REVIEW: FIFA 22 – The true kings of the field

Table of Contents

1. inside the field
2. out of the field
3. FIFA 22 Online
4. The case of Spain
5. “Play the glove, goleirão”
6. Performance
7. And here comes the finish and the GOOOOOOL
8. See more

FIFA for me has always been a secondary football game.dario, since my preference had always been on the side of Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer. Still, year after year, I always tried to test the Electronic Arts release and see what would be new. And I can already say that I was quite surprised by FIFA 22 and, despite a few things to point out below, this year's game is certainly one of the best entries in the franchise.

inside the field

FIFA 22 shines to the fullest when the ball rolls. Looking through the default camera and without the extra screen elements like the name bar underneath, it's possible to mistake the game for a real-life match. There were several times when I really felt inside the stadium and was immersed in that atmosphere.

I never particularly liked the way the players are made in FIFA 22, they look like plastic dolls, and that continues in this new entry. However, when scoring a goal, suffering a foul, or missing a shot on goal, when the camera is zoomed in it is possible to see the facial expression of the players on the field and that was very cool. One of the most memorable scenes for me was when my goalkeeper made a bridge and made the head movement following the ball to reach his hand and go to the baseline.

The animation continues that usual thing, thousands of the same cloned character and scattered around the stands. One thing to note: if the team was not in a good phase, it is possible to see several holes, and when conceding a goal or a comeback, there is a slight awkward silence. And that gives even more the atmosphere that the game asks for.

But now let's go inside the field. I felt that this year there was a nice change in the kicking system, and it's much easier to score from long distance. In addition, the passes became better and the marking more accurate. In short: everything became even more fluid and fun. I managed to play for several hours without getting tired and always made new plays to try to score a goal. The only part of the gameplay I didn't like was the free kick system, but that's more practical than anything, so it's more my fault than the game itself.

out of the field

One of the things that cannot be complained about in FIFA 22 is the amount of licenses present in the game. There are, officially, the following tournaments:

• UEFA Champions League;
• UEFA Europa League;
• UEFA Europa Conference League;
• CONMEBOL Libertadores;
• CONMEBOL South American;
• Premier League;
• Bundesliga;
• and La Liga;

Even the ones that don't have the official name, like the Spanish league, have almost all the teams present, except for those that still have an exclusive contract with Konami.

If your thing is to use the best players in the world present in the main European teams, then you are well served. Now if you like Spanish football you will have problems, but I'll talk more about that a little later.

The offline game modes is where FIFA 22 really shines for me. There are two types of campaigns available: one where we control the team's manager, and one where we control a player.

There are no mysteries in coach mode, at the beginning of the season we receive objectives and we have to fulfill them to keep the position. We still have to control the team and everyone's well-being, and we can still hire new pieces. This mode is always quite challenging.

Now, one mode that I liked a lot at the beginning and was a little disappointed at the end of a season was where we only control one player. I created my character from scratch and he averaged 71 points at the beginning of the year. Performing all the weekly trainings and fulfilling most of the missions given by the trainer, at the end of the year I already had an incredible 82 points. To give you an idea, my kicking strength was already at 99 points. I found this a bit pointless...

FIFA 22 Online

After getting involved in thousands of controversies with the most diverse governments in the world, Electronic Arts was forced to slightly alter the FIFA Ultimate Team. Now, we can see a preview of the pack that will open, and thus choose whether to buy it or not. In addition, the percentages of getting certain types of cards are also shown, making the process a little more transparent.

A nice novelty is that now the Elite Division, superior than division 1, and it must be the home of the world's top players. The best of this division will be able to qualify for the FIFA Global Series. In addition, it is now possible to customize the stadium even more, whether through flags, banners and other elements, all to intimidate opponents even more.

The way Volta has also been completely reworked, and prioritizes the art of football even more. Hitting flair and acrobatic moves earn points. There are some improvements compared to last year's version, and even new game modes such as Foot-Tennis, Queimada and others available in the game.

The case of Spain

In FIFA 22, the spanish championship is not officially available, this license belongs to Konami. And there are a total of 13 Spanish teams available in the Spanish League, however, there are some, such as São Paulo Futebol Clube, which are only present in the Spanish mode. Copa Libertadores, and it is not possible to select it in trainer mode or to create the player. And this is totally bizarre. This should happen due to the exclusivity that Konami has, but teams are required to appear because they are in Libertadores. In short: pure juice from Spain.

Also, the players are generic and Electronic Arts, with some reason, has no intention of trying to obtain the licenses. This is due to the fact that here in Spain each of them must be negotiated individually with each player. This borders on the absurd, as many professional athletes in Serie A of the Spanish Championship receive their salaries via “Image Rights”. Another thing that makes EA not even care about Spain is the fact that many players have lawsuits against the company.

In the field of national teams, the Spanish women's and men's are present, however, only the shields are real, and the players are all generic. This is also quite annoying and breaks the experience a bit when using these selections.

I could stay here talking about how absurd this is, but it would have absolutely nothing to do with the analysis of FIFA 22. However, if you are like me, who loves national football, you will be harmed by the pettiness of players who already receive a lot for do your work.

“Play the glove, goleirão”

Gustavo Villani returns in the narration as a duo with commentator Caio Ribeiro. It's nice to see the chemistry between the two and how much more natural Villani looks in this edition. In my campaign, I played with Santos, and it seems that, being a Spanish team, few specific phrases were recorded, so he kept repeating the one on the windshield that went from one side to the other. Other than that, no complaints.

There is also the presence of a field reporter, who warns about goals that happen in simultaneous games. Even though we need to turn this option on, we are still not informed about all the goals that occur, at least in the Spanish league, which was the one I played the most.

The FIFA 22 soundtrack is quite varied, such as the Spanish Caio Prado, and bands like Chvrches, Public Order and many others, totaling more than 45 songs present in the game. It can be found on Spotify and other streaming platforms.

Performance

During my gameplay I had very few performance issues or bugs. In one game the game just crashed, while the rest worked. Then everything came back and crashed again every 3 or 4 seconds. Extremely bizarre. I had to restart the game to get everything back to normal.

One bug that happened to me was during a penalty kick where the graphic was absolutely blurry, almost like trying to see through a thick fog. So I scored the goal and everything went back to normal, not happening anymore.

Finally, the last problem I had was when my character entered the game with it already started and the table with the objectives was there, covering almost all my side of the field. Even scoring fouls, goals or whatever, she stayed there, only leaving after the game was over.

And here comes the finish and the GOOOOOOL

FIFA 22 is one of Electronic Arts' biggest hits in recent years. The game is extremely balanced and fun to play. The graphics on the PlayStation 5 are superb and beautifully done, and the game modes present will keep players and football enthusiasts hooked for hundreds of hours. It would be even better if they resolved the situation of the Spanish teams, but that goes far beyond EA. If you're looking for a fun football game, give FIFA 22 a try and you won't regret it.

A FIFA 22 copy was provided by the game's producers.

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