EA has kicked off a big month of FIFA 21 news with the official Gameplay Trailer.
Keep reading to watch the new trailer and read up on the game's new features!
Latest News - FUT Trailer incoming!
First we had the incredible gameplay trailer, and it looks like EA are following up with a brand new, full reveal of FUT for FIFA 21.
You can find out when and where to watch it right here.
Gameplay Trailer OUT NOW
The official gameplay trailer arrived on Tuesday, 4 August at 11am ET / 4pm BST.
Check out the trailer below:
This kicks off the gameplay reveals for this month, which looks to be all running on schedule!
Keep reading to find out what new gameplay features will be arriving in FIFA 21.
New gameplay features
EA has revealed a few new features that players can expect to find in games across FIFA 21.
Agile dribbling
Agile Dribbling is a brand new way to keep close control of the ball and is intended to give you the ability to quickly move the ball from side to side to help dribblers get away from defenders.
This new dribbling system is more explosive, agile, and fluid, while still ensuring it remains similar to what is seen on the real-life pitch.
TWINKLE TOES: New Agile Dribbling will leave defenders in your wake
To perform Agile Dribbling, hold R1/RB while moving the Left Stick, and you will notice the dribbler moving the ball with rapid and precise touches.
Every player in the game can Agile Dribble, however, the higher a player's Dribbling, Agility, Reactions, and Ball Control attributes, the quicker, more precise, and better they will be at keeping the ball at their feet.
Contextual Agile Dribbling is enabled by default and will make your players automatically perform Agile Dribbles in certain situations.
Positioning personality
New positioning persoanlity means players who are tactically aware will have a bigger impact by being in the right place at the right time to shoot, pass, or block the ball.
Attacking Positioning
The Positioning attribute can impact many elements of Attacking Personality, and the specific behaviours below scale according to to the player’s attribute.
- Onside And Offside Runs - Awareness to know when to slow down and time the run to perfectly stay onside
- “Passer Readiness“ Runs - Understanding of when the ball possessor is ready to make a pass so the player can time their run perfectly
- Decision Making Time And Intelligence - The ability to make faster and accurate decisions on where and when to move
- Passing Lane Analysis - Understanding of spaces to determine where the next best move to receive a pass is, providing more options for passers and teammates.
MAKE A MOVE: Off-ball runs will make slicing up a defence better than ever
Behaviours that will only happen when a player has a very high Positioning Attribute:
- Open Up Space - Ability to create separation between attackers and defenders when the defence is tight or to provide more passing options
- Ideal Crossing Positioning - Understanding of the best open space in the box to beat defenders during dangerous in-play crossing situations
- Fake Runs In The Box - Creating forward fake runs and then pulling back to be available for cut back pass options, or changing run direction from near post to far post
- Chance Creation Support - AI forwards are more aware of the lack of passing options and will drop back to the midfield to support teammates in order to help in build up play
Defensive Positioning
The Defensive Awareness attribute can impact many elements of Defending Personality, and the specific behaviours below scale according to to the player’s attribute - exactly as mentioned in the Attacking session above.
- Run Tracking - Ability to track a run and anticipate one before it happens, with highly aware defenders doing a much better job at staying with their runners
- 2-Man Marking To Prevent Counter Attacks - Ability for two high attribute defenders to mark a striker so they have limited space to avoid a counter attack
- Defensive Midfielder Diligent Tracking - The ability to intelligently mark and track runs by attackers without giving up or leaving them open
- Defensive Midfielder Cutting Passing Lanes - Awareness to position themselves better in order to cut off passing lanes and limit the opponent’s options
- Active VS Passive winger behaviours - Determines how active wingers can get when having to perform defensive duties such as marking, defensive positioning, and tracking runs
- Full back Cooperation - Better awareness of the teammate full back’s positioning, allowing them to better work together when marking. When one full back pushes up, the other will cover and become more aware to mark and track attackers
Creative runs
With Creative Runs, there are new options to influence how your AI teammates move off the ball, providing more creative ways to break down your opponent’s defence:
- Directed Runs - You can now take full 360° control over the direction of the runs of your teammates by flicking the Right Stick after triggering a run (L1/LB then flick Right Stick), or after calling a teammate short (R1/RB then flick Right Stick)
- Directed Pass And Go - Decide where your teammate makes their run after a pass by immediately flicking the Right Stick in the desired direction.
You can have up to 5 players performing a Directed Run or Directed Pass and Go simultaneously
IF YOU WANT IT DONE PROPERLY: Take control of your players runs with Player Lock
- Player Lock - Press in both sticks (L3/LSB+R3/RSB) at the same time to lock to your current player when in attack. When you’re locked to a player and pass the ball, the CPU AI will then take control of the on-ball player allowing you to move your off-ball player and ask for a pass back in a better position
For all of these mechanics, there is a limited time window for you to trigger the direction of the run, in order to prevent conflicts with skill moves, knock-ons and player switching.
Natural Collision System
Gone are the days of in-box-anarchy as EA created new animation systems and combined them to better decide how players interact physically with each other.
READ MORE: AS Roma will not be in FIFA 21!
The main focus points for this system revolve around:
- Better understanding of running paths to prevent players running into each other
- Refined system to enable players to jump over and avoid fallen players
- If a collision does happen, players will adjust their body to avoid head on collisions and receive a smaller impact
New Competitor Mode
In FIFA 21, there will be a new Competitor Mode - when selecting Legendary or Ultimate difficulties, there will now be an option to enable this mode for those who seek a new challenge.
This is a brand new way to play against the CPU AI that aims to replicate the play styles of some of the best FIFA Pro Players in the world.
READ MORE: Absolutely Everything you need to know about FIFA 21 Ultimate Team
Competitor Mode gives the CPU AI a better understanding of skill moves, dribbling, spacing, tactics, and it will constantly look to create better scoring opportunities.
Headers
In FIFA 21, to improve the viability of scoring with headers, while keeping a skill gap in the game, there will be Manual Heading.
ON MI 'EAD: Take header into your own hands with a new manual option
When playing with this option, your headers will not be assisted in any way, with the aim and power used when performing the header determining the initial target for the header before the header is then potentially impacted by error.
This functionality will allow for more opportunities to use heading to create or convert offensive chances while sticking to the intention of having most of the goals scored be the result of direct player action.
Defending
FIFA 20's Controlled Tackling system has been made more accurate than before, with players better positioning themselves in order to perform the ideal standing tackle.
CHALLENGE: The changes to defending in FIFA 20 hve been improved upon
EA has added Player Personality for tackling, allowing for the top defenders to stand out and be more accurate when predicting where the ball will be in order to make the best tackle.
READ MORE: Absolutely Everything we know about FIFA 21
Shoulder Challenges and Seal Outsto have also been reworked to make them more effective and more realistic.
Blocking
EA has completely rewritten the blocking system and added it to the Controlled Tackling technology, creating more reliable and realistic blocks when defending shots and passes.
A player’s attributes will determine the effectiveness of a block, how far away from the ball a player can block, how long it takes to start the block animation, how well you can react and transition into a different block animation if something changes, and how long it takes to recover from a block.
Passing
EA has improved the passing system by adding a better understanding of space and the opponent’s position, in order to pass towards the target that makes the most sense for the receiver in the situation.
Through Passing
This system was rebuilt from the ground up to improve possible pass targets, receiver selection and increased Player Personality. In addition, new concepts were introduced like:
- Pass Openness - Providing smart passers with the ability to open up the pitch by leading the receiver away from opponents
- Pass Complexity - New passing trajectories and targets are possible, allowing for killer through balls
- A new Semi-Assisted Through Ball Assistance setting that takes into consideration your controller input angle to decide the target of the pass and give you more control
NEW SYSTEM, WHO DIS? The through ball system has been completely rebuilt
Crossing
This system was remodelled to create more unique crosses that help players get the most out of their build up.
- There are a number of new crossing trajectories in FIFA 21:
- Whipped Cross - (R1/RB + L1/LB + ⬜/X) - These fast and dangerous crosses travel through the box and are perfect for a teammate to just ‘put their head in the way’
- Driven Cross - (R1/RB + ⬜/X) - Similar to whipped crosses, this cross is fast and dangerous, but tends to travel at waist height, and is ideal for a volley or shot
- Ground Driven Cross - (R1/RB + ⬜/X then ⬜/X ) - An extremely fast cross that travels on the ground
- Updates to the Cross Assistance setting:
- Assisted - This is now the default setting, and is similar to how the Semi-Assisted setting worked in previous FIFA titles
- Semi-Assisted - This setting is now more in line with how the other Semi-Assisted settings work. This means players will have more control and the benefit of reduced error on crosses
- Other improvements;
- Adding the Pass Openness concept, as covered in the Through Passes section, to Ground Passes
- Improvements to the targets and trajectories of Lobs and Lobbed Through Passes
- Ability to perform last second animation transitions allowing you to change directions for your Lob or Lobbed Through Pass
- Multiple new animations that provide quicker and more efficient passing plays
- Better trajectories for clearances to avoid teammates, opponents and your own goal
READ MORE: FIFA 21 PS5 – what Next Gen means for EA’s next title