An engine swap is the most note worthy alteration. EA’s proprietary Ignite tech was announced in 2013. The set of creation tools has been used for many EA Sports titles since, from Madden, to NHL, to NBA Live, and even the two UFC games. The team in charge of FIFA pulled out the proverbial coding cherry picker and have replaced the technical motor of the game with Frostbite. Built by Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment (DICE, a now subsidiary of Electronic Arts), its most widely used application is for the stratified Battlefield series, but has also seen use with PGA Tour (2015), PvZ: Garden Warfare 2, and Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, just to name a few. To be fair, I’m not sure what exactly warranted this decision. Sure, the last two installments haven’t been perfect and there were definitely aspects of both that could be aggravating at times. But 15 and 16 were very proficient and had tons of playable complexion. My conjecture is that they had exhausted all options with Ignite. Perhaps they had come to a place, from a design standpoint, in which their further aspirations just couldn’t be attained. Top to bottom, Frostbite might be more feature laden and architecturally agile. At any rate, change is upon the FIFA crowd, and it’s noticeable in many regards.
Chiefly, gameplay has seen adjustments from subtle to substantial. One of the best way to tool around and get the feel for things in a segmented sense is with Skill Games. FIFA, and sports video game fans in general, will be familiar. These are the mini-game formatted tutorials featuring specific exercises. These range from: Basics (rundown of base control scheme), Passing, Dribbling, Defending, and Shooting. More so that in the past couple of years, I would recommend giving a lion’s share of them a try to pick up on “finer points.” For instance, successful regular tackles by tapping B are usually preceded by holding left trigger to “square up” first; even more so than in year’s past. It’s very difficult to “knick” the soccer ball without facing up against the possessor. When running through the dribbling portion, you may notice a little more “float” to the player in control. I mean to say the forward momentum seems to carry along heavier at full sprint. Akin to classic platformer mechanics, it’s harder to “pull up” and stop. In full pitch scope, this should make ball carriers more attentive to their positioning and left stick adjustments, especially with work up play in the attacking third. When occupying this portion, interplay between the forwards, wings, and offensively tuned midfielders is only as strong as their abilities in fluid passing. Along with the returning “purpose” short pass of 16, the “through ball” Y button pass gets a “threaded” modifier. Hold right bumper to get the ball out in front of a running teammate that is flanked by defenders. Sometimes you’ll have to “body” a guy in order to create that passing lane. Left trigger has a second crucial application in turning into the defending player’s hips to protect the ball. As quickly as they are on top of you in 17, creating this separation is an effective antecedent to sustained encroachment of the net.
Shooting feels about the same with maybe a bit less assist with direction. Power muscle memory of the Ignite days should serve just fine, but be more mindful of where the stick is when releasing B. And don’t be afraid to have chances, either. As a Pro Clubs friend of mine would say, go with an “accuracy through ammunition” approach. Bad things (usually) can’t happen when you get the ball on frame. A main reason for this is the increased offensive AI awareness in 17. Gents playing off the ball are much better about crashing the onion bag when the ball is progressed within “the 18.” In contrast, crosses and lobs are much more touchy. A shorter press of X is needed for any real measure of distance, so be sure to lessen the time spent on that button more than before. And even with assist turned on, you’ll still want to input more left stick english in the desired direction. Bigger adjustments are felt in set pieces. The free kick system is about the same, if not even a tick more forgiving. Corners and penalties, however, are a whole different deal. Before taking a corner, a yellow cross reticle will appear near the marked penalty spot. Adjusting where it’s placed determines the general area it’ll land and how long it hangs in the air depends on proper power management. Keep in mind that the reticle is tethered to the point of origin, meaning the directional gesture has to be held where you want it to go. And avoid putting it close to the box, as goal keepers are still teleporting ninja hawks that can go-go-gadget arms and wrangle in any ball within their space. Of all aspects, penalties might have seen the biggest overhaul. Gone are the days of the “tri-tap” system. Now, holding the left stick in the intended shot direction starts the shooter’s jaunt towards the ball and power is determined by how long B is pressed. Your first couple of attempts will probably go terribly wrong, which is to be expected. The more I use the new method, the more I like it. It just feels more consistent, particularly in terms of placement. But you have to remember to hold the stick where you want throughout the entire process, otherwise the shot will go arid. Additionally, the thrust line between any sort of upward trajectory and launching it into the cheap seats is razor thin. Of all the Skill Games to rinse/repeat, I strongly suggest penalties.
Now that you know the new ins and outs of how to play, it’s time to, well, play. The banner offline component of 17 is The Journey. You are Alex Hunter, a talented young lad in Great Britain with dreams of following in his granddad’s footsteps to football immortality. Our preface brings us to a U11 (under 11 years of age) tournament event in which the first task is to hit a crucial penalty at the tail end of the match. Leap frog seven years to an exit trial at The Football Academy where you’ll run two 11v11 halves and an array of Skill Game drills based on your chosen position, of which you can pick striker, wing, or CAM (center attacking midfielder). The goal is to finish in the top ten after all scores have been collected, so play smart in the game scenarios and try your best to notch high drill marks. Reach that plateau, and Alex will land a deal with an agent, along with his bro bff Gareth Walker. From here, you’ll pick from any of the 20 clubs that comprise this season’s Barclay’s Premier League collective. More drill based training sessions accompany this step, which help you move from reserves, to the bench, to the heralded Starting XI. An ancillary benefit to going hard in practice is earning points towards a new Attributes section. Persistent across many modes, this upgrade system offers buffs in major character trait categories: Pace, Shooting, Passing, Dribbling, Defending, and Physical. Each perk has a different point value attached; higher Crossing acumen is only worth a point where the Second Wind (increased stamina) option is at three. As in past iterations, you’ll still gradually upgrade all metrics through normal play, but this is a handy way of gaining an advantage in a desired area immediately. Before each game, you can adjust the difficulty, time of each half, and if you would like to have control of the entire 11 or just Alex.
The squad gets picked to participate in a preseason tournament “across the pond” in America. Here you’ll get your first taste of game action and might even get tapped for a start. Some of these games feature cool little cinematic pieces, some with huge implications. Right before approaching the pitch, you’ll be sent on with a set of Benchmarks to try an hit before time expires. Some of these sets are easier to accomplish than others, while some feel intentionally ridiculous. For instance, early in Liverpool’s Premiership campaign against Arsenal, I was sent in as a sub in the 65′ down 4 goals to nil controlling only Alex. My set of checkpoints were as follows: attain an 8.0 rating from the default start of 6.0, score the next goal, and get the team level on the scoreboard or steal a win. Uhhhhh, okay. Things like this, and other happenings, feel very constricted. Even when you have exchanges in cutscenes with prominent characters and get to chose your response to inquires (which is tied to a temperament system that is said to have an effect on Alex’s on-pitch attitude), it still doesn’t appear to hold any importance with adjusting the script. Major Journey events are the definition of linear. And, as cheesy as it sounds, you begin to really care about Alex and his shaky relationships with family, friends, and fans through social media. If all this sounds a lot like MyCareer from the NBA 2K series, that’s because it’s A LOT like that sans character customization. This shouldn’t be derived as a demerit, as half of the design battle within any genre is keeping up with the development Joneses. All in all I’m having a lot of fun and hope this idea comes loaded with more options and outcomes in the future.
The other main “local” pillar is Career. Two options are available in Manager and Player. Out of the dozens of teams available, select one to start a march towards that league’s title! Manager affords many additional responsibilities away from the pitch. Objectives are given by the “front office” with varying degrees of priority. These include: Youth Development, Brand Exposure, Financial, Domestic Success, and Continental Success. The better the team performs, the more these measures will increase, meaning more profit and higher wage allotments. Send Scouts out to assess the maturation of home grown talent in the club’s farm system or send them on assignment to different parts of the world to find diamonds in the rough. After the ratings and estimated values of targets are given, you may decide to slide a contract their way and get them on board. In relation, if your roster is loaded as the ilk of Manchester United or Real Madrid, other organizations will try and gain rights to top players. While the natural reaction is to tell them to shove off, e.g. “decline” the offer, it might be worth your time to humor them with a counter proposal just to see how much they’re willing to shell out. For a more abridged experience, try Player. Here, you’ll create a dude and things will be more geared towards life as an “employee.” Participate in training sessions to get stats up in order to better meet expectations like average match rating and expected number of goals. As in The Journey, you can have full team control or only your guy. You’ll more than likely be put on loan when you start, as Jurgen Klopp saw fit to send me to Hartlepool United of EFL League Two. While being in “the minors” might cramp your FIFA style, it’s a great way to boost all attributes and have the mettle necessary to hang with the big dogs of loftier leagues. If you want to avoid jumping in to any modes of gradual progress right away, drop into some exhibitions to start and really learn how to get through a full 90+ minutes.
Online offerings are headlined by perhaps the biggest/most profitable mode in all of sports video games, Ultimate Team. FUT is, of course, the “fantasy” team construction option in which all the players in the game are represented by a digital “card” that translates to them being enlisted for use. Offered at the jump are a range of middling bronze rank options with a limited number of consumables (Fitness increases, Contracts, Position Conversions, et cetera). It is entirely possible to grind away for coins to get packs a little at a time and build a great team from this lowly start. But the time investment it would take for even the most adept FIFA baller would seem to be immense. If you plan on diversifying your playtime across multiple additions AND want to have a solid FUT squad or two, you’ll probably look to acquire FIFA Points, the game’s (dun-dun-DUNNNNN) microtransaction system. In all fairness, it doesn’t take that much extra scratch to open enough gold packs and have a very good base from which to build. Use offline Seasons and Tournaments to accrue coinage, then hit the Transfer Market. Run as an auction house, unwanted cards are put up for bid or can be bought outright for the seller’s asking cost. If your team is low in Chemistry, this is the most efficient way to alleviate that trouble. A squad on low chem will have trouble in the interplay department. Sure, a team with high golds will win may 1v1 scenarios, but with bad synergy, passing is a chore and communication with defenders in the back line let too many runs go free. Settle on one or two unifying characteristics and search for players of akin nationality, league, club, and so forth. Top chem = top performance! To go along with FUT Draft introduced last year (four game series with the best of the best players that require a token for entry), 17 is debuting FUT Champions. Billed as a persistent weekly challenge, participants will need to perform well in a Daily Knockout tournament in order to qualify for the Weekend League event. At the time of posting, this variant hasn’t launched yet, but the description sounds like the kind of thing that hardcore FUT heads will croon over.
Online-only offerings are trusty holdovers of 16. Seasons, friendlies, and co-op are met by another major choice in Pro Clubs. Here, you and up to 10 other friends can team up via Xbox LIVE and take on the world! I think this holds the highest possibility for camaraderie. Having everyone jump into a chat party barking signals, joining in on team cheers (dorky, I realize), jeering at each other for less-than-perfect decision making, and collectively feeling the nerves of a close game with the elation of a late goal payoff is the most fun I have in FIFA, and 17 is no different. Of course, it has taken myself and my usual group to get our cleated feet underneath us when it comes to the new gameplay elements. Passes of any length must be taken with the utmost care, or it will get picked. Also, AI opponents on defense seem to swarm tackle with much more frequency and voracity, and a full on murder or an act of Royal assent is required to get a penalty called right now. This may be something they scrub out in a patch, but for now expect to get sent to the dirt and probably be told by the referee to “play on.”
Quick notes about presentation. Graphically speaking, it’s gorgeous. I’m don’t know if any aspect can be directly attributed to the Frostbite switch, but players seem more detailed and fluid during play and in cinematic events. Although the lead official still magically procures his cards from his chest when booking someone. The procedural degradation of the pitch is perhaps the starkest measure of meticulous detail that can be found in the game. Noticing the playing surface go from pristine to chopped up and riveted in the span of ten or so minutes of real time is something that never really gets old and is a huge benefit to verisimilitude. Sound design rocks as well. The echo of a roaring crowd overlays with the conversant commentary team of Martin Tyler and Alan Smith. And the EA Trax selections are as welcome and eclectic as ever, with cuts from Bishop Briggs, Empire of the Sun, and many more!
