An in-depth look at the new FIFA 22 gameplay

Whilst many, including myself, are still grinding away on FIFA 21 for the FUTTIES promo and the glory of a Danny Aarons-inspired King Kazu SBC, the hype for FIFA 22 grows each day.

EA first released the trailer for the latest instalment of the game a couple of weeks ago and social media exploded with intrigue around the new HyperMotion technology.

Here, we take you through EVERYTHING we know about the gameplay changes and how it will affect FIFA 22:

Motion Capture

In FIFAs gone by, the studio has captured animation through an optical method by telling players to do certain animations – such as shielding the ball and making a run – but that is now gone.

Xsens motion capture has been introduced to capture animations from a ‘real’ football environment.

Players wore special suits in a full 11v11 game to capture the authentic movements and animations of footballers that we see week in, week out.

Combine that with their new machine learning capabilities and we’re onto a winner.

The new generation of consoles allows technology to take us to places we’ve not been before such as full team authentic motion, which sees 4,000 new animations added into the game.

To put that into context, that’s 3 times as many animations that are added into a new game normally.

Tactical A.I.

We’ve all been there, playing Weekend League and getting frustrated at a defender being out of position or lack of support when attacking.

EA have revamped how the A.I. works both offensively and defensively. 

Going forward, your team mates now have the capabilities of making up to 6 times more decisions per second to improve how they move and will result in smarter runs and better support.

At the back, the defensive A.I. system is brand new and have improved intelligence as part of the HyperMotion technology.

Players will have more zonal making awareness, retain their shape more intelligently and move more as a unit.

Player Humanization

As you can see from the video above, players will now act more ‘human’.

The example shows how your wall will act when you’re defending a free kick but other changes include behavioural changes, interacting with each other – mimicking what happens in an actual game.

Goalkeeper Rewrite

I can speak from experience when conceding a goal and you’ve been left questioning as to why the goalkeeper has not saved it or moved in a way that they’ve avoided the ball.

EA heard that feedback and have listened to introduce a new brand new system for their goalkeepers.

They’ve broke it down into three sections: more reliable saves, more goalkeeper personality and big animation refresh.

They’ll now be a lot more variety in saves, leading with the top hand or making themselves big when a ball is crossed in.

New Tactics

A feature that has been requested by the community and implemented for FIFA 22.

You can now separate your attacking and defensive tactics in each half – such as possession play in your own half then switching up to a more direct style of play when you cross the halfway line.

As well as those changes, the sliders have returned for the first time since FIFA 19 and will now give you more control of how you play.

Skill Moves

I love a good skill move – elastico, reverse elastico, sombrero flick – you name it, I’ve used them to great effect at some point over the last 9 months.

FIFA 22 sees four new skill moves added into the game – scoop turn fake, four touch skill, skilled bridge, first time spin.

Hearing the words bridge will send shivers down the spine of most players, but this new animation looks unreal and will be one to implement from the off.

The most important thing to note though is something Sam Rivera, Live Producer of Gameplay, said: “Making sure it’s not OP, that’s what we’ll be doing. Everything needs to be balanced.”

In-depth Analysis

Gone are the days of basic post-match stats, FIFA 22 sees a whole new word of stats for your gaming experience.

Expected goals (xG), breakdown of possession during periods across the game, team and individual heat maps, breakdown of types of shots and where they’ve come from, types of passing and tackles.

The whole system has been refreshed and will give you a much better analysis of how you control the team and how each player has performed.

Immersive Matchday Experience 

New pre-match sequences. New mascots. New iconic moments. New rendering FX. All have been incorporated into FIFA 22.

From pre-match light shows to the groundsman getting the pitch ready to West Ham forever blowing bubbles, you will be fully immersed in the pre-match sequences and won’t be hitting that skip button.

In addition to that, Stewart Robson joins the commentary booth alongside Derek Rae as well as Alex Scott becoming the 1st female pundit in the FIFA series – another historic achievement for the 36-year old.

On the new generation of consoles, big goal moments have been added and some stars of the game have their own personalised moments such as Kylian Mbappe, Roberto Firmino & Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

To complete the immersive matchday experience, managers will now react to results and EA have got Pep Guardiola’s individual post-match celebration spot on!

The gameplay changes certainly gives off FIFA 17 vibes when the active intelligence system was announced and will definitely change the FIFA series as we know it.

I’m very confident that this will be the best FIFA we’ve seen yet and when you see the further details released about the game, you’ll be convinced too and hitting that pre-order button immediately. 

You can watch the full breakdown of all the gameplay changes on the EA Play Live Stream:

YouTube video

Featured image credit: Getty

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