FIFA 22

FIFA 22 is a better game of football than ever before and offers a full load of new features for PS5, Xbox Series consoles and Stadia. This is a shame because of the countless bugs and the lack of real improvement in many modes.

Introduction

FIFA 22 is the latest entry in the long-running football seam and is the first that really seems to have been designed with the new generation of consoles in mind.

This year, more than most, is a big step in terms of gameplay for the series. FIFA 22 offers the best game in the long run from EA Sports, enhancing the overall experience with the new PS5 and Xbox Series S | X exclusive motion capture.

Still, I can’t help but feel a little frustrated. While areas like career mode still feel limited, the Ultimate team continues with its loot box-heavy approach and lacks the polish that I don’t normally expect from a FIFA game.

Gameplay

• Lots of advanced gameplay on PS5, Xbox series consoles
• More fluid animation
• Tough, but more productive

Gameplay is definitely king in a football game. Despite the lack of FIFA mode, licenses and general subtleties, PES has improved over the years.

In recent years, it has been noticed that there is less focus on gameplay, dramatic improvements in game modes, and a relentless interest in pushing FUT (FIFA Ultimate Team).

Although this is not the case here, FIFA 22 is finally taking the real virtual game of football to a more interesting place. Well, at least on newer consoles. This review is based entirely on the PS5 (and Xbox series consoles) so it can be a very different experience on older consoles and PCs.

Hypermotion is the shiny, poster-friendly name for these improvements and while I usually pass something like Media Fluff, the changes here actually make a welcome difference.

The animations are now motion-captured by some real players and this helps to make the movement feel more normal. Keepers react differently, especially after hard shots when players trip and fall and the ball doesn’t always seem to be doing the same thing. Many years ago, I finally got bored after a few months of playing FIFA because of the same animation and constant player movement. It doesn’t seem to be a problem here.

The game is a lot more fun to play. It focuses less on the slightly slower, bombastic end-to-end competition that ends 6-5 with five goals by Mo Salah and several ridiculous goalkeeping errors. It actually focuses more on picking the right players, creating a game in the middle of the park, and using fast-paced players.

A new feature called the Explosive Sprint allows those fast wings, especially the likes of Sancho and Sterling, to move away from the dowling center back and really use those speed and acceleration statistics. This is welcome, but AI also makes good use of these skills, so it makes things a bit more complicated.

In fact, I would say it’s a much tougher game than ever. Probably not for ‘FIFA professionals’ but for lower league 1 players like me. I could barely score in the first few games, and then when the goals finally started to flow (thanks Erling) I was rateing even higher. If you’re used to paying attention to your game and cross-in to a tap-in, you may need to update your game.

There is also a lot of focus on passing. Hypermotion adds a bunch of smooth animations that make ball control and Beckham-esque crossfields more realistic. But really, you only have to pass the ball to break a basic defense. This additional difficulty though is satisfactory and very welcome.

If you read this and feel that I appreciate the game ‘Harder’, ‘Slow’ And less ‘Bombing’ If this is the complete opposite of what you want from FIFA then yes, you can be disappointed. Those who are screaming for Arcade fun may be disappointed.

Graphics and presentation

• The visuals may look great but there is a clear gap between the players
• Poor commentary
• Lots of bugs

While the gameplay additions make it a good game of football, there are still many places where FIFA 22 feels very annoying.

The game has a general brightness running on PS5 (reviewed) and Xbox series consoles. Sweat is more noticeable on the foreheads of Knocker players, while the shirts move in a more realistic way.

The strand hair system, first introduced in the updated version of FIFA 21, gives some players an almost ridiculously delicious lock. My eyes were fixed on Cavani’s glorious Barnett as he got up for the header and I just couldn’t focus on the set play defense.

But in reality, these improvements only increase the contrast between the parts of the game that look good and the parts that don’t. Properly scanned player faces look great, but these are mostly just big names. Start a career mode with Leeds, Brentford or even Leicester City and you will see that many faces have been removed from the general design. Say, the difference between Wesley Fofana and Jadon Sancho’s face is obviously strange.

The game is also very bet. On many occasions the players disappeared during the celebration, the referees delivered the ball of the match in an empty space and the teammates were celebrating through the crowd to congratulate the last minute winner. I know these quirks were present in previous years, but it seems much more common here.

It is worth mentioning that the comment is clearly horrible. BT Sports replaces Italian co-commentator and ESPN regular Stuart Robson Lee Dixon, and his insights are rarely welcome and always boring. At least the nice Alex Scott pops up occasionally with score updates from other games.

Game node

• FUT remains too much pay-to-win
• The Volta feels closer to FIFA Street than ever before
• Minor changes to other modes

FIFA 22 does not have a big new game mode, nor does it have the arc of the traditional story. Instead, there are minor changes for series stallwarts such as FUT, career mode and Voltaire.

I enjoyed the Volta when it came out a few years ago, but it didn’t completely scratch the FIFA Street itch. It was fun, but it also felt like the same FIFA game had been transported from the pitch to the park.

Fortunately, Volta had a little more fun this time. While resentment may be omitted from the original game, the part of the road that gets it swathes by adding it. There’s more skill, more ridiculous power-ups, and more fun games in general. It’s still not FIFA Street, but it’s not too far away.

I’m less enthusiastic about career mode, though it’s probably because it’s the field of play that I play the most. I dislike a lot of new additions to FIFA 21, because things like training were ridiculously annoying and it made virtually no difference to how well your team actually played.

This year, ‘Player Carrier’ has more of an RPG focus. Each game has multiple objectives to fulfill, and ticking them helps you unlock new skills and work your way up to the starting lineup.

Then create a club that I admit I was interested in trying. Sadly, this mode seems half-baked. In the beginning, you can choose a team to replace in any of the licensed leagues and then build and design a crest, kit and stadium. Then choose how much pressure you want from the board and whether you want to make your squad better. For example, a five star team gives you a bunch of players rated around the 80-90 mark. You can even give yourself a healthy 1 billion transfer kitty.

The biggest disadvantage with Crete A Club is that your team is full of non-descript generated players with only empty expressions. I want a team full of real players, not with the charisma of the new generation of football managers.

Many will buy FIFA only for the Ultimate team, the loot-box focused part of the game that makes big money for the EA every year. I will happily admit that I rarely play this mode outside of the FIFA review because I do not enjoy being beaten comfortably by players much better than me and even spending money to get a chance to win.

Aside from the loot box and the whole pay-to-win aspect, there are some changes to the FUT. With the new preview pack feature you can see at least what you are spending some money on which lets you see inside a FUT pack a day. Changes in the league and some checkpoints have been added to make losing a bit easier. Still, the focus on spending real life money to get a chance to pick a top-quality player will probably never seem right.

You can easily play FIFA 22 without touching the Ultimate Team, and I will do just that in the future.

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