Teammates that not only make runs when attacking, but more importantly, have increased awareness and anticipation when defending. I talked about this briefly in my first impressions article, but it’s worth noting again how nice it is to have half-decent teammates. From the crowds exploding during rivalry matches to your players showing more emotion, the action sucks you in more and FIFA 22 is better because of it. This year everything seems more alive and radiates with excitement. The excellent presentation didn’t seem to hype your virtual players up at all. They seemed to just jog into position instead of starting a match off with the type of energy you’d expect. One of my biggest pet peeves from FIFA 21 was how stagnant your players would be at kickoff.
This isn’t an artificially enhanced frantic experience, more so a testament to how HyperMotion and what mo-capping a full 11-on-11 match has done to the players. Everything from the pre-match presentation to the way the players move on the pitch screams more energy. It seems as if EA turned the energy up for FIFA 22.
While there still aren’t as many stoppages for fouls as I’d like, there’s still plenty of action to suck you in here. Breaking teams down and switching the play has never been more enjoyable thanks in part to HyperMotion and the new ball physics on cross-field switches. Matches play out at different speeds just as they would if you were watching a weekend match on your TV. Pace still reigns supreme but overall the match tempo is as good as it’s ever been in FIFA. Often resembling basketball with fast breaks, FIFA for far too long was a back-and-forth goal-extravaganza with little regard to build-up play and any semblance of a midfield.
One of the biggest issues that has plagued the FIFA series over the past few years has been the speed of the game. Building off the improvements from last year’s mid-cycle next-gen release, it’s time to see if FIFA 22 is truly deserving of being a quality next-gen footy game. Marketed as a new technology that allows for enhanced animations that can be produced “six times faster” than before, HyperMotion’s foundation includes Machine Learning and 11-on-11 motion capture capabilities. With a full year development behind them, the developers at EA have introduced some exciting new updates for FIFA 22, none bigger than HyperMotion. It’s time to pick up the latest and greatest by way of FIFA 22.