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Each year sees the release of a new FIFA title, and each year we question whether or not the changes to the game warrants its hefty price tag. For a franchise that has run for so long, and, by-and-large, changed so little, this becomes more pressing with each passing year. Of late, the franchise had come under heavy competition from the Pro Evolution Soccer series in a way that has split much of the soccer gaming fanbase. The former is filled to the brim with licenses, near photo-realistic visuals and fast-paced gameplay, while the latter is generally held as the more faithful alternative, focusing on careful build up play and precision passing, despite being a little rough around the edges at times. In FIFA 2016, we can see this battle of the brands reflected in the game, as passing and build up receiving a lot more focus than in previous iterations, while trying to maintain the areas in which they trump their competitor.

To those with only a passing familiarity with the game, the in-match gameplay will seem little different from that of its predecessors, but to fans of the series the changes will be evident – the defence has tightened up considerably, and passing has become more realistic, making it much harder to spam the pass button and rush by the opposing team. Pace is no longer all-important when considering a player’s attributes, as strength and ball skills have become emphasised in an attempt to finally mend one of the points of criticism often levelled at FIFA. Before, matches were dominated by players with high pace and power attributes, but now the back line mark tightly, constantly buffeting and struggling with even the strongest forwards. Similarly, the goalkeepers’ A.I. has improved drastically, meaning they act like real people for the first time, even occasionally flapping at crosses or being out-jumped by a tall attacker; frustrating, to be sure, but far more realistic than previous iterations. Deeper player features such as dynamic crossing, no touch dribbling and clinical finishing create more opportunities for the “Moments of Magic” heavily focused on by FIFA in their pre-launch advertisements, and this all serves to heighten the sense of realism within the game.

One of the big additions to FIFA 2016 is the FIFA trainer, which provides proper instruction for people coming into the series for the first time. That’s not to say that there aren’t benefits for those with more experience, providing a visual indicator of the exact direction that you’re aiming in, which allows for increased accuracy in both passing and shooting. A less eye-catching, but still noteworthy, feature is that referees now use vanishing spray to mark where a free kick should be taken, and where the wall should stand, which, like in real life, stays on the turf for a few minutes afterwards before fading away. Pre-season tournaments in Career Mode are a welcome improvement on the meaningless friendlies of previous iterations, and the weekly training drills for up to five of your players provide a means of expediting player growth, which had been sorely needed. The inclusion of additional mid-match discussions from Martin Tyler and Alan Smith – such as analysis of transfers made elsewhere in your league – help to further flesh out your immersion, and the commentary is fantastic as ever, though is still occasionally buggy.

The biggest addition, however, is of course the inclusion of twelve available women’s national teams – Germany, USA, France, Sweden, England, Brazil, Canada, Australia, Spain, China, Italy, Mexico. Despite initial concerns that this would just simply amount to reskinning male players, female players actually move and play in a distinct and different way, and really change the way in which the game is played. However, the women’s teams can unfortunately only be used in friendly matches or in an offline tournament, and it’s not possible to play a female team against a male one, meaning that there isn’t as much opportunity as you would hope to make use of this addition.

Other than the inclusion of female players, the next biggest headline feature of FIFA 16 is undoubtedly the FIFA Ultimate Team Draft (FUT Draft). It allows you to create your dream football fantasy line-up, and then pit it against A.I. or human online opponents in a series of four increasingly tough matches, where the prize fund grows the further you progress. The changes here do manage to remove most of the usual grind and tests your team building abilities by immediately offering up a selection of some of the best footballers on the planet. For many players, it will be the first time they’ve ever been able to field a team with the likes of Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar, Suarez and Aguero in their ranks – and it’s a great way of scouting out possible transfer targets too.

In conclusion, FIFA 2016 is a solid addition to the franchise, learning its lessons from the growing competition with PES, and improving for it. It’s not a completely different game from last year’s edition, but there are enough changes to make it worthwhile, and more importantly, those changes are pretty much entirely positive ones. Quite possibly the best FIFA game to date, but only time will tell whether or not it can stop the growth of its competition.