FIFA 21 Review

The FIFA football simulator is one of the most popular and at the same time criticized games on the planet. Every year, Electronic Arts releases it with numerous changes – players are given updated features, and yet the gameplay in the new version is not much different from the old one, which sometimes receives low ratings from both players and journalists. But still for a lot of people FIFA is considered to be a way better game than its counterpart Pro Evolution Soccer.

This year EA released a new version of FIFA a little later than usual. However, this should not be surprising – the annoying coronavirus pandemic has affected the development of many computer games. And we are talking not only about Fifa but other games as well. However, in the new version of the football simulator, there are a number of features and improvements, which we will discuss further in this article.

Ultimate Team

Perhaps the most popular mode among players, which brings Electronic Arts annual income, calculated in the billions of dollars, and it should be noted that it did not require special adjustments, but this time there are changes in it. These cards cost about 1000 coins, which significantly affected the budget of “bottom-free” clubs. Now all this is not present, and your players are ready for the next match in the optimal form immediately after the end of the previous one. 

If you have friends who play FIFA 21, then in Division Rivals (when you play for your own team) or Squad Battles (when you assemble a team of computer-proposed players) you can play and format two for two – it’s fun and captivating. In this case, the rank of opponents is determined by the highest of the “leading” players: for example, if you play in the fifth-strongest division, and your friend – in the eighth, you will pick up opponents from the fifth division.

Another interesting innovation is the so-called battle of fans. For example, Arsenal fans play with Chelsea fans and vice versa. But while the prospect of these events is quite difficult to assess, it is necessary that there were worthy improvements. 

Esports Opportunity

Fifa is gradually becoming one of the most popular types of eSports and numerous people are engaged in the game. Right now it is officially a part of esports. Various betting companies when it comes to placing bets on the game are willing to sponsor individual players which is really amazing. Furthermore, if we take a look at Fifa esports betting in the past not a lot of people were keen on to place bets on this game but with the release of a newer version, Fifa 21, the tendency is expected to be changed notably. 

Career

For those who prefer to play offline and lead the club, EA offers a career mode. There you can feel like a real football manager, building the Manchester United or Real Madrid squad the way you want. It generally depends on which team you support. Changes have been made to the simulation of matches: if your guys “burn”, you can safely take the gamepad in your own hands and try to change the result in your favour.

There is also slightly updated and polished behaviour of artificial intelligence: for example, at the most recent level, the computer will use the entire arsenal of feints available in the game, and it looks really exciting and interesting.

EA also worked on the transfer system. As in real football, you can now pay either separately or loan players if you manage a poor enough club. And virtual agents act much more cunning: for example, you can offer not the most profitable exchange options and not always make concessions. 

Gameplay

The FIFA 21 gameplay got much faster than the previous version, where most of the match players were engaged in a dull roll of the ball in the middle of the field with the search for a single moment. I have already played 15 matches in the new version, and most of them scored five or more goals. Despite the fact that it is less realistic compared to real football, playing such FIFA is much more fun. If in the previous part you “burned” during the match in two or more balls, with a probability of 99% it was possible to go out and proceed to the next, now such a lag means almost nothing. For example, in one of the games I lost with a score of 3:5, the opponent thought that it was in the hat, and got by the end of the game 6:5 already in my favour.

I can’t help but note the new system of “smart runs.” If earlier when you pressed the L1 key the player ran strictly forward, now you can control it with a stick on the controller and set exactly the direction where you need, and not just forward. Another notable feature of the game is super acceleration. It is done by a double-tap of the R1 key on the gamepad, and then your player literally “throws” the ball past the defender on the left or right and just runs around it.

Developers at EA worked on speed as well. If in the previous part this figure did not mean anything and Thiago Silva could easily catch up with Kylian Mbappe or Cristiano Ronaldo, now there is no such thing. Therefore, you need to select defenders in Ultimate Team based on this parameter. 

Summary

As expected, FIFA 21 gives the impression of a big upgrade to the new generation. Developers rebalanced the gameplay, as well as slightly tightened up different other aspects of the game. Speedy players like Mbappe seem very effective and strong, which sometimes leads to high performance. Now it is a full-fledged game inside FIFA, which is very exciting. The authors promised to update the project under the console of the next generation – perhaps then there will be some more serious changes, but really something new can be seen only in a year. Although even without major innovations FIFA 21 is a fascinating football simulator.

So the game is already released and all that gamers have to do is play it. The game is really worth it. 

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