CENTRAL POINT is the fortnightly column of FIFA U Team website, written by Hugo Versiani.
You will find here the most hot Ultimate Team topics but also old stuff, described in a very objective and special way.
In this second FIFA 16 episode, “FIFA 16: The end of the Doumbian era”, the author analyses how different is FIFA 16 from FIFA 15.
FIFA 16: The end of the Doumbian era
If you don’t live in New Zealand, probably, you tried out the FIFA 16 demo for the first time the same day most people did. After 67 minutes of waiting for it to fully download, there it is, the game is no longer a mystery, at least for now. What I can say is that this year’s demo is already one step ahead of last year’s. And what about FUT Draft? This year we get to see what the new FUT feature looks like before even buying the game.
With the phrase “Play Beautiful” highlighted, the game’s menus kept no trace of the old appearance. Softened blue screens to alleviate the emotions, maybe? After server disconnections, scoring chances wasted and unfair losses the new look might be of some help. Who knows? Menus in shades of black are a piece of history now.
For Real Madrid fans, like me, the partnership between EA and the Spanish club turned out great. The welcome game being in the Santiago Bernabéu against Barcelona, the stadium’s interior as background in the pause menu and the players’ digitalization were making up for the absence of the best team of the world: SCCP! Lies? Of course not!
The famous “pace abusers” are long gone! Doumbia will never be king again. Although the Ivorian did make it to the demo’s FUT draft choices, didn’t he? Anyway, nevermind, moving on. The so commentated “beautiful game” really seems to be what’s going on, at least for now. Good passing and dribbling are the key for this edition. On FUT draft there’s been Messi, CR7, Reus, Suárez, Bale, IBRA10 and Neuer, I’ve tested out more great players than I’ve ever dreamed of pulling in packs (I know it won’t be that easy outside of the demo). This new FUT game mode is our great chance not to spend coins on players we don’t know. FUT DRAFT will save players lots and lots of coins. But don’t think EA will always want to see you playing with the best players, like on the demo. The objective of the franchise is for you to have lots of fun… while buying FP’s.
Some of the things that used to annoy you on FIFA 15 but, so far, haven’t emerged. Do you remember what they were? Dumb collisions inside the area that resulted in penalties, conceding a goal from kickoff when the opponent would run like crazy while your goalkeeper would ridiculously fail to stop him and leave the goal open… Anything else? Remember: the light blue menus weren’t there to calm you down on FIFA 15.
I left my pride aside just to see what FIFA Trainer looks like. I decided to play an entire game with trainer on and the experience gave away some good surprises. This instant tutorial might sound like it’s something “for newbies”, but if you don’t have the patience to practice on the arena regularly it’s the best way for you to improve yourself and surprise the opponent once in a while.
FIFA 16 will be a good game for people who enjoy studying tactics, work rates etc; it’ll be much more realistic than last year. Player instructions seemed to work just fine according to formation chosen, too. The players’ artificial intelligence also looks good so far. It’s time to set yourself apart with what you know!
Women’s national teams are another great positive point in the game. Their rhythm and play style aren’t near the same as men’s and because of that the whole gameplay gets different and interesting. My dream would be using Marta as a striker for my full Brazilian team on Ultimate Team. Guess I’ll keep dreaming! All the femininity translated into virtual football (faces, voice and moves). Gotta congratulate EA for their initiative!
The official commentators of the English version, Martin Tyler and Alan Smith, didn’t leave any gaps, and keeping up with the game, even if you’re not the one controlling the players, is more exciting than ever. Although the game’s soundtrack could have used some “Emicida” kind of Brazilian rapping, too, don’t you think?
During games I didn’t notice any bugs, these must be waiting to show their faces online. By the way, offline FIFA 16 and online FIFA 16 are totally different games. From last year’s experience, we know that anything can happen between the demo and the final version of the game, especially within this area of the game. I’ve searched for FIFA 16 hack-related stuff but didn’t find anything concrete. Why? Simple. They’re most certainly plotting something big for later, unfortunately. Open your eyes, EA!
Several new celebrations were announced during the week. Obviously we won’t have anything that looks like Emerson Sheik’s polemical declarations towards the CBF, but we can at least mock the opponent a bit. Will the K.O. and interactions with the cameraman be replacing the famous “Calm Down” this year? If you enjoy leaving your opponent mad this is your chance to increase your mock-list.
If you want to know how FUT16 looks like, hold on just for a bit and keep up with the commentary by gamers of the franchise. This little wait might alleviate both your conscience and pocket because of just a few days. A summary of the FUT16 demo? If first impressions are what counts, let’s not risk it, wait until the community gives away feedback on the final version!