Fifa 16
Article by Ice
Another one for the European's I guess, I was going to do Deadpool but haven't had time to really play it so it would be from an observatory point which isn't the best method. I'll play it this month and it can be the next issue.
So Fifa, it's an annual game we get one every season. Its a simple sports simulator and comparing year to year you wont see much difference to graphics but you can be damn sure they will advertise it's the latest and greatest - let's nip that right now - the graphics are "marginally" better.
Their's a few aspects though that have shone in this version even for someone like me who things the actual game of football/soccer is boring - to physically play or watch. You may wonder why I've done a few reports on the genre when its a game I dislike and the simple solution is market saturation - I'm a rugby fan and the games that get produced are very low quality and very rare, whereas Fifa and FM get annual releases and theirs other brands too so plenty to pick from.
The main feature I want to draw on this is Ultimate Team, in which you earn points to buy packs like a trading card game. These come in Bronze, Silver, Gold or Special - you built your best team, bench & reserves out of these cards. The simple method is just put Golds/Special's and you have a good team - right? Wrong! Fifa 16 has chemistry which is demonstrated between lines to the nearby players if you want your team to blend well you have to find the correct types of players to work together, this is a nice innovation in a sports game that truly accepts player variance.
The downside however is their is a "manager tips" sections to get your first Gold Pack this is like a tutorial to the game, create a club - play a game etc which is simple enough but their is "convert a player to concept player" which gives no instruction and is the least obvious process. What it actually means is get a player on loan, wait til his contract expires, go into his options and set him to a concept player. However, until his loan expires the option doesn't appear. I had to resolve to youtube to find the solution and that really frustrates me.
We've all played those games where whether you set it to beginner or pro you cant really lose Fifa is not one of those, I played my first few games on Amateur because I wanted to learn the controls after a game or two I became competitive, now I'm able to win comfortable on Semi-Pro but the moment I switch to Pro im on the back-foot and it makes it a huge challenge. No more running past every player then top corner, it takes team work perfect through balls and conserving stamina - so this came wins points on the challenge aspect for now.
I didn't touch much on the training/minigames but they are plentiful and a great way to learn the game, when you're practicing shooting round a wall or chipping through a giant tyre to hit a sweet spot these are fun and plentiful (although forced prematch) so they have to go on the plus column.
So my verdict is if your a fan of sports games in any way its worth a pop, provided you have a basic grasp of soccer you'll enjoy it even if the entire of watching a 90 minute game is the last thing on your to-do list. If you're not into sports games, wait til next month when I review Deadpool.
