a shot or cross.
No-touch dribbling can be used while the ball is moving or stationary, meaning it can be used when breaking down the pitch, or while trying to create just enough space on the edge of the box to fire a shot at goal.
Being able to make standing tackles while the ball is in mid-air is a secret godsend. Barring a lucky deflection, defenders used to hopelessly whiff on airballs, leaving attackers with a free run at the next man in line, or worse, the goalie. Now, it’s actually possible to make tackles while the ball is bouncing, with new animations added so that players make a deliberate effort to win the ball when it’s at knee-height.
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.
The Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad Guide to the Classes. The Officers and Tanks.
Batman Arkham City Police Brutalilty Walkthrough
Play League Of Legends Like A Pro
Tactical Assassin 2 Walkthrough
How to Make Battlefield 3 Run Faster