Hands on with FIFA 18 @ EA Play
The queues may have been long, and the sun scorching but EA Play was a success. We got to play the new FIFA, albeit briefly, and somehow they’ve manage to raise the bar one again. Every year in the lead up to writing this blog I worry that I wont have anything to say, after all, once you’ve played one FIFA game you’ve played them all, right? Wrong. Every year EA manage to add just the right amount of seasoning to make FIFA a better game and, mercifully, give me something to write about.
The big talking point of last year was the introduction of The Journey, a story / career mode that follows the life of up and coming star Alex Hunter. In FIFA 18 The Journey returns. This time round you follow Hunter as he makes the progression to the international leagues. You decide which country Hunter plays in, testing yourself against the best in the world. For people who played last years Journey, you’ll carry on exactly where you left off, playing for the same team before deciding where next to further his career. For everyone else, you’ll be treated to a recap of The Journey’s story before choosing which premier league team you want Hunter to start out at. According to EA, decisions made in this time around will have a much bigger impact on the development of the story.
The biggest change in this years game is the introduction of FIFA Icons to all platforms. Previously, the ability in Ultimate Team to play as classic players was limited to Microsoft only, but with FIFA 18 players of all platforms now have the chance to play as these legends. Ronaldo (the Brazilian superstar, as opposed to his Portuguese namesake who graces this years cover), Thierry Henry, Diego Maradona, Pele and Lev Yashin are all faithfully represented.
New developments in the AI mean that opposition players will now assess the situation and make a decisive decision and work to achieve it, rather than constantly changing their minds. This along with improved movement animations have resulted in the most life like FIFA game to date.
Last years unpopular changes to penalties have also been dialled back a bit, which apparently makes it easier to actually score them. I say apparently as we didn’t get to take any in the one game we got to play. Another stand out improvement is just how good the facial animations are. Although that may not be the most important feature in a sports game, it is a nice touch.
One unusual thing we noticed was a bizarre yellow card awarded against us while the ball was off the field. Just as we were expecting to take a throw in, we were carded for a foul that never happened. A small bug, and probably something that will be ironed out before release, but funny none the less. That being said, bizarre refereeing decisions like that makes it even more life like.
Even though we only got to play the one game, FIFA 18 shined enough for me to feel like this could be the best FIFA game to date.
- Matt
