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7 ways FIFA 17 has the edge this year
We look at how FIFA’s got Pro Evo pipped this year in our launch day breakdown.
For some reason, our FIFA 17 Career Mode as Man City has gotten off to a strange start. Aguero isn’t cutting it, having a goal free pre-season, so it’s time to give youngster Kelechi Iheanacho a go while our discussions with Real Madrid over signing Gareth Bale are stalling. The Nigerian 19-year-old takes to the pitch and, true to life, bags a couple of goals and continues to look more and more like the real deal every time he’s given a chance.
When a football game creates these mini narratives and tales to tell your friends around the water cooler, well, that’s when you know it’s a good year.
See, the reason Aguero wasn’t working for us is that we were putting too many crosses in, and while he’s good in the air, a strong tall defence will often dominate the smaller, more skillful forward. As in real life, Iheanacho was our backup, and it paid dividends.
These are the simple things that a digital representation of football has to get right: the magical moments, the cup final moments, or even just the times that we watch our favourite teams get beaten and decide to fire the game up to re-enact the fixture and exact our revenge. Yes, FIFA 17 has these in abundance, yet, perhaps surprisingly for a game with such a huge financial backing, it has a lot of heart, too.
Let’s take a deeper look at what’s in store this year, and where FIFA 17 truly shines.
About to ping a pass
© EA Sports
Speed
FIFA 17 plays out at a rapid pace that rewards speed of thought and spacial awareness. This year’s game feels more about possession than ever before. We found defending to be the trickiest thing, and if you’re the kind of player who never lets go of the sprint button, you’re going to struggle.
With the right tactics you can string six passes together before the opposition even gets near you. But be aware, that same thing can happen to you. Even on semi-pro difficulty, Barcelona will give you a run for you money, simply due to how hard it is to win the ball back when you lose it.
Of course you’d expect better gameplay year on year, but switching to the Frostbite engine could have resulted in a fall for EA, whereas instead it has used the opportunity to make FIFA 17 a vast improvement over 16 on the field.
Alex is hitting the grass to train
© EA Sports
The Journey
Before release, EA’s latest new mode came under the microscope from all corners. Would it be a car crash, or would it be successful?
Thankfully, The Journey looks like it could be the start of something genuinely special, as long as it’s not dropped after the one game. It’s unique to football games and it works so well because it knows who it’s targeting.
If you’re playing FIFA 17 then you’re a fan of football, which means you fall into any one of multiple categories: are you the teenager who wants to make it as a footballer still? Are you the parent who watches the kids play every weekend for their local team? Are you the older player who thinks back to a failed trial that happened as a youngster?
And it’s quite a hefty story, too. Trials give way to club friendlies. Rivalries are born, interactions happen between more established club players. It’s an excellent addition to the already hefty package that is FIFA 17 and one we can’t wait to see develop over the next few games.
Emotion
Alex Hunter’s story in The Journey is one that has consultation from Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Marcus Rashford and Reece Oxford to ensure its authenticity. While it’s undoubtedly a stylised, almost Hollywood-esque look at the facets of growing up with football as your life, depending on which of those personal categories you fall into, it can hit you right in the feels.
Take the opening, for example: we don’t want to spoil too much, but it starts with Alex and Gaz being watched at the Under 11s regional cup final. It’s a lovely way to set the scene for a family that has football right at its heart. Alex’s mother and (absent) father argue, while it’s his grandfather who is the footballing legend here . It all sets the scene for an emotional story mode. Oh and that’s before we even discuss the emotion of packing a huge name in FUT.
A look at the Squad Builder Challenges
© EA Sports
FUT’s new squad-building challenges
Ever the behemoth, Ultimate Team has had a few minor tweaks this season (when you open a pack, there’s a dramatic showing of the biggest player you packed), but the best thing is that EA have realised there’s a large portion of the player base that just loves making squads.
In Squad Building Challenges, you are asked to meet requirements in a similar way as you are to enter tournaments in FUT. For example, you might need to have a team of silver players with 40 chemistry, but an overall rating of 65 or more. Once you’ve managed to get that team built, you then trade them for a reward.
This is a great way to get rid of some of the players you’ve packed and don’t want, as some of the challenges are repeatable. Trading in a team of silver players you’ll never use for a gold players pack is a great feeling, and the enjoyment you get from building a squad that rewards you, but you don’t actually have to play as, is excellent, too.
Oh, and the gold upgrade challenge is repeatable, which is ace as you get to exchange your gold players for two rare gold player packs. You get the idea; we’re addicted already.
Liverpool’s Mané scoring a penalty
© EA Sports
Co-op skill games
FIFA has long had the skill challenges available to play while you’re waiting on the match to load, but if you were playing with a friend, one of you would be stuck in goal, or worse yet, just watching on as the other player had control.
Until now, that is, because if you have multiple controllers attached and are playing together, a co-op skill game will load. These are mostly variations on the existing skill games, but having a co-op passing drill against the computer players is excellent fun, and it means you not only get to carry on playing together, but for us it even stopped us skipping the challenge and going to the match. Result!
FUT Champions
For those of you who just aren’t satisfied thrashing your mates every time, EA have implemented a new FUT mode that feels designed for the very highest level of play.
Champions is an online versus mode which ultimately leads into the big prize Weekend League. Here, you’re rewarded for various different rankings, all the way up to the ridiculous 125,000 coins with 2 premium TOTW packs and a jumbo rare players pack.
Every week there are going to be new Daily Knockout tournaments, and if you win one, you gain access to that Weekend League. It’s clearly designed to be an eSport-focused feature, because if you are able to continually prove yourself as one of the best, you will have a chance of competing in the Ultimate Team Championship Series.
Jose Mourinho leading out Manchester United
© EA Sports
Licenses
Yes yes, we know, and it feels a little unfair to mention this, but if you want the fully licensed teams and players, FIFA 17 is the go-to game.
Konami have absolutely stepped up their game this year, licensing Barcelona, Arsenal, Dortmund, and Liverpool, which is great (competition is always good), but it’s not quite enough to beat the powerhouse that is EA. From licensed stadiums to lower leagues, FIFA 17 remains dominant in this area and probably will do for years to come.
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