The developers of FIFA 22 explained in the pitch notes where the gameplay has been modified. Here you will find an overview of the most exciting changes that could affect your game.
What’s happening with FIFA 22? On July 29, 2021, a new gameplay trailer was published online, showcasing some scenes from the game in action. Among other things, Hypermotion was shown in more detail, and topics like the goalkeeper rewrite were also addressed.
At the same time, EA Sports released a new pitch notes article that explains in detail what changes players can expect in FIFA 22. You can find it here (via EA Sports).
We will show you the most important innovations that could effectively impact your gameplay on the field.
1. HyperMotion and New Animations
A lot has already been said about HyperMotion. The new next-gen feature brings the biggest animation rework in FIFA history, including 4,000 new animations. Everything is designed to seem more realistic and closer to real football. This ranges from small tackles to free kicks and dribbles.
How this ultimately affects gameplay remains to be seen. However, there are likely to be many new situations that players will need to adapt to – whether it’s in duels, sprinting races, or finishing.
Even off the ball, your players will behave more humanly. Additionally, there is an adjustment to the ball physics that will also be noticeable.
You can find a detailed overview of HyperMotion here.
2. New Skill Moves and Tricks
This is new: There are some adjustments regarding skill moves and tricks. They should still feel effective, but timing will be crucial.
Some well-known moves have been adjusted. For example, the speed of the “Bridge” and the “Directional Nutmegs” has been reduced – both tricks were very popular in FIFA 21 because they were strong.
A new option is to execute skill moves right when your player receives the ball. Previously, this was only possible with feigned shots – now it’s also an option for skills with the right stick. While harder to control, they provide extremely quick movements:
In addition, there are four new skill moves:
- The Four Touch Tun
- The Skilled Bridge
- The First Time Spin
- And the Scoop Turn Fake
How effective these four new moves will be remains to be seen.
Not a proper skill move, but an exciting mechanic is the “Explosive Sprint.” It gives you a slight speed boost when you press the sprint button at the right moment. This is useful when you are in a one-on-one situation and want to sprint past the defender at a slight angle. However, this only works straight ahead.
A detailed overview of the Explosive Sprint can be found here.
Also useful: The ability to push the ball very far ahead when you are in the middle of a sprint. To do this, you need to press the right stick twice – it looks like this:
3. New Tactics
This is new: In addition to a new AI, FIFA 22 also includes a new type of tactics – especially in the offense. There are now two different sections that you can adjust.
- Building Up Play in Your Half
- Chance Creation in the Opponent’s Half
Here you can specify whether you want a controlled, safe build-up until the halfway line, but then want to act with sudden sprints in the opponent’s half. Or whether you prefer to dizzy the opponent with possession passing play before the penalty area, but initially play long balls forward.
The new tactics give you more control over how your team should generally behave.
Aside from the attack tactics, there are also adjustments to the known tactics. You can now define the width and depth of your team more precisely, and there are some revised instructions for your players.
4. Stronger Defense, Smarter Attack
This changes the defense: The AI has been readjusted, bringing with it new tactical orientations. The new “Tactical AI” aims to create more football-like behavior in the next-gen version of FIFA 22.
In defense, this is noticeable in that the defense now secures different zones instead of single players. It shifts collectively and ensures better coverage.
Importantly: The work rates and also the exhaustion will have a noticeable impact on the positioning of the players. This also applies to playing in wrong positions: Players positioned in central defense will have poorer positioning if that’s not their actual position.
This should attack the FIFA 21 meta, which often placed fast players in center back positions. Also interesting: There is a new way to intercept passes. This should be particularly effective if you place players directly in the path of a pass instead of directly engaging the opponent or the ball.
Furthermore, there is a comprehensive adjustment of the goalkeeper AI – by the way, also on older consoles and PC. They are now expected to act significantly smarter and more reliably. This was positively noted in the first MeinMMO test of FIFA 22.
This changes in attack: In attack, players should now make decisions up to six times faster, so they do not take as long to respond to new situations. This should result in better running paths – especially since offensive players are expected to have a better view of their surroundings now.
The players coordinate with each other and should generally be more often in the right place than before. This raises hopes that players will position themselves so that dangerous attacks can be created more through passing play and crosses, rather than just through skill moves, dribbles, and speed.
5. Player Switching
This changes: A seemingly small but interesting change is the possibility of a new player switch. In addition to switching with L1/LB or the right stick, you can now also use “Icon Switching.
For this, you press the right stick in defense, causing four icons to appear above your players. Using the right stick, you can then accurately select which player you want to take over. This means you won’t accidentally switch to the wrong players anymore.
6. New Settings in FUT
This changes: In certain competitive modes, your settings will be automatically adjusted – and for less assistance. This means that fewer automations will take effect in the game and you will have more control. However, this also means you need to act more precisely overall, for instance, to successfully play passes forward.
A detailed overview of the changed competitive settings can be found here.
7. New Statistics
This is new: With FIFA 22, you will receive comprehensive statistics after the game and also at halftime. There are a lot of different facts included.
Among other things, the game will inform you where exactly your players spent the most time. Where you lost the ball most often, and where you won it. You can see precisely: What types of shots led to success? Which passing types were strong? And where can you possibly improve?
Furthermore, there are very detailed data on your individual players. They show you a heatmap, various shots, as well as the different subtypes of shots and the same for passes or defensive statistics.
In short: You will get plenty of numbers and visual representations of your performance. And this can especially at halftime possibly help you adjust your tactics even more successfully.
Are you looking forward to FIFA 22? Or are you not yet convinced by the new features? Let us know in the comments! You can find out everything about the FIFA 22 release here.
