FIFA fans around the world don’t have to wait any longer. FIFA 21 is finally here. It took EA a few weeks extra to get things ready but now it’s time to see if the long-awaited innovations have been added or if this is just a reskin of last year’s FIFA.
Small changes can make a huge impact
FIFA 21 was in dire need of some innovations in gameplay to get back to being enjoyable. Don’t get me wrong I played FIFA 20 up until the summer last year but felt the game got really exploitive for certain playstyles. It felt like FIFA 20 forced you to play a certain way in order to get any success. Football is about creativity so that should translate to the game. Some players like using a whole bag of skill moves to get towards the goal, I’m more of a tactical player who favors the passing game. FIFA 21 did its best to add innovations to make more playstyles profitable towards winning games. These changes won’t be visible but you’ll feel the difference for sure.
Agile dribbling, positioning personality, and creative runs
The first thing I noticed immediately is the way players dribble in FIFA 21. As mentioned before, I’m not the most agile when it comes down to taking on other players in a 1v1 situation but I felt like this time around I could use the sticks in combinations with some shoulder buttons to really have better control of the ball. With some added shielding I could create space even with an opponent on my back. People who like extended use of dribbling and skill moves will be pleased to hear a few skills got updates and some new ones, like the bridge dribble, were added.
Another noticeable difference in FIFA 21 is the way players move. The attacking and defending positioning controlled by the AI has long been lacking. Why top players would make the sometimes stupid runs they made in FIFA 20 has led to much frustration. This time, EA upped their AI and actually made the runs look somewhat useful. Top players will arch their run and even hold their pace so they won’t run offside which is a huge plus. The best innovation in my opinion is the addition of the creative run. This option gives you the ability to control the direction a player takes a run after you’ve initiated it. This feels like the much-needed gamechanger and opens up for a more personal tailored tactical approach.
Career mode
FIFA 21’s gameplay might’ve been tweaked for the better, the actual game modes available have stayed the same. The one mode people hope gets a huge update every year must be career mode. The good news is that EA finally decided to listen… well sort of… Starting career mode as a player and trying to develop your player into a world-class player is still pretty much the same as last year. The manager career on the other hand has changed drastically. Fans wanted a more realistic manager mode with more options and EA more or less delivered. You’ll have a lot more options in terms of coaching players to get to their full potential. You won’t just sim each week to get to the next match because of a lack of stuff to do. There’s plenty of work to be done if you want to keep your club competitive.
New Volta story
Last year’s big addition, Volta is back with a new story called “the debut”. It’s more of the same thing, to be honest, and still won’t hold my attention to be quite fair. Volta is a bit of fun when you’re with some mates and want to play a quick casual game. Other than that, I don’t really see the point of this watered-down version of FIFA Street. You obviously might feel different and really like Ricardo Kakà and Thierry Henry take you on a tour of mini-pitches but I’d rather play the 11v11 original.
Ultimate team co-op
Last year I read an article about how much money EA made from Ultimate Team during the current pandemic and was totally gobsmacked by the figure. Ultimate Team is obviously the biggest asset for EA and therefore is heavily marketed. Buying packs and feeling disappointed by the content is a yearly recurring cycle for many FIFA players. I take pride in never putting any money in this mode – and still trying to be competitive in Weekend League – but I know a lot of friends who actually spend more money on Ultimate Team than on the game itself. This time FIFA 21 introduces a co-op option which feels like a nice addition. Every change they make towards getting more friends involved is a good change in my opinion. The community goals to pimp out your stadium might help make the community less toxic.
Next-gen included
These are exciting times with new consoles getting ready to be released. EA has added “dual entitlement” to each purchase of the current-gen game. This is just a fancy way of saying you’ll be able to update to the PS5 or Xbox Series X version of the game for free. Your current progress will be transferable and you could even go back and forth between the old and new console if you want. Just a small heads-up… People who buy a physical copy will need to put the disc in the new console in order to play/update. So people who buy a disc-less version of the new consoles should be aware of this. Buying the game digital now and updating on the new consoles should work seamlessly according to EA.
Conclusion
FIFA 21 is still the best football game out there. The update FIFA 21 got is certainly noticeable but one should always ask if it’s enough to muster up the cash to buy the same game again (and again). The gameplay changes are welcomed by yours truly but if I know EA, they’ll eventually bring out a patch that might slightly alter these changes again and turn it into the bore-fest FIFA 20 became towards the end. Maybe I’m getting a bit too cynical here but paying full price for some tweaks and some additional options in manager mode feels like being cheated.
