We see for the first time the delivery of FIFA 21 for the Next Gen with all the changes at the graphic level and promised improvements.
FIFA 21 can already be played backwards on PS5 and Xbox Series X, but it will be in December when the delivery of EA Sports will be updated to the new generation of consoles with several new features. During the past week we were able to attend a virtual event in which several of the company’s developers showed and commented on some of the new features of the game. The title, yes, has not yet been seen how it works in real games and what playable news we will find beyond themes that apply thanks to the new physics, and according to EA, the “fundamentals” remain the same as on PS4 , Xbox One and PC. This is what we could see with the game.
The first thing they told us is that they wanted to make the game day experience much more realistic, and that could be pushed forward thanks to the new generation of consoles: looking, moving and feeling like never before. This is the motto for PS5 and Xbox Series. But … How is it going to improve compared to the current versions? Mainly with more detailed graphics. And we are not referring only to more loyal players and with more nuances, that too.
One of the great novelties is in physics and lighting. In the first case, the players have won in animations and in their transition, in such a way that there are many plays that even if they are cut off by an entrance or a collision with another player, the animation continues its course in a more real way. They can add more nuances to the movements and these have more moments in which they can be cut, making certain actions flow better on the field.
More visual improvements, like in the muscles. We were shown a video where we saw Pogba hit the ball, and how this affected all the quadriceps muscles in a realistic way, unlike the current version where we do not have this level of detail. It also happens with the ball, which now when hit is deformed as in real life during impact, thus offering a greater immersion that wants to resemble what we see when we are enjoying a game on television. All this did not lack new additions, such as a much more elaborate recreation of the players’ hair or much better lighting and sweat. We were also shown a new camera that allowed us to cover a good field of vision while maintaining the spectacular nature of what was happening on the pitch.
Most responsive animations
At a playable level, EA Sports focused mainly on explaining how longer animations allowed multiple contacts with the ball and other players, causing not only more real situations to be generated at a visual level, but also changing and unpredictable situations more frequently. . Each input may have a different response depending on the moment in which it is executed. In general, we could see little gameplay in situ, but what we did see offered much better grip, shove and crash physics. We could see how in the corners the players fought putting parts of the body, stretching the shirt and trying to gain position.
Other features have also been added to try and resemble a real game, and that ranges from animations in which players complain, are disappointed or indicate to a teammate where to pass the ball that give more visual variety to what happens on the field , although it does not have a direct playable effect properly speaking. New celebrations in key goals at the end of the game, going to the coach or players on the bench, previews of the games seeing how the fans enter the stadium (what times are those), the players arrive on the field, etc. to dress the experience from start to finish.
The DualSense Contribution
There was time to explain some news that the game will have in FIFA 21, adapted to DualSense. The impact of the shots, the passes, the tackles and more will be noticed thanks to the haptic controls, which according to them offer a great feeling of living what is happening on the field. One of the details that we found very attractive is precisely that we will notice resistance in the triggers to notice the fatigue of the players when using the sprint (although we understand that we are going to lose it if, as many of us do, we run with R1). Naturally, for the new generation we have much faster load times, content transfer in key modes such as Volta and FUT and other details to be revealed.
The talk entered different questions from those present in it, from where we could get that FIFA 21 was only the spearhead of the saga for the new generation and that it broke the ceiling that they had found on PS4 and One, that there will be no crossplay Because they are different games and they cannot compete against each other, that at the moment there are no plans for this upgrade for PC and that, at the level of mechanics and gameplay, the base will be the same as the game that we already have for sale, but with detailed improvements.
It remains to be seen how the changes in physics and animations affect the game, which by the way in its backward compatible version on PS5 and One already looks more fluid. But until we test it, we will not know what rhythm of the game we are in, if there are still those attack-defense imbalances (they did not answer our question) that so many goals are causing in the current delivery and what type of game development we are going to find . What we have seen, in any case, makes us want to see new generation football. Let’s hope that the desire is also transferred to the controls and not only in sight.
