FIFA Mobile 22 Beta review: A much-needed boost to the series

The FIFA Mobile 22 Beta went live in the selected regions of Canada, Romania, and India. EA has made their progress on the latest release in the FIFA Mobile series, which was earlier announced to be delayed until Spring 2022. However, this beta gives a very good insight into what to expect, with tons of new features, changes, and improvements to be excited about. Here in this article, we will review FIFA Mobile 22 Beta and share our first impressions of the game.

The amount of overhaul that can be seen in the new edition, despite it just being at the beta stage, is quite remarkable, especially when put in direct comparison to the current version of FIFA Mobile 21. As avid FIFA fans ourselves, we’ve played through the FIFA Mobile 22 Beta and collected an in-depth review of the game. As well as outlining all the new features insight, we’ve also compared the game to other franchises/previous editions, and evaluated whether or not there is something to be excited about!

The new features are not quite as “new”

Starting with the FIFA Mobile 22 Beta review, the global version of FIFA Mobile stands as one of the most popular football simulations on mobile devices. However, that isn’t to say it’s the only version. Some fans may be aware, there is another spin-off edition of FIFA Mobile, separate from the main series. Known as the Nexon FIFA Mobile, this game was released last year, available to users only in Japan and Korea. It had tons of extra things and was regarded as an advanced edition of the global FIFA Mobile. Of course, there were ways to bring the game onto mobile devices outside of the select regions, but was difficult to play, due to the language, and the online gameplay issues.

Now that many of the best components of the spin-off are being integrated into the global edition, fans can expect a game that is already well-rounded, and not something that is yet to be tested on a large scale. In this review, we will treat the beta as though all the features are brand new, as they are new to those who have never played the Nexon version of FIFA Mobile.

A fresh home page on the face of FIFA Mobile 22

As with most games, one of the first things you see is obviously the home page. This is the main hub of all information, and this year’s home page just feels different – in a good way. Rather than the blocky layout in previous editions, there’s now a brand new layout, featuring a much more dynamic menu page. There’s much more open space as well as an element of a new dimension.

The addition of the 3D player image on the left of the screen brings a 3D feel to the page. The lights in the back are also animated, creating a sense of movement on the screen, as opposed to a static image. If that wasn’t enough, the player will switch every time the menu is opened, cycling through Heung Min Son, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Cristian Pulisic.

All in all, the main point is that the main menu looks much better. The layouts in FIFA Mobile 21 and its predecessors were great at presenting all the possible areas in the game but just felt as though there was an attempt to just cram as much as possible into one space. The new menu gives all the necessary links while also keeping a good level of visual appeal.

A redefined market forms mixed opinions

One of the key elements of FIFA Mobile which encourages players to come back is the in-game market. Players can buy and sell cards against a virtual auction, in a dynamic environment wherein prices are constantly changing. Because of that, so many players have picked up nifty tricks and methods to utilize the market to their advantage. However, it seems as though that is all about to change.

EA has built a fresh perspective of the market which will be established in the upcoming FIFA Mobile 2022. Rather than viewing an array of different listings of cards with their own individual prices, players will now interact with a database of all available cards.

Each will have its own individual price range, which cannot be exceeded. For example, an 89 rated Van Dijk has a price range of 2.11 million – 2.45 million, at the time of writing. This card can not be bought or sold for a price out of that range. It is also worth noting that the price range changes depending on supply/demand, and EA has provided some nice graphs and tables detailing information. The idea is for EA to be able to manage what the value of cards is, and use that information elsewhere.

All in all, it is a very interesting change indeed. Many popular trading methods, including the well-known concept of fishing, will now likely be modified, or impossible to do completely. However, it’s not all bad, as this kind of move suggests that EA would like to encourage some kind of stock-market-like theme to the game. As a result, we expect investing in cards and selling for profit to become a key focus of next year.

From a personal perspective, this kind of change should bring some well-needed refreshment to the game. For quite a while, many of the popular market-based methods to generate coins have been quite one-dimensional, involving a series of long, but simple steps. Perhaps this new market twist that EA has introduced will switch things up a little.

Big currency clean-up

Whilst playing through the FIFA Mobile beta, we noticed a few missing components you’d usually see at the top of the screen. Seems like EA have done a bit of cleaning up in that area!

No Stamina Energy

It took us a while to realize this, there is no stamina energy in the FIFA Mobile 22 beta. Perhaps due to the sheer amount of energy given out to everyone during a basic playthrough, it’s difficult to notice how the energy depletes whenever a match is started. It now looks like the game can be played continuously without cooldown, can’t complain!

Gems removed

It also turns out, gems aren’t in the game at all. This could be a beta-specific thing, where the gems are on course to be added ahead of the actual release, but if it isn’t, that is quite a drastic progression.

Before gems were introduced to FIFA Mobile, the main paid currency was FIFA Points, which could still be obtained through some F2P achievements. Then, EA introduced gems that replaced the areas where you could get free FIFA Points and locked off the points as the exclusive currency, available to only those that invested real money into the game. It now seems as though the developers have taken a step backward, removing the gems and reverting back to the original style of the game.

Whether this is a permanent change, or it is just a “beta thing”, we may know soon. However, if this is permanent, it shows EA is very well reading the feedback on the game and has seen the many complaints on the pay-to-win gap.

FIFA Mobile concepts come to life

For years, the FIFA Mobile community has always dreamt about various new and exciting features that could be added to the game. Some have even designed concepts to imagine what those things would actually look like in the game. It now feels quite weird actually seeing those ideas in the game.

Substitutions

The image is real, your eyes are not being deceived. FIFA Mobile 22 will offer in-match substitutions! There’s also the option to move players around to switch positions if you need, and all this is done whilst the game is going on in the background as well.

The substitution menu opens as just an overlay, so there’s no pause time or anything as such. Perhaps it would be nice to have a pause function, but then again, it keeps the game running and doesn’t break the flow, which awkwardly fits the fast-paced nature of H2H. If that wasn’t enough, there’s also auto-subs, where the game automatically suggests player switches, just more steps in the right direction.

Set Piece duties

This is another common thing that makes no sense as to why it wasn’t included earlier. In recent additions of FIFA Mobile, the game would automatically pick the “best” set-piece taker for you, which often leads to dodgy situations in which your best heading CB takes a corner, or your striker, who you’d want in the box, takes a free-kick.

Finally, there’s the option to pick who takes which set-piece, and there’s also a view of all the relevant stats organized into a menu as well. The picture looks fresh and new, with the use of individual attributes coming into use more than ever in a FIFA Mobile installment.

Team Skill Moves

This caught us completely off-guard. EA introduced double skill moves per player ahead of the release of FIFA Mobile 22. They’ve taken that a step further by adding a huge 5 skill moves per player, and that’s not all. While 1 of them is essentially “built-in” to the card, the other 4 can be customized in the Team Skill moves section as well.

In-game, there’d usually be the option to swipe up and take advantage of the secondary skill move that’s built into each card. Now, there will be 4 directions to swipe in, which will each produce a different skill move. Obviously, tapping the button will introduce the 5th skill move as well.

The menu itself from which 4 skill moves can be chosen also looks nothing short of brilliant. There are short clips to show a demo of what the skill move looks like, a breakdown of which players in the team can actually do that move ability-wise, and an option to go into a random match to try them out as well. As well as some returning moves such as the Flick-Up and the lane-change roll, there are a few very interesting new ones as well.

The mythical Ronaldo Chop is on the list, alongside the open-up fake shot and a few more brand new moves as well. It seems as though many more will be added in due time as well since some skill moves like Advanced Rainbow and the McGeady Spin may still be in the game but are not yet on the list.

All in all, this is another step in the right direction. This is yet another fresh feature adding more options to the gameplay, and creating more opportunities for cool moments.

Gameplay realism is taken to a whole new level

There’s quite a vast difference between FIFA Mobile 21 and the FIFA Mobile 22 beta, showing the great improvement in the all-around authenticity of the upcoming FIFA Mobile. Playing the game just feels better, and the graphics make for some great views never seen before in a FIFA game on mobile devices. EA has even snuck in an option to change the camera angle too, option 4 is a personal favorite!

The pitch looks a lot more detailed, and player animations feel more fluid and smooth compared to the current edition of FIFA Mobile. But the graphics aren’t the only advancement in realism, turning the volume up enhances the whole experience by a mile. The voices of Derek Rae and Lee Dixon will come on in the background, and the commentary isn’t just any oddly put-together track either. It’s timed well and feels correct, and the type of comments are surprisingly varied today. On top of that, there will also be crowd chants specific to the stadium the match is being played in as well; it just tops off the realism we’ve always needed in FIFA Mobile.

The experience on its own is completely new, but the gameplay itself also seems much more advanced than the predecessors. The amount of different skill moves at each player’s disposal opens a range of new opportunities in attack, and the smoother animations make for some brilliant-looking replays.

Unlike in the arcade-themed football of FIFA Mobile 21, there is no longer the option for every player to run miles without rest anymore, as stamina will now be making a strong impact on end-game decisions. Cards will have another Stamina attribute that defines how quickly their energy bar falls down during a game. The lower the bar drops, the slower the player’s movements get, eventually forcing you to make the sub or change the style of play.

Final Verdict

Overall from our review perspective playing through the FIFA Mobile, 22 beta gave a satisfying experience. As long-term fans of the franchise, seeing such kind of positive progression is really quite refreshing. There’s obviously the argument of how the build-up to of new edition of FIFA Mobile is always exciting, but genuinely, this time it looks promising. The advancement in graphics and realism features helps the game’s case to keep up with its competitors too.

There are some negatives to be noted, but these could all arguably be justified. For example, there are some minor bugs in the gameplay, but these are to be sorted out in due course. The main issues to be pointed out are all generally up for debate. Rather than the odd switch-up in places, or the edition of a new mode like we’ve seen in previous transitions, the FIFA Mobile 2022 Beta shows off a huge overhaul of many of the core foundations of the game.

The market is different, training players is different, match graphics are different, currencies are different, the list goes on. Whether these new changes please individuals or downgrade, creates a divide in opinion amongst fans. That’s the main cause of supposed “negatives”, but other than that, there is not much to worry about. Now for the main question, is FIFA Mobile 2022 worth looking forward to? The answer is a certain yes! The whole game has changed a lot from the last release, and so it will be very interesting to see how it plays out. There seems to be a real effort in refreshing the flow of the game, so it is definitely worth waiting to play it yourself.

The FIFA Mobile 2022 beta is up for a limited time for android devices, but bear in mind it is only available to those in the regions of India, Romania, and Canada. A Google Play Store account within one of these regions, as well as a VPN, will be needed to access the beta outside of these 3 locations.

What are your opinions on the FIFA Mobile 22 Beta game and your review of it? Do let us know in the comments!

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