EA Sports tradition of making an enjoyable football franchise continues as the latest FIFA title, FIFA 16 is a fun and enjoyable game to play. Like previous years, FIFA 16 offers an array of small changes that will please both veterans and casual FIFA players alike.

This year’s FIFA was all about attempting to liven up the entire pitch by creating a confident defence, a midfield that you know can control the pace of the game, and forwards continuing to do what they do best. From a casual perspective, you might not notice the numerous changes, but the new tackling fundamentals and interception intelligence really stood out for me as I always felt it was the defence where the game was lacking. To me, interception intelligence was a bit of a godsend as for me defending felt like a nightmare as I would frantically switch to the nearest player in an attempt to win possession, but now with this new interception intelligence I see my AI teammates attempt to intercept back passes etc. For example during a Women’s international friendly (more in that in a minute) a player on my team spotted a back pass and won possession all without me telling the player to do so, straight away after winning the ball back I was given control and I scored a goal after which I assumed the opposition AI were cursing their teammates for a sloppy back pass.

As I mentioned above, Women’s national teams have been added to the game for the first time with a total of twelve playable Women’s national teams. While twelve is a small number especially when you compare it to the number of men’s teams it is a start. Hopefully, FIFA 17 will build on this and add women’s clubs and leagues such as the “FA Women’s Premier League”.

There is one final new feature in FIFA 16 I wish to talk about and that is “FIFA trainer”. If you are like me and are prone to forgetting what the combination for long through passes or driven crosses are then this feature will fix the problem because during a match FIFA trainer will show the optimal move or pass to make by showing the name and button combination above the player you are controlling. This might not seem like much to veterans, but as a casual player I absolutely loved it as it does away with my constant need to go to the setting menu to try and refresh my memory on the game’s button layout.

Now I know I spent a lot of time talking about the new features, and the reason for that is well apart from these changes everything else is the same. There are still a number of game modes in the form of kick off, play next match, ultimate team, career, tournament, skill games, Women’s international cup, online friendlies, online seasons, and co-op seasons. All these modes are pretty much unchanged from the last FIFA game, although skill games have seen some improvements to help new FIFA players.

While for the most part FIFA 16 is a solid game, there is still one slightly humorous issue with the game, and that is well some off the ball problems. For example when a ball went out for a throw in a player chased after it and while returning to the pitch he got stuck running into a dugout for several seconds, it was a pretty hilarious issue and one that I wish I had captured.

For those who wonder about graphics and sound. Graphically the player models, especially faces are incredibly well done, if you are controlling a major team you will straight away be able to recognise the likes of Marouane Fellaini, Christiano Ronaldo, and Phil Jones with just a simple glance. However, the spectators in the stands still feel off, yes they are 3D, but looking at them during replays etc. feels unnerving and in my opinion immersion breaking. Sound wise it is as good as previous FIFA games, although the English commentary team of Martin Tyler and Alan Smith need some new lines as I found them giving statements that I feel didn’t fit the situation such as Martin Tyler claiming an innocuous foul should be a yellow card. I really hope that in future FIFA games they improve the commentary because at times I feel like their chatter might put me to sleep.

CONCLUSION

FIFA 16 is a solid entry in the FIFA franchise. This new iteration offers new features for both new and veteran fans. FIFA 16 also sees the inclusion of women’s teams for the first time.

SCORE: 8/10

Pros/cons

+ New features that benefits newcomers and veterans
+ FIFA Trainer
+Inclusion of women’s teams

– Commentary gets boring quickly
– Graphical quality of spectators

Developer	Publisher	Genre	Rating	Platform	Release date
EA Canada	EA Sports	Sports	3+	PC, PS3, PS4 (reviewed on),XB360,XBOne	September 24th

*A review code was provided by the game’s publisher.*

For more information on FIFA 16, visit https://www.easports.com/fifa.