Fifa 21 review its gameplay and rating for PS5, Xbox, PC

FIFA 21 offers welcome features in any game mode (even career mode). While making intelligent changes to the gameplay on the field. Responsive players stimulate gameplay

FIFA 21 offers welcome features in any game mode (even career mode) while making intelligent changes to the gameplay on the field.

publisher: Electronic Arts, EA Sports
Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Bucharest
Release Date: 10/09/2020
Type: sport
age classification: GCAM +3 ​​(Saudi age classification)
Game age: infinite (approximate)
Game hardware: Xbox One, Switch, PS4 (Rating Device), PC
Need English?: The game is translated

If every FIFA game mode was a player. There would just be too much talent for all of them to get playing time. This is a problem that the franchise faces every year – with a fragmented player base. EA has the impossible task of choosing where to focus its efforts. With FIFA 21, the studio tries to satisfy as many fans as possible by making small changes to each mode, instead of debuting major additions or reworking existing modes.

If anyone is in the best shape this year. This is the cult group of career gamers for a player of which I am a proud member. The career mode, after spending years on the bench. Finally got a few minutes in the form of several new features. Most of which enhance an experience that has long since become obsolete.

• PS5: Specifications, price, release date, and how it compares to gaming laptops
• PS5 Games: All confirmed games so far
• The best computer games 2020: What we play now

Nothing in FIFA 21 feels completely original, and yet the label “FIFA 20 repackaged” that the game will undoubtedly receive is not justified. While rival EA Konami released PES 2021 as an update of the season to focus development on future PS5 and Xbox X Series versions, EA has made enough changes to make FIFA 21 a standalone game. Did it do enough to justify the ticket price for the few who don’t buy every franchise at launch? It depends on which modes you play in and how you play them.

As a person who has sunk countless hours in career mode, FIFA 21 is a winner. If only because it brings a new experience in a mode that has remained dormant for years. What I can say is that no matter how you play. The game’s updated mechanics are a step in the right direction. Allowing players to have more control over what’s happening on the field.

FIFA 21: Career mode is added

Launched on the bench in recent years, the career mode finally gets a chance to shine in FIFA 21. The offline game mode has received several new features. That radically change the way you build your team and advance your career as a manager.

Simulating matches is an important part of the career regime. In the past, missing matches was a hands-free experience; either play matches manually or simulate to the end. FIFA 21 adds interactive match simulations so you can manage your team while simulating a game. There is a certain sense of a football manager as you watch colored circles move across the field. As you choose when to make submarines or decide who to take a penalty kick. Match facts, such as player possession, shots, and ratings. Are updated in real-time to help you make the best coaching decisions.

The new sim option is a welcome addition, as it gives number-crushing managers another way to influence matches without spending 20 to 30 minutes playing each one. I used an interactive sim to make sure my players were spinning properly. So they wouldn’t get tired of the next game. I also successfully entered the middle of the match to prevent my team from dropping out. The last thing you want is to lose to a team from the table below in a simulated match. As you watch the sim, you’ll see how each player performs and how your stats compare to your opponent’s.

The visual sim mode, which is not entirely new to the franchise (see FIFA 07), gives you more control over the results, but it is a feature that can take advantage of next-generation hardware; if the feature doesn’t take that long to load, I’ll probably use it more often. Until the launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions. I’ll use the regular fast sim for most games and only use a visual sim. If it’s an important game I can’t afford to lose (and don’t have time to play).

Player development has also improved this year, although not without its own problems. Instead of training five youth players each week. A new development system increases players’ growth depending on the growth plan you choose for them.

If i want Alfonso Davis to be an attacker with a wide back, his abilities for vision, cross, curve. And short passes will increase more than his other features. Alternatively, the Protected Wide Back option increases his aggression, straightening, and reactions, but not the others. By default, each player is set to “Balanced“, which distributes points on most traits without focusing heavily on several areas.

It may sound like the obvious choice, but “Balanced” is not always the fastest way to raise players. Each player’s development page predicts how many weeks it will take them to increase their overall rating. How fast they increase in rating depends on the growth plan you choose. Along with the player’s form (players rank faster when they are in form). This works the same way for older players who are shrinking – choosing the right growth plan can extend their longevity.

New to FIFA 21 is the ability to improve the attack speed and defense of players (from low to high) along with their weak moves and skills. In theory, you can now develop the perfect player with high-speed attack and defense, along with 5-star skill moves and a 5-star weak leg.

With this system of adjustment and forgetting, the development of youth is more difficult than before, but not so annoying. Ideally, EA gives players more active options for developing young players. (For example, with B teams, separate youth training sessions). Because in Career mode there is nothing more useful than playing with a youth player. That you have studied and developed over time. I will have to play several seasons in career mode to understand. How the new development feature affects newly signed youth players. Finding the right growth plan and getting it in shape seems to be the best ways to improve a young player.

Another big change made in the FIFA 21 career mode is the new active training sessions. Instead of simulating past non-match days, you will now participate in group training throughout the week. They are offered in the form of three training sessions a day, each with a different group of players. In theory, this is a great way to break the monotony of the game one game after another. In practice (designed for wordplay), the feature quickly outperforms the welcome.

Therefore: Every time you finish a workout, you get a grade (A to F). The higher you score in training, the more sharpness points your players get. But most players will not want to do these workouts every day. When you simulate them, you always get the highest score you achieved when you completed this particular workout manually. If you have never completed the training manually, you will fail it in the simulated training.

For example, after I score an A in a passing workout. My players will always get an A when I simulate that workout. Although it was not a terrible system. In the first few months of my first season, I scored an A for each workout. Leaving no real reason to participate in these practices. Yes, my players were happy, but that meant that the new feature started running quickly. From then on I simulated every workout.

If your schedule is overloaded and your players feel burned out. You can always change the training day to a rest day. While they won’t receive points for sharpness these days. Your players will gain fitness and morale with an extra day off. Believe me, you don’t want to play a game with an exhausting start 11. To determine if your players are ready to tie. A new feedback system shows their morale, sharpness, and fitness – if any of them are low. It may make sense to jump them.

I’m glad to see the return of the purchase option so you can sign a player on a one-year loan for free. Before deciding if you want to spend a pre-determined fee to sign them to a full contract.

In general, career changes give you more control over how your team performs and how players develop. The new training option targets the days around the competition (albeit only for a few months during the game). While the new player development system is a much-needed change from the poorly implemented training system of the last few games.

EA has made enough changes to please players in the FIFA 21 career mode, but I hope this is just the beginning of a major overhaul of the regime. The career mode of FIFA 21 is still fading compared to those in other sports games, as it lacks the granulation desired by gamers who could spend hours staring at statistics sheets or developing new tactics. I could do without all cutscenes and excitement so I can spend more time building my team

FIFA 21 gameplay: Take control

The gameplay improvements are subtle but add a much better experience. It will take you a few games to feel the difference between the gameplay in FIFA 21 and FIFA 20. Once you do, you will appreciate the changes made by EA.

The first thing I want to point out is what EA calls “Creative runs,” a feature that FIFA fanatics have wanted for years. You can now control the progress of players who do not own the ball. There is no more passing to a player just for the person who passed the ball to stop running and stay dreaming.

In FIFA 21 you can tell a passerby in which direction to move by right-clicking immediately after passing the ball. Using this had an immediate impact; A quick pass from Lewandowski to Müller back to the best striker in the world. Crossing the defense of RB Leipzig in a deadly way.

This is a great addition to the attack, but AI is not always the smartest with its performances; the player will continue straight forward in the desired direction until he is offside. When I tested this, center back Niklas Sule made a silly 60-meter run from one end of the field to the other.

You can also press the right trigger after starting a run to dictate the running direction of your teammates. But I didn’t find it almost as effective. If you want even more control over the players outside the ball. The new player lock tool (press both joysticks) locks you to the ball player so that you remain in control of them even after a pass. You can right-click to switch to a different player. And use familiar pass controls to tell AI when to give you the ball.

Players also feel more responsive, solving a major problem with FIFA 20 gameplay. There is no more delay between your first touch and when your player moves. Yes, shielding is still recommended in tight spaces, but not as previously required.

The title has also been changed for the better. Nerfed in FIFA 20, the headers are now more realistic. Players actually jump for the ball instead of standing idle. And the flight of the ball feels as if it is dictated more by your positioning and the contact you make with it.

Other notable gameplay changes I’ve noticed include more accurate passing balls, although they still tend to go to the wrong player, smoother, more realistic animations (the graphics haven’t changed much), and more useful handling. . The gameplay will continue to feel slow for some, as it did for me when I switched from a Volta game to regular football, but it’s still a world-class sim.

FIFA 21 gameplay: AI and difficulty settings

Before entering some of the other game modes, I would like to briefly mention the AI ​​and the difficulty levels. FIFA 20 updates have brought significant improvements to AI. Before the updates, I had no problems beating my opponents on Legendary Difficulty. But after them I lost almost every game.

I started my career mode with FC Bayern on World Class difficulty. And immediately noticed how much more exhausting it was than the same setup in FIFA 20. I was still winning most of the matches (I’m 18: 0: 6 in my first season) but don’t have as much fun. Why? Because I was trying to control 50% possession, no matter which team I played for. Hell, I tried to keep the ball in 40% of the game. Even Bielefeld masterfully guarded my possession with skills you would only see Messi retreat. It was a frustrating struggle to get the ball from opponents to swirl around me or keep the ball and just pass it.

And then I found a new option in the settings called racer mode. When activated (available only for world-class difficulties and legend), your opponents have a “style of play of some of the best players in the world of FIFA“. While it certainly adds to the challenge, there is nothing more infuriating (win or loss). Then owning 40% against the lowest-ranked clubs in the league. For me, World Class was still a challenge (but a little too easy). And much more relaxing with the competitor off. We hope that EA finds a better way to improve AI without making them unrealistically superior.

FIFA 21 Volta: New modes and missing history mode

Volta is still a lot of fun. Fast short games are relentless. Leave for a split second and the other team will find the net. The gameplay hasn’t changed much, but teammates are smarter when running, and the new defense blocking system gives you better odds in a 1: 1 situation. Attackers will appreciate new skills that, when properly turned off, are almost impossible to protect.

Off-field changes include a new Volta Squads co-op mode, where you can team up with up to three friends to take on other teams. You can also wait in the lobby and wait for enough players to join your online 5v5 co-op team. Winning joint matches gives you XP. Which you can spend on a long list of vain items (shirts, shoes, socks, etc.).

Featured Battle is a new mode in which you face the AI-controlled community and celebrity-created squads to earn points and unlock special prizes. Eventually, you will be able to hire star players in your team. It is similar in spirit to Squad Battles in FUT and should give Volta players a reason to return to play with a small country that ranges from 3v3 Rush (without goalkeepers) to professional futsal rules with or without walls.

The replacement of the Volta story mode by FIFA 20 is The Debut, which acts as a racing lesson rather than a real campaign. You still play tournaments in different places with cat scenes featuring star athletes. But the whole mode takes about 2 hours. I am disappointed with the direct EA this year. Instead of shortening the campaign, I would prefer tweaks to the previous story mode with additional tournaments. Even if it meant getting rid of the cutscenes.

The good news is that there are now 23 Volta bars to play in. Each with its own rules and tastes. EA did a great job of reviving these places – the street art behind the ground in Sao Paulo shows the bright colors of the city. While in the background in Sydney you can see the beautiful coast of Australia.

FIFA 21 FUT: Listening to the fans

EA focuses on adding new cooperative options to the FIFA 21 game modes and FUT is no exception. Using a redesigned user interface, you can now play Squad Battles, Division Rivals, and FUT Friendlies with a friend. Don’t worry, EA has added an option to create matches so you don’t pair up against a solo player. As long as you win games, you will earn weekly progress in rivals in divisions and team battles to new cooperative goals.

Just keep in mind that there is a limit to the number of matches you can play that count towards your weekly score and matchmaking is based on the player with the highest score yet. So, if you are in Division 8 and you are paired with a Division 1 player, you will have to step up your game.

The main addition to FUT is the ability to create your own stadium. Yes, you can play in a real stadium, but if you want to build your own home. You can do it by earning or buying new items. For starters, your stadium is a family arena with boring elements of the FIFA brand. While earning unlocks, you can customize the terrain with a different theme, crowd chants, anthems, and TIFO.

Now you don’t have to spend hard-earned coins on fitness cards or swap players as they get more tired. Fitness is still important during a match, but you no longer have to worry about it on the menus – all players start each game in full form.

FUT friendships and new developments are nice additions to the Ultimate Team, but EA really deserves praise with the updated user interface. The menus feel much more streamlined and less crowded than before. Given this, I still have problems with menu navigation speed in FIFA 21, as the animations feel sluggish – a problem I hope will be resolved in the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions.

FIFA 21 on PS5 and Xbox Series X

Before I finish, I want to talk about FIFA 21 on next-generation consoles so you know what to expect if you buy the game on a PS4 or Xbox One and upgrade to a PS5 or Xbox Series X.

Dual Entitlement, like other EA games, is an initiative that allows you to upgrade to the next version of the game without paying extra. However, keep in mind that if you purchase the diskless version of these consoles, you will need to purchase the digital version of FIFA 21 on the current generation of hardware.

After purchasing FIFA on PS4 or Xbox One, you can upgrade your copy to the appropriate next-generation console for free until the launch of FIFA 22 (which is likely in September 2021).

Here comes the fine print: all your progress and the content you acquire in Ultimate Team or Volta will be transferred to next-generation consoles. Progress in all other modes, including career mode, is trapped in current generation hardware. It’s a pity that EA chose to focus so much on career mode this year because if you start a franchise (as I did) on the PS4, you’ll have to start over on the PS5.

In addition, your progress in FUT or Volta will only be transferred to the same brand on the console, so you can’t move progress from PS4 to Xbox Series X or vice versa.

Bottom row

FIFA 21 does not rewrite the rules but tries to satisfy its base of players by making significant changes in each game mode. Career mode gets the biggest update with a new interactive SIM option, a redesigned youth development system, and AI enhancements. Volta is giving way this year but remains an exciting quick option when the calculated pace of regular football starts to feel boring. FUT also received some long-awaited changes and gameplay changes, combined with the first-class presentation we were expecting, making FIFA 21 the best football simulation on the pitch around.

But with the arrival of the new generation of consoles, I can’t help but feel that it’s time for FIFA to metaphorically retire some players and bring in a new team. The menus, though slippery, are slow; the career regime focuses its efforts in the wrong areas; the commentary can use a fresh voice and several modes and features feel half-baked. Overall, FIFA 21 is a great football game that adds something new to any game mode, while improving the gameplay on the field – I just hope FIFA 22 brings new life to the franchise when it launches on the PS5 and Xbox Series X.

This review will be updated regularly as we continue to play FIFA 21. Past games have been littered with errors; we will update this review if we encounter any at any time.

Rating: FIFA 21

What’s wrong with the game

FIFA 21 is the latest version of the most popular sports game at the moment, which brings us a bunch of general additions and improvements. The series is famous for the realism of the control and its multi-phase.

Positives

Perhaps the gameplay in general has not changed much from its predecessor, but some aspects were added that helped give the player more freedom and creativity in the style of play. The passing and movement feature that gives you the ability to control the direction of the player after passing the ball helps give you more control in building the attack, as you can send the player to a specific direction either to distract the opponent’s defense or to create an opportunity to score, you may need time to master this movement and take advantage of it, but when you use it correctly you will notice its usefulness. Light skills are the other additions that I used a lot that allow you to do some quick skills in tight spaces to try to dribble the defender, very useful for dribbling inside the penalty area when there is a defensive block.

A huge improvement in the positioning of the computer-controlled players in your team, you will find them always trying to go to the right place when building the attack in a way that helps you pass them or distract your defenders. You will also find that the player is always trying to stay away from offside situations, the truth is that while playing a lot of games I did not encounter many offside cases.

Scrolling was one of the most annoying things in the last part, which is a lot better in this part. You will find that there is more fluidity and accuracy in passing, the ball often goes in the direction and to the player you want, quick and short passes are very fun when building a fast counter-attack.

When playing on Legendary or Ultimate difficulty, an option can be activated that makes the computer’s gameplay very similar to that of a real opponent. The difficulty is based on the playing style of some of the best players in the series. You will find that the computer is getting smarter, it will make many skill moves and it will become difficult to predict its movements. This made playing against the computer much more fun.

Welcome improvements in Career Mode, perhaps the most important of which is the ability to have the computer play the match with the ability to follow its events via an interactive screen that allows you to make substitutions, follow the stats, and even enter at any moment to complete the match. Improving the management and development of players in the team, where it is now possible to develop the player and train him in order to change his position in the squad and even create a training program for old players to maintain their level instead of declining, the possibility of controlling the schedule and specifying training and rest days and an improvement in transfers such as the possibility of borrowing a player with the option of final purchase. It is true that they are minor improvements, but they helped improve this pattern.

The Volta mode that was added in the last year’s part has received some important improvements, as it is now possible to play against friends online in a competitive or cooperative manner, as well as an educational story mode and Volta Battles mode, which allows you to play online even with 3 of your friends or with Other people, build and customize a team and rise through different levels to get rewards. Perhaps the most important addition that improved the gameplay of this mode is the simple skills that allow you to do quick skills away from other complex skills, this addition made Volta more enjoyable for those who are not very good at doing the skills.

Negatives

The level of goalkeepers in the game is still unpredictable, sometimes you find that the goalkeeper can block any ball and other times he behaves strangely towards some seemingly simple balls.

Shooting in the game feels too strong, a lot of shots from outside the penalty area end up in the net, shots from goalkeepers’ corners inside the penalty area also often result in goals even when shooting with players who do not have the power of shooting.

I noticed a discrepancy in the intelligence of the referee in the game, some interferences seem very strong, and even when reviewing the replay, you find that the interference was never on the ball, they are not counted as fouls, and sometimes some light touches are counted as fouls.

I still think that the free-kick technique that was introduced last year is very impractical and needs further improvement and development.

For

• AI is smarter than ever
• Additional cooperative regimes in Volta, FUT
• Career mode receives much-needed updates
• Responsive players stimulate the gameplay
• The new directional tracks are effective
  

Against

• Only minor visual improvements
• Progress in some regimes will not pass on to the next generation
• The career mode still needs work
• The comment can use a fresh voice
• Volta story mode recedes into the background

With the purchase of FIFA 21 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, you can upgrade to the next generation version for free (PS4 to PS5 and Xbox One to Xbox Series X|S) with your progress in FUT and VOLTA modes for next-generation devices. ( Upgrade available until FIFA 22 is released )

Good to mention

We are here to hear from you

Of course, you can contact us to let us know if we are missing something on our stepphase.com page. I hope you like it and by the way, thank you for your visit.