FIFA 22 promises huge gameplay changes for the latest edition of the best-selling football franchise, powered by next-gen HyperMotion gameplay technology.
HyperMotion is only on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S and uses the power of the new consoles to provide a more realistic football experience than ever before.
This is the biggest change promised by EA Sports for this year's game, but even the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of FIFA 22 have gameplay changes to differentiate them from last year's edition.
HyperMotion Gameplay Technology
HyperMotion uses advanced 11v11 match capture and machine learning to create new animations and provide more variation in gameplay in FIFA 22.
The advanced match capture recorded 22 professional footballers playing at high intensity on a full-size pitch, meaning over 4000 new animations have been added, which is three times more than last year.
"This is the biggest animation refresh we have ever had in any FIFA," gameplay line producer Sam Rivera said. "This was one of the main goals that we had - to refresh the visuals of the game in every area of the game. to make a fresh experience."
More than 8.7 million frames were captured which is being used by EA Sports' machine learning algorithm to write new animations in real-time, giving players and teams a more realistic feel when running, controlling or striking the ball.
Tactical AI
Team-mates and opposition players now perform more intuitively, especially on next-gen consoles, where the processing speed allows each individual player to better understand the movements of other players and opponent formations.
AI players will now make up to six times more decisions per second than in FIFA 21, making better runs off the ball, taking up smarter positions when out of position and keeping shape defensively.
"On the defensive side, there is a full rewrite," Rivera explains. "Defensive AI is all new in FIFA 22. Players mark more zonally, they retain their shape better and move as a unit. This refreshes the positional experience in FIFA 22. You will need to re-learn how you play the game and how you find spaces in attack."
Kinetic Air Battles
EA Sports
The match capture technology captured a lot of duels, including air battles meaning that heading and jumping for aerial balls is much more dynamic and realistic.
Players now push, pull and jostle in the area for corners and crosses, as well as for long balls and clearances.
Headers now feel more realistic and responsive, whether in defence or attack.
Composed Ball Control
Another major improvement from the new HyperMotion gameplay technology is Composed Ball Control.
Controlling the ball in FIFA 22 is more fluid than ever before, making first and second touches appear more natural, just like in a real football match.
Players now have better control of aerial balls, more agility for ground balls and more strength when shielding opponents.
Player Humanisation
New animations have been added for players on and off the ball to better show their interaction with each other when on and off the ball and during stoppages in play.
Players will talk, point and direct each other during games, reacting to game situations, scorelines and in-game tactics and events.
Goalkeeper Rewrite
A new goalkeeper system has been introduced on all consoles, including PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Goalkeepers are now better at shot-stopping and decision-making, while new FIFA 22 goalkeeper positioning personality attributes more closely replicate different styles of keepers around the world.
True Ball Physics
All versions of FIFA 22 will have improved ball physics, making passes, shots and bounces more varied.
EA Sports has added new variables for speed, swerve, air drag, air resistance, ground friction, and rolling friction making every touch, trap, shot, volley, pass and dribble look and feel more realistic.
Explosive Sprint
Rather than just running at full-steam all the time, a new Explosive Sprint option gives more control over acceleration when dribbling or defending.
You can now wait to time your burst of speed to get away from opponents or close them down in dangerous positions.
EA Sports
New Attacking Tactics
When setting up your team, you now have a greater variety of tactical options and sliders.
"This is a feature requested by the community," Rivera says. "I think it's very important that people who play the game are heard."
Now you can set up your team to have different play styles in each half of the pitch, changing how you approach attacking.
These can be set for in-game tactics too so you can easily switch your approach depending on scoreline or opposition tactics.
New Skill Moves
You can now do first-time skill moves to help you control the ball using a skill move. This gives greater variety of dribbling options and helps you evade opponents who are pressing closely.
Around 90 per cent of the skill moves can be used as a first-time skill move to collect the ball and burst away from opponents.
As well as this, four new skill moves have been added to FIFA 22: Scoop Turn Fake, Four Touch Skill, Skilled Bridge and the First Time Spin.
Deeper Match Analysis
Match stats screens and player stats screens now have a lot more information than ever before.
Heatmaps, pass maps and shot charts have all been included this year and have plenty of options to see where events have taken place for teams as a whole and individually.
Additionally, expected goals (xG) has been added to FIFA for the first time ever in FIFA 22.