The two titles offer interesting differences

Oct 2, 2015 23:01 GMT  ·  By

Both FIFA 16 and Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 are now out and many football fans have already chosen their favorite for the season, the simulation that they are planning to spend time with for the rest of the season and which will be used to rewrite history with their favorite teams.

I played both the titles, and for those who have the time, the money and dedication, I believe that the best idea going forward is to play both of them in order to experience two different takes on the idea of virtual football.

Neither FIFA 16 nor PES 2016 are perfect, and that's part of what makes them charming and engaging in the long term.

The fact that the football simulation space has two solid titles that gamers can choose from is a plus for the genre, and gamers should try and support both in order to foster healthy competition for the coming years.

FIFA 16 is a more tactical experience, still emphasizes presentation

In the previous FIFA title, pace was king and through passes combined with over-the-top balls tended to be enough to deal with even the most experienced defense setup.

In this year's installment, it's hard to get a shot on goal just by running and exchanging classic passes in midfield and that forces gamers to become more tactical in their approach and more creative in their thinking.

Formations are more important, especially when facing a human opponent, and it's a good idea to try and find space with just one player before trying to get past a cluster of defenders with one of the new purpose-driven passes, which carry risks but can deliver solid rewards.

There are moments when matches end nil-nil in FIFA 16, which was a rare occurrence previously, but even these situations deliver some adrenaline-filled moments, generated by either unexpected opportunities or by mistakes made by own players.

EA Sports has also managed to improve the presentation for matches, both in terms of visuals and when it comes to stadium atmosphere and commentary.

We have a full Softpedia review of FIFA 16 that offers more details about the title.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 is slower, focused on careful thinking

Konami is clearly trying to catch up to its rival when it comes to the career mode, with some cool new moments linked to Master League and a solid rival for the Ultimate Team experience.

But the biggest draw of Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 is the way it shows that football is actually hard work and even matches between big teams are rarely decided by moments of massive individual brilliance and a team effort is way more important in this regard.

Gamers need to carefully consider how the enemy team reacts to various moves and to detect their biggest weaknesses before trying to aggressively exploit them.

Referees are weird in the Konami title, basically not paying attention to many physical moves, and that creates a game that's very English in its approach, with long periods of midfield to defense clashes punctuated by scoring opportunities that emerge organically from the action.

PES 2016 is even more tactical than its rival and there are times when it feels like the action is boring, but the game rewards players who want to get to the essence rather than the spectacle of the sport.

We offer a full Softpedia review of Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 for gamers who want more info.

I will continue to play plenty of FIFA 16 in the coming months, mostly because of the power of habit and because I like the fact that the players of my favorite team, Liverpool, are accurately represented by the development team at EA Sports.

I play multiplayer matches against the same player locally, and we might actually switch to Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 at some point in 2016 when we get a little too familiar with the mechanics.

FIFA 16 & PES 2016 Images (8 Images)

FIFA 16 action
PES 2016 momentFIFA 16 graphics
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