It is the moment of the year that many football fans have been waiting for: FIFA 21 is out. After a week of play, it is high time for a round-up.
After the previous edition received a lot of criticism, developer Electronic Arts (EA) hopes to silence the critics with FIFA 21. The new game guarantees hours of fun with FUT, Volta or the Career Mode, but for most people it is mainly to beat your best friend, big brother or colleague. We noticed these eight things after a week of FIFA 21.
1. We start with some great news for FIFAers who don’t shy away from a flying tackle or overcome their frustrations when they fall behind: direct red cards are rare. Hard tackles in midfield in particular are no longer easily penalized with red.
2. Since time immemorial, it has been the most important metric in FIFA: speed. This game is no different. Fast – and even relatively slow – attackers can hardly be caught once they are ‘through’. It is also advisable to set up fast defenders.
3. Scoring is smoother: shots where you think they should actually go in. Because the advantage lies with the attackers in most cases, matches with six, seven or eight goals are the rule rather than the exception.
4. Where in the previous edition many controllers flew across the room with an opponent’s goal, defending in FIFA 21 now feels more realistic and rewarding. Shots are blocked faster and no longer go through your player’s legs at every turn.
5. Yet defending has also become more difficult in many ways. It is no longer possible to let the AI do everything. Now you really have to get to work yourself: get in, win duels, put pressure. It is one of the reasons for the big results.
6. Attacking FIFA players can indulge themselves: the new ‘Agile Dribbling’ allows players with a good dribble to pass opponents more easily, only by holding down R1. Lionel Messi and Neymar are kings at this, but any player in the game can do it.
7. FIFA has also added ‘Directed Runs’ to the attackers’ arsenal. This gives you more control over the timing and direction of the other players on the field. And this is how you do it: L1 / LB and the right stick move in the direction where you want to send your teammate.
8. In FIFA 20 it was practically impossible to score with a header. That has now been fixed: crosses are more accurate and you can now direct your headers yourself. Good news for the opportunists!
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