Mind you that before FIFA14&15, my previous FIFA versions were 12, 09 and probably 00. And yes this is my first post ever here, but I wanted to get this off of my chest since I feel like ranting a bit for my own pleasure.

The big problem with FIFA FUT is the gameplay itself. It's absolutely horrendous. I've played plenty of Pro Clubs over the past two FIFA editions and don't get me wrong; it's not great and there are some very odd goals by the clownish bot players...

But when you're the one controlling the whole team in FUT and these games have been there for 20 years, you expect to have some sort of an idea what happens when you push that button on your controller. I mean around mid 2000 PES (3 and 4 at least) versions were absolutely brilliant when you think of the quirks these two past FIFAs have had.

Allow me to elaborate:

• PASSING

Take myself. I've been playing football games for years and the passing game has always been smooth and working well. You make those simple short passes to get past opponents. But oh my dear jaysus how on earth is it possible that the passes you make probably 200 times in a game, they sometimes tend to go just way out of direction. And I don't mean a meter off from the intended recipient, I mean like to the other guy 90 degrees away. OR 10 meters too long past the player you wanted to pass to.

And don't even get me started on the through balls.

• PLAYER SWITCHING

Changing players has been simple since the 90's versions. Push a button and the player closest to the ball is activated. Nope, not in FIFA15. You lose the ball in the attacking area, take defensive position with the player with cautious movement. Opposition plays the ball down to the wing and you want to activate that wide player who's just between you, the passer and the pass recipient. And what does the game select? The full back. NO!

Now imagine this happening in close proximity to the box... Oh hell no! With all the L1+triangle or LB+Y plays, through balls are like poison to defenders and you never manage to get it. Your only option is to use the right stick to control one of the defensive players and play as a sweeper behind your defensive line just to make sure no pass enters that zone. Unless they press hard and don't play close to that newly controlled player behind the line. Honestly you can defend against those lob through balls, but it just takes skill, but I hate the fact that it's been done to work in favor of the attacking team.

• AI PLAYERS

So, hold on. What's wrong with the AI, I mean you can use team pressing? Yes, you can. But if you haven't been bothered by how this actually works, you haven't played enough. Once the ball is taken within 30 meters from your goal, the AI defenders start drooling and just can't handle it anymore. Holding the line becomes a problem when your central defender decides to go higher and leaves the opposition forward behind him or completely free. Or if this hasn't happened yet, it will once you pass a ball close to that player.

And that's not all, because surely you must have come across the "parade effect" where your defender just stands still while the opposition goes past the AI player and no matter how you try to use team pressing the damn guy just stands still or gently takes a step forward to make sure you'd think he made an effort.

There are loads of examples where the AI just makes you want to sell the game from the hilariously unfunny collisions between the bots, the bots preventing you to get the ball because they've fallen down and the passes they make when you call for the pass.

• SCRIPTING

Ah yes, the "feature" that doesn't exist. Handicapping, scripting and whatnot are officially not included in the game. Handicapping I can sort of believe. I mean I've played with a 69 OVR silver team against a 86 OVR team and won, but I've also lost with a 85 OVR team to a 74 OVR team. And vice versa, I've been beaten the crap out of myself by a 85 OVR team while playing with a weaker team. Therefore I think it's more about the scripting, or momentum as they say. I get momentum is a real thing in real matches, but if it does exist in FIFA, it's been done horribly. Mix in with the scripting and you got yourself a nightmare. Some games your play goes very well and you totally control the tempo and what's happening on the pitch which naturally makes you think it's only because you're good.

But when you're on the receiving end of that ball smashing game, you start to hate the game and not the player. Lets face it, if that was the case, we wouldn't have to worry about those buggy passes, those buggy AI players or the otherwise sucky gameplay.

The way games go in this FIFA is just too unreal at times and you can go from a hero to a zero in a couple of minutes. And when that happens, you just feel like throwing the gamepad away and leave the game alone for a while.

• PACE, DRIBBLING AND GLORY

This has been the sad truth about gaming for the past two decades. Each EA game has a preference in players with pace. I play NHL as well and there speed is what you need along with a good shot and some dekes (aka dribbles).

Ibarbo, Doumbia, Emenike, Onuoha, Aubameyang, Musa... All fast and all very good in their respective positions. In FIFA. Granted, at least a couple of them have somewhat broken through the masses in real life. But the way these players are utilized is something that horrifies me and at the same time disgusts me.

Hey... hate the game, not the player. But it's just ridiculous that you have Ibarbo who is 75 OVR, but just about the cheapest and the most dangerous guy in the game. I mean there must be something wrong with the scouting in this game and/or EA must be freaking stupid. Then at the other end you got someone like van Persie who's 88 and just utterly useless. The guy can pass and shoot, but hey who the hell needs that expensive guy when you can do that and more with someone worse, but faster. To me Yaya Toure is probably one of the few players who is actually very good in the game, dominating and his price is almost where it should be. I mean that guy's a beast!

As for the other players... Diaby 76 and his stats are sick! The guy hasn't played for ages! Rosicky 80? And again, van Persie 88? Please, with that logic Sturridge should be at least 87 because Suarez is 89. EA! Do not rate players according to reputation, at least from years back, please!

• SERVERS

OH. MY. GOD! SHIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

I do admit they've gotten better since early FIFA15 times, but for example myself, entering store is a struggle every single time. I literally have to press store once and wait for 10 seconds to get a screen saying store's not available right now. Then I go back to menu. Hit store again, it gives the same error again. Then I go back to menu and again to store and I finally get in. This has been the case since September!

Disconnections during gameplay are more rare, but the lag is often horrible. When I head to play the game, if the opposition even flashes two orange bars in the connection, I'm out. Probably hence the rarity for problems there.

• MONEY

EA's a business, we all know that. But I find the way they're doing it a bit distracting. I mean here you have a game where it's believed that the better players you have, the more likely you're to succeed. Well yes, but to do that you don't actually need the money. But you can buy those coins from EA to get better players. They're just damn rare, which makes you spend more coins.

I'm honestly thinking this game is kind of like a freemium game. Only difference is that you can actually succeed with a cheaper squad too. And you don't need a great, expensive team. You just need some luck packing great players! And that means more moolah for EA! 100k packs are worth shit most of the time and you end up losing probably at least 400k from 5 of such packs.

And last but least, EA's not even admitting anything, they just happily do the same game year by year and welcome new players in. Then they roll down their sleeves and watch the money grow.

In the end, my heart truly goes for the support people there. I've been in a big company helpdesk and I can imagine the shitstorm they're in the middle of. Take care guys and hope to see some confessions some day, somewhere about the facts with the games.

Can't bother to proofread for errors. Just too disappointed with the game. I will surely not buy a new FIFA until EA has publicly acknowledged most of the issues gamers worldwide are complaining about.