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10 reasons why PES 2016 scores a landslide victory over FIFA 16

I have 10 reasons why PES 2016 is better than FIFA 16. I don’t care if you’re getting mad: they are 10 solid reasons. You can see a summarized comparison in this video, or read the full list below:

So let’s go!

The players in PES 2016 are more realistic

In PES 2016, Messi behaves like Messi. Cristiano Ronaldo IS Cristiano Ronaldo. Your favorite teams use tactics that you will recognize. For example, Mourinho’s Chelsea will close up in the back if you begin to score too much. But the realistic behavior extends beyond just the star footballers: the artificial intelligence as a whole guarantees that your teammates (and your opponents) will behave just as if they were playing a real match. FIFA 16 has not achieved this feeling of authenticity.

The passes in PES 2016 are perfect

The passes in PES 2016 are fast and fluid. They encourage you to work as a team. In FIFA 16, the passes are slow and suffer from a certain lag between your command and the executed action. The situation has turned around completely, since the passes were one of the big criticisms of PES 2015. That’s what I call accepting your mistakes and improving upon them.

The matches in PES 2016 are more unpredictable

In the FIFA games, the same thing always happens: the player who has the ball only has to take two or three steps and run at full speed to face the goalkeeper. In PES 2016, Konami has given you lots of defensive options, making reclaiming the ball as feasible as in a real match.

The graphics in PES 2016 are incredible

The footballer’s faces in PES 2016 are just great. Especially the most famous ones. This despite the fact that Konami could not implement a facial scan like EA Sports usually does with big teams! Keep in mind however, that our findings only apply to the PS4 and Xbox One version of PES 2016. The PC version is a disaster for reasons we will explain in a special article.

PES still contains the Champions League and the Europa League

Admit it: if you’re a fan of FIFA, this is what hurts most. You spent years wishing that EA Sports would buy the Champions and Europa League licenses. But no! Pro Evolution Soccer owns them once again. Yes, I know that FIFA 16 has more licenses in total, but I wrote this just to annoy you.

Master League is better than the Career Mode from FIFA

Master League in PES 2016 is now a clean and fluid mode. The menus are intuitive, the new transfer system easy to learn. At the same time however, Master League is a complex mode brimming with details. FIFA’s career mode is too linear and simplistic for my taste. Not very next-gen at all.

And speaking of game mode comparisons…

MyClub is catching up to FIFA Ultimate Team

First of all, a disclaimer: both modes seem too intrusive for my taste. It should be noted that EA Sports and Konami both developed them so that you would pay them more money after having bought their game. That said, MyClub is slowly progressing from being a shameless copy of FIFA Ultimate Team and turning into a star on its own.

The celebrations in PES 2016 are amazing

Francesco Totti takes a selfie on his iPhone when he scores a goal in PES 2016. Need I say anything more? On that note, allow me to say that it’s very sad that FIFA, a series that has always prioritized immersion before gameplay, has lost this year in terms of celebrations. Weak, EA Sports, very weak.

PES 2016 has too few licenses? There is a solution

Konami has allowed even more options for players to create the teams, leagues, and equipment that are not available in PES 2016 for licensing reasons. This used to be a painstaking process on consoles. Now all you need is a USB. And with this decision, the amount of licenses in FIFA loses its importance.

PES 2016 offers better control in duels

The aerial duels in FIFA 2016 are almost automatic, while PES 2016 allows you to control them. But this detail is not limited to headers in the air. PES 2016 generally puts a lot of trust in you. By giving you total control of the ball in each moment, every match becomes an epic battle. I have not encountered the same frenzy I feel while playing PES 2016 in any of my FIFA 16 matches.

Is FIFA 16 that bad?

To ensure that you don’t feel too mad when reading this comparison, I will recognize the virtues of FIFA 16.

Women: it was high time that one of the two soccer series put female soccer players on the field. Furthermore, the 12 female national football teams in FIFA 16 are in no way mere copies of the “guys”. They behave in different ways, forcing you to create new strategies.

Immersion: the commentators, the camera movement, the real-time reactions from trainers during the match… if we are focusing on the spectacle, FIFA wins by miles. I’ll go even further: if this is all you care about in a soccer game, you should download FIFA.

FIFA Ultimate Team Draft: it is a joy to be able to quickly play FIFA Ultimate Team. I like the idea behind this mode (save for the micro-transactions) and Draft allows me to enjoy the game for a few minutes rather than spend hours managing and preparing my team.

What’s your opinion: do you prefer FIFA 16 or PES 2016?

We invite you to leave a comment below this article or join the discussion on our comparison video. Let us know about the strengths of your favorite game and the shortcomings of the other, foul-smelling game. You have free reign to give whatever opinion you might have. Just be respectful about it.

PES 2016 gives FIFA 16 a good kicking in our comparison

This week on Click-Swipe-Play, we have the clash of giants as we pit the two most popular games of the world’s most popular sport against each other. The sport is, of course, soccer (sorry, football), and the games are Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 and FIFA 16.

These two games have been in a back and forth for many years, but FIFA has held the crown both critically and with fans recently. And this year’s entry is certainly another strong offering with a new FIFA Ultimate Team mode (FUT Draft), improved Magic Moments that recreate the majesty of the sport, and (most notably) the inclusion of 12 female international teams. Add in some gameplay tweaks in response to fan feedback, and you have a very complete update this year.

But the question is if Konami’s PES 2016 can tip the balance. Well, while it may not have as many back-of-box bullets points, those it does have are important ones. Most notable are the game’s new physics and AI. These are two core systems and by overhauling them Konami has revitalized the on the ball action and created better squad dynamics. This comes in combination with a host of other improvements – including more licenses so you can play as the teams you love – to make this a great year for Pro Evo fans.

Because of all this we think that PES is the soccer game for 2016 – but watch the video to find out all the reasons why.

FIFA 16 and Office 2016 top our five recommended apps this week

We are back with another five app recommendations for you to try. Some are brand new, others are significant updates, and some are the latest installments of familiar names… very familiar names.

Basil (iOS) is first, the app that lets you build your own personalized cookbook. Now in its third major revision, this cooking tool makes it easy to find, add, and organize all of your recipes with ease – as well as offering multiple other tools to help in the kitchen.

The second app is Move to iOS (Android). This little tool is designed to help Android users easily migrate all of their contacts, messages, and photos to iOS without any cables. Handy if you are tired of the question “Why didn’t you get an iPhone”.

FIFA 16 (Windows). That’s kind of all we need to say, as if you are interested in this soccer game you probably not only already know it’s out, but are reading this while it installs. Though it is filled with many tweaks, perhaps the most interesting addition to this year’s update is the inclusion of the women’s national squads.

Snapchat (iOS|Android) is next, and yes, we know it isn’t new – but it now lets you use Lenses to add some life to your selfies before sending. It’s good fun and, if you have never used this photo messaging service before, this gives you a good excuse to try it out.

Finally this week we have Office 2016 (Window). This latest update to Microsoft’s productivity suite includes better integration between OneDrive and Outlook, a fantastic new Tell Me search function, and many other behind the scenes tweaks to make you more efficient at work.

That’s it for this week. Remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this video and we will be back on Monday with a roundup of the week’s tech news.

FIFA 16: hands-on preview

We got our hands on FIFA 16 on June 4th at an event in Madrid, Spain. We can tell you right away, before we go into the new features of the game, that EA Sports seems to have learned lessons from last year’s game. FIFA 15 was too focused on next-gen graphics rather than improved gameplay. The result? Defenders were weak, goalkeeper artificial intelligence was.. not intelligent, the center of the field was devoid of action, and huge defeats (or wins) were the order of the day. And that only scratches the surface of gamers’ complaints.

Scheduled for a September 24 2015 release, FIFA 16 solves these problems, adds new ideas to the series, and pays much greater attention to gameplay. FIFA 16 producer Sebastián Enrique explained how the essence of this year’s gameplay is getting the balance right between risk and reward in matches.

Stronger defense

Top players like Ronaldo and Messi felt almost invincible in FIFA 15, and it was far too difficult to dispossess them of the ball. This year’s defenders are more agile and it’ll be easier to hunt down superstar strikers. There are more ways of defending, too, with a greater variety of moves available. When you do get the ball back, your teammates will be quicker to respond, changing to an attacking formation faster.

Let’s go to the darker side of FIFA – tackles are now more effective. Again there are more animations and movements, but most importantly, you can now stop moves midway through. In FIFA 15, once you started a move, you were stuck until the animation was completed. In FIFA 16, you can change your mind partway through a movement, meaning you (and your players) can react much faster.

In the past, it almost wasn’t worth trying to get the ball from your opponent. You would just cross your fingers and hope they made a mistake you could capitalize on. This ends with FIFA 16 – improved tackling means you can take more chances dispossessing your opponent. In the demo I played, instead of giving up when I saw the other team running towards my goal, I kept trying until the end. FIFA 16 makes this feel worthwhile, and games are less predictable as a result.

A new era for goalies

Whats up with goalkeepers in FIFA 16? EA has admitted that it messed up in the previous game, and has worked on improved goalie AI (Artificial Intelligence), which gives them better awareness of the space around them.

In FIFA 15, keepers sometimes ignore balls aimed straight at them, apparently deciding the ball isn’t going to cross the line, so who cares? With FIFA 16, goalies will focus on collecting the ball when it’s in the area. Much more sensible, and true to the sport.

Thanks to the improved AI, I never won or lost a game in FIFA 16 by a huge margin. Spying on the other journalists over three hours at the event, there was apparently only one rout of 12-0. Most games had much more realistic scores, making every shot on goal tense and exciting.

The battle for midfield

FIFA 16

The center of the pitch in FIFA 15 was a corridor between goals. But in FIFA 16, it’s the battlefield it should be. It’s not easy to run at your opponent’s goal any more. This is due to a relatively small gameplay change – players have more control over the direction of the ball, and more strength. The result is more creative gameplay, and more time spent fighting it out in the midfield.

Attacking magic

Next up, what’s changed up front? In FIFA 15 it was too easy to adopt a single attack strategy, rinse, and repeat. But thanks to the improved defense and keepers, you have to be more creative and think on your feet. It’s much more exciting.

FIFA 16 still lets you feel the magic of Messi confounding defenders, but it’s not as easy to do as in previous games. You must master the game if you want to see Messi truly dominate – giving a genuine feeling of satisfaction when you do. New techniques for shooting and heading the ball also help give you a sense of achievement.

Yes, this means learning new techniques for FIFA 16. But, before you think it’s all getting a bit complicated, remember that you managed to learn to play earlier games without any problems. You’re just gonna have to learn again! Thankfully, there’s FIFA Trainer, which helps you do that.

FIFA Trainer, your new favorite coach

FIFA 16 seeks to emulate football training with Trainer. FIFA Trainer is an organic tutorial, which is completely optional, and fits to how you play. When enabled, it shows you two possible actions whenever you are controlling a player. Once you’ve performed its suggestions a few times, a newer, more advanced suggestion will appear. This keeps you playing and learning at the same time.

I tested FIFA Trainer during EA’s presentation. Playing with a less FIFA-experienced journalist, I won the first game 2-0. But he was using Trainer and so, by the second game, he managed to hold me to a draw. This in turn forced me to use Trainer as well, to learn some more advanced tactics!

According to FIFA 16’s gameplay producer, Aaron McHardy, FIFA Trainer is not only about reaching more players, but also a tool to help experienced FIFA fans reach new levels of professionalism. It’s a great way to learn things you maybe weren’t aware of, and you can even manually select the things you want it to teach you.

A more inclusive FIFA

FIFA 16 includes 12 national women’s soccer teams, a first for the series, and an addition that hopes to make the game more attractive to everyone. I tried a few games with women’s teams, and found the main differences to be greater agility, but reduced power. Like in the real world, you cannot play a female team against a male team. While there was the unsurprising online backlash about the inclusion of Women’s soccer in FIFA 16, it’s honestly impossible to see this as anything but a good development. We hope to see more next year – as 12 teams is just a drop in the ocean of teams available to FIFA.

The truth about ‘momentum’

While I’m a big fan of FIFA, I did take the opportunity to ask the man behind the gameplay about ‘momentum‘. In FIFA, many players believe there is an algorithm that changes your chances of winning if you’re on a winning streak. Some players see themselves winning, but missing shots – giving their opponents a chance to claw a goal back. And when things go wrong, they suspect foul play by the game itself. Is FIFA programmed to cheat?

McHardy laughed as I asked the question, saying ‘momentum’ does not exist. FIFA is all about emergent gameplay, and there is no algorithm trying to fix results in the background.

But, after seeing videos on YouTube of so called ‘evidence’ of momentum, McHardy did recognize there was a problem. But it’s not a problem of design, rather it is a bug or an error that creates a bad refereeing decision or causes the ball to act erratically.

This contributed to FIFA 16’s focus on gameplay. EA did not want bugs and errors that spoiled gameplay in this way, and it hopes that FIFA 16 will not generate any more conspiracies.

The next gen FIFA we have been waiting for

Although there are many more details about FIFA 16 we still do not know, like what changes are coming to FIFA Ultimate Team, it’s looking promising. FIFA 15 upped the visuals to take advantage of next-gen consoles, but the gameplay did not keep up. With FIFA 16, we hope that we’ll get the game we wanted FIFA 15 to be. Great looking soccer, and gameplay you can trust and believe in.

FIFA 16 trailer, finally we have women’s teams, but here are 7 more things we need

The first FIFA 16 gameplay trailer has been unveiled. And while fans have been clamoring for numerous gameplay tweaks and refinements, EA have surpassed everyone’s expectations by announcing the inclusion of 12 national woman’s teams. The female squads include the USA, Canada, England, Brazil, Spain, and Germany, with each team’s starting 11 fully face-scanned. Unfortunately, there will be no Ultimate Team for the new squads (Source – The Guardian).

The trailer also revealed a release date, so start polishing those boots and tightening those laces for September 24, 2015. Here is the video in all its glory:

If that trailer has you ready for more, and September feels like a long way off, then we have a little something to keep you going. Our Spanish sister site has been donning its fedora and trench coat to do a little sleuthing about what fans want from FIFA 16 as part of its Secret Level series – here is what it discovered.

Despite high hopes for FIFA 15, many fans were disappointed. The game was not the leap forward hoped for with the new generation of consoles. This dissatisfaction became a recurring theme as we dug into what FIFA 16 could do better. Feel free to add you own ideas in the comments, or send them to daniel.caceres@softonic.com.

Okay, let’s kick this off.

Get some (at the very least) decent AI goalkeepers

Surely this isn’t asking much. All we want are competent goalies. They don’t all have to be Iker Casillas in his prime (we would settle for Massimo Taibi) just as long as they don’t feel like they are actively trying to help the opposition.

If you don’t believe us just check out this video:

Oh come on ref, he barely touched him!

The second complaint tackles the other end of FIFA 15’s AI issues, the referees never miss a thing. Not one. In fact, they occasionally went as far as making stuff up just for something to do. In fairness they never seemed to pick on one team over another, and it did keep players on their toes during matches, but it really broke the flow of the game. All we want for FIFA 16 are refs who want a good, flowing game.

Champions League and Europa League!

One thing we love about the yearly battle between FIFA and PES is the duel of licenses. FIFA usually has the upper hand, but it has always been missing the Champions League and Europa League. If EA really wants to put it in the back of the net with FIFA 16, it needs to seize these two licenses.

A better tactics editor

While we are comparing PES and FIFA, there is another area where Konami easily beat EA’s game last year: the tactics editor. Although FIFA 15 was an improvement over previous years, it was still overly complicated while providing limited editing options. By contrast, PES 15 had a fluid editor that was full of options… just what we want.

The end of God Mode

Videogame fans may remember modes like this from the days of Doom. Codes you could enter in a game to make your character invincible. Well, in FIFA 15 the same experience could be discovered if you had control of certain players. We know that Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are incredible, but in FIFA 15 giving the ball to them was like asking the other team to play wearing flippers. If EA Sports could bring these gods down to the level of mortal stars in FIFA 16, that would be great.

Tighten up those scores

Have you ever finished a game of FIFA 15 with a nil-nil draw? Or with just one or two goals scored? No, I thought not, because close games in FIFA 15 are a myth.

FIFA 16 must find a way to tighten up these results. We want every goal to feel like an achievement worth celebrating, and then to have that palpable tension of knowing the opposition could catch up at any time. Something else that PES manages very well.

As an example, look what happened to one of our Italian colleagues.

More realistic stats

Whenever FIFA’s team and player stats are revealed football fans get angry because the data does not match reality. EA Sports should be more careful with this, not because the fans are complaining, but because the fans are right – the stats are not accurate. In FIFA 15 teams like Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan launched with hugely inflated stats, a situation that needs to be avoided in 16.

Conclusion: more realism

Let us pause for a moment to reflect on all the improvements we want in FIFA 16. More realistic AI, more realistic difficulty, more realistic stats, and tactical options… damn, I was really building momentum there – but in short more realism across the board (and tactical options). FIFA 15 was about the spectacle, hopefully FIFA 16 will be about the sport.

Still need more football before FIFA 16?

Need more of a football fix before September 24th, here are a few recommendations.

FIFA 15

The latest installment of the franchise. It is not the best, but it did solve many of FIFA 14’s problems.

PES 2015

You may be surprised, but last year’s PES was a big improvement over recent years. It’s worth taking a look.

Football Manager 2015

If you are more interested in the tactics and players than in the running and sweating, Football Manager 2015 is the game for you.

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