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FIFA 16 Returns — New EA Patch Promises Enhanced Gameplay

By Sandra Hajda
Published on: 18:13 PST, Dec 22, 2015

FIFA 16 has returned and is sitting at number 3 on the Christmas games chart, according to The Independent,

https://twitter.com/UTFifa16/status/679469513939808256

The Microsoft Xbox Store Countdown Sale has deals on Xbox One and Xbox 360 running over the Christmas holidays. Additional Daily Deals have just kicked off and will run until 31st December.

FIFA 16, a traditionally strong performer, was expected to top the chart but was pipped by FPS Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 in the race for the 2015 UK number 1, as reported by Metro. Star Wars Battlefront on PS4was expected to be the all-platforms number 1 this year, thanks to a strategic release date at the peak of the Star Wars film hype, but it ended at number 2 on the chart, as reported by PlayStationLifeStyle.

Gazette Review had some criticisms of the well-received game, saying that FIFA 16 is a little slower this time. The game designers have opted to reverse the FIFA 15 trend of allowing players to leave defenders behind with ease. In FIFA 16, “players rarely have the chance to leave defenders behind as they can easily catch up.” Stars in FIFA 15 would often run past defenders for an easy goal, causing frustration for players who like to defend.

The frustration will be eased in FIFA 16, but at the expense of a degree of realism:

“The change [in FIFA 16] benefits the players that like to defend and makes it more difficult for those who have stars on their team to score fast. This isn’t a big problem but it sometimes seems unrealistic as some low rated players can easily catch up to the stars.”

The game was praised for very good goalkeepers (“almost too good” — it can be very difficult to score close to them). Many reported a problem with finding opponents due to issues with Ultimate Team, such as disconnections and players being randomly logged out of the servers.

It is not very fun to come back after being logged out and seeing a loss and less coins for the next match you play.

Gamespot reports that FIFA 16 is “a tough game to review,” and it’s hard to know how you feel about a version until you’ve played it for months.

“[The new game is] an aggregation of several years’ worth of features and modes, all of which are changed and updated to varying degrees with each iteration.”

‘The midfield is now a battlefield’, one reviewer observed, describing the frustrating and ‘muddy’ way he had to work the ball across the field, fighting off those newly-empowered defenders.

Defenders urge themselves towards the ball wherever possible, pressing and lunging and reaching out feet. It can get scrappy, with miscontrols and turnovers spilling messily around for a few seconds at a time, but it feels like an organic sort of mess, a footballing mess.

A FIFA 16 patch to tackle referee decisions, passing, player positioning, and that defensive pressure that is bothering some people will be available soon. PS4 and Xbox One features drag behind the PC — many of the patch benefits are already available in the PC version.

The EA patch will allow: improvements in how quickly fatigue effects occur for players, correction of instances where no auto tackle is launched even when positioned properly, and improvements in the positioning system to allow for better attacking runs and support.

Minor changes to passing, interceptions, and long shot boosts controlled through Chemistry in Ultimate Team have also been made.

(Image by AP Photo/Michael Probst)

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