FIFA 22: first hand impressions of the gameplay

A little over a week ago, I was part of a group of journalists who had the opportunity to witness a fairly large preview of FIFA 22.

How big was this digital flow? In over a decade of sports video game coverage, I can’t recall seeing a more impressive array of features in a game.

Maybe the closest thing was in 2013 when I first saw NBA 2K14, but I digress. Since I saw the preview, I also had access to the beta. I will break down the presentation and also share my practical impressions.

NOTE: Some information has been removed from the original published article.

Gameplay improvements

The new animation system is mainly composed of advanced 11v11 motion capture and machine learning.

It’s quite intriguing. It’s important to note that although it has been unveiled, EA seems to be scratching the surface of new HyperMotion capabilities.

For those who don’t know, HyperMotion technology has enabled EA to capture the movement of 22 players on the pitch at a time, which is designed to deliver smoother, more organic animations in all aspects of the game. The Full Team Authentic Motion initiative stems from mo-cap 11v11, and you can see the difference.

We got a detailed presentation of the new technology and its implementation with FIFA from EA’s Sam Rivera. I won’t bore you with all the details, some of which have flown over me, but I can tell you that the overall gameplay is smoother.

Another huge addition is player behavior. You can see it more clearly after the goals. The stars have notable manners that help drive the immersion.

This extra layer also applies to goalkeepers. In fact, the guards have been completely redesigned. Players should see more realistic saves and goalies have been given identities as well.

Rivera also spoke about the new physics of the ball. When working with the extra animations, the action looks as good as it has ever been in the history of the series.

When it comes to player movement, the biggest addition is what’s called explosive sprinting. The purpose of this feature is to make the most talented players feel different and more effective on offense after first contact.

In my hands-on experience with cover athlete Kylian Mbappe, you can see him gaining a step over defenders with the improved controls.

Thanks to community feedback, there will be new attack tactics for high level players. It sounds like a component that only the strongest players in the FIFA community will use, but it’s still a solid addition to a game that tries to offer something for every type of fan.

In the spirit of rewarding the best players with more tools in the game, FIFA 22 will also add more skill moves. There are four new ones. The Scoop Turn Fake, Four Touch Skill, Skilled Bridge and First Time Spin.

What I found and covered in the preview, players can use 90% of skill moves to control the ball on first contact which could potentially become overpowered. We’ll have to see how it goes a month or two after release.

Finally, Rivera reviewed the extended correspondence analysis. There are a ton of more advanced stats on offer after matches and in career mode. More on that later.

Practical impressions

I played a few matches with PSG in the demo and one of the first things you will notice is the smoothness of the controls. There aren’t many visual improvements over last year’s version, but there’s no doubt that the gameplay is better.

I need a little more time with the game because the demo ends on Tuesday and I only got a chance to start testing it on Monday. From what I saw, the combination of gameplay and options got me excited for the release.

As it is, there is still a lot to like here.