Recent reviews by Bancho

TL;DR - This game is a psychologically manipulative Skinner box. It is designed to be addictive, and to get as much money out of you as possible. Scripting, implemented to encourage FUT players to spend more money, is in every mode and makes every game an unsatisfying and empty experience. Considering a core demographic for this game is children, the income-focused manipulation displayed here is repugnant.

DDA (dynamic difficulty adjustment) or scipting is just ridiculous now. In games against EA's garbage AI, if the game wants your opponent to score, they'll respond to your controller inputs instantly, not the actions of the player you're controlling. Easy tackles with world class defenders will either miss, bounce the ball to another opponent, just outright phase through the ball or even the damn player! Your keeper will do a Matrix-esque dodge of a shot coming directly at them or will spill an easy catch directly into their striker. The most outrageous though, is player switching on loose balls and when contesting headers. The game will sometimes prevent you from switching to a player (even manually with the right stick) if they're close enough to win a loose ball or are in the best position to win a header. They will instead just stand there, staring blankly into the distance, until the opponent wins back possession. It's the most obvious example of the game cheating to achieve the outcome it wants. This stuff is so obvious that I've been able to predict when a goal is coming, just by how many advantages the AI gets.

Other examples:
- 30 year old fullback with 60 pace will gain an otherworldly burst of speed to get ahead of my winger with 90 pace
- Players will frequently and deliberately place themselves in a position to lose headers, even if you're instructing them to do the opposite
- Opposition defenders will basically teleport to tackle you the second you press shoot in the box
- Your passes will frequently go to a player in the complete opposite direction to the one you've commanded
- Uncontrolled defenders will randomly clatter someone in the box, giving away a penalty
- Some of the AI's most outrageous Sunday league fouls just won't be given
- If the game doesn't want you to score anymore (or has the scoreline it wants to achieve), the opposition will just pass the ball around the back or run all the way back to the keeper upon any pressure. This would be fine if they weren't 2-1 down at 70', where any team would be pushing hard for an equaliser. Again, just breaks the immersion.
- If the game wants you to score, all of these advantages are removed and opposing players lose 50 IQ points. It's ridiculously transparent.

These problems extend to all other game modes, especially Ultimate Team.

At the end of the day, all this does is damage the experience. Wins don't feel earned, since it's obvious that the game is allowing you to win. When you lose it's often because of the above advantages, not from been legitimately outplayed. For a game that aims to recreate football, it fails spectacularly in presenting the core part of that experience; the in-match gameplay. Neglecting this, by adding a scripting or variable difficulty system to psychologically manipulate FUT players to spend more money, not only irrevocably destroys the experience in all modes, but is also outrageously anti-consumer. I knew on reputation that EA Sports games were microtransaction ridden hellholes but this is predatory to a degree I've never seen before. Considering a core demographic for this game is children, manipulation like this is repugnant. Honestly, I feel dirty having spent money on this.

Do not buy this or any other EA Sports Skinner box, it's a prime example of everything wrong with this heinous company.