FIFA 17 Love Hate List
As the European football season starts to take shape, fans all over the world are getting ready to replicate their favorite clubs in virtual form with this year’s FIFA 17. The history of FIFA demos not feeling like the final product, due to it being an old build, is one fans have joked about for years. Here’s what we love and hate about this years demo.
Love List
Journey Mode
The team at Vancouver making FIFA 17 have taken some pointers from fellow in-house EA developers Bioware and have crafted a story mode of sorts with dialogue choices and different paths dubbed ‘The Journey’. Anybody who has watched the Goal films knows the thrill of following a young player up through the academy system and into a professional league, and The Journey is FIFA’s take on that adventure. What surprised me was how much depth there was, as I was expecting a simpler product that would grow over the years. If this is The Journey 1.0, I can’t wait to see The Journey 2.0 in FIFA 18.
New Animations
Every new FIFA comes with dozens of new animations, and while I get familiar with them after the launch of the game, it’s always fun thinking, “I’ve never seen that before,” with each passing demo. Slight feints, new passing animations, and everything in between make for a more realistic football simulation. Player specific animations from the liked of Olivier Giroud and Lionel Messi are always to see, so here’s hoping more players get that treatment.
Penalties
I’ve hated the FIFA penalty system for years mainly due to its simplicity. With FIFA 17, EA may have cranked the difficulty a little too far but anything more advanced than what we’ve been getting is a welcome addition. FIFA 17 has you position your player using the right stick to angle yourself to take a shot. You begin your run up with a push of the left stick and while your player is approaching the ball, you are tasked with choosing the direction and shot power. As of writing this I am still awful at taking penalties but it’s great to know I have something else to master instead of just hitting the shoot button and picking a side a la FIFA 16.
Click on through to PAGE 2 for the hate list.