The beloved FIFA game franchise is finally getting a much-needed gameplay overhaul this year’s addition to the series, FIFA 22. While many of the previous releases have been met with criticisms that the new editions haven’t done much to change or improve upon years prior, FIFA 22 is bucking the trend, thanks to technology known as Hypermotion. Apologies in advance for the horrible pun, but this could be a real game-changer for the FIFA franchise as it establishes itself on next-gen consoles.
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Hypermotion is a complete and total overhaul for FIFA’s gameplay, one that couldn’t come at a better time. It’s not as if the controls and style of play are getting swapped around, but the way in which the players move and react will be completely new. The realism of player movements is finally being brought to FIFA.
During an early preview for FIFA 22, the development team peeled back the curtain on Hypermotion and how it actually affects the game. Rather than simply putting a few players into motion-capture suits and having them perform different soccer-related tasks, Hypermotion captured entire 11v11 matches, using the entire pitch as a studio.
This resulted in more than 4,000 new animations in FIFA 22 gameplay. Instead of using a couple of variations of a slide tackle for every situation, nearly every circumstance has its own unique motion. Not only does this help FIFA 22 look better than its predecessors, it changes how the entire game feels and moves.
“The technology has developed so much in the last few years, so now we’re able to go and capture a real football match,” said producer Sam Rivera. “That gives us so much more intensity in the animations, and the fact there’s an entire pitch to move around changes everything. In optical [capture] the space is usually much smaller. You are acting, you’re not in a real football environment. We had to pick the best data [from those sessions] to put in the game. Now it’s a lot better because all the animations are the real thing, you get the athleticism, that top sprint speed, that physicality because there’s the space and direction.”
The current-gen and next-gen editions of FIFA 21 largely felt the same, with just some updated graphics and controller vibrations becoming the only noticeable differences. That won’t be the case in FIFA 22. If what we’ve seen so far translates well to the final product, we’re going to finally enter the next generation of FIFA.
