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'FIFA 17' Review: A Beautiful Journey, But Is It The Perfect Pitch?

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The pressure was on EA Canada to produce a version of FIFA that was noticeably better than the last two games in the series.

It's not that FIFA 15 and FIFA 16 were bad games, it's just that Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer series has been gaining ground and some believe it has already overtaken EA's juggernaut.

Armed with the Fox Engine, PES has built an impressive game. EA has responded by adopting the Frostbite Engine for FIFA, but is it enough to regain sway over the virtual pitch?

Here's the positives and negatives.

Positives

This Game Is Beautiful

From the neck up, the player models in FIFA 17 are without rival. The players look photo-realistic and they emote in a way that adds even more life.

This can really be seen and appreciated in the single-player campaign mode called The Journey, but more on that later.

The animations on the pitch looked smooth and the strides of the players as they run look better than ever. When you add in the outstanding stadium renders and superb lighting, FIFA 17 has the goods.

Improved Gameplay

FIFA 16 was fun to play, but there were some areas of the gameplay that were in obvious need of improvement. Extended play time revealed collision detection issues and a feel that was way too arcade-like for simulation fans.

In FIFA 17, the action still flows smoothly, but passes are more appropriately difficult to complete and challenges from speedy and physical defenders are harder to overcome.

That said, the passing feels more intuitive and the caroms and ball collisions between the grass and players are more true to life. The gameplay has seemingly gone from plain fun to a nice hybrid between sim and open gameplay.

The Journey Is Spectacular

NBA 2K's MyCareer has long been the standard bearer for single-player campaign modes in sports video games, but with the release of FIFA 17's The Journey, that has changed.

The Journey puts you in the role of Alex Hunter, an up-and-coming prospect in the English Premier League. While there's some structured points of Hunter's story, a good piece of the events are dictated by the decisions you make and your play on the pitch.

This feels like the truest example of a sports-gaming role-playing-game. You choose which EPL club you'll join and even the position you play.

You also get the choice to choose whether you'll control Hunter exclusively or the entire club as you would in a traditional match. The option to alternate between the level of control can be selected at the start of every match.

That was an especially refreshing change from MyCareer and MLB The Show's Road to the Show.

These qualities are boosted by the finest looking cutscenes that feature excellent voice acting, a sharp script and outstanding sync of the voices and character's mouths.

Some might remember how good Fight Night Champion's Champion Mode was; Well this is even better.

Each League Has A Different Feel

Immersion is a big deal for me when it comes to sports video games. All of the competitions shouldn't feel the same. That's especially the case in world football where there are so many leagues that vary in size and grandness.

In FIFA 17, matches feel different from league to league and tournament to tournament. I appreciate that level of detail.

FUT is Cleaner And Shinier

FIFA's brand of Ultimate Team has always been the most confusing of all the iterations of the concept. The menu systems were clunky and it was difficult to differentiate between the modes within a mode.

That's not the case in FIFA 17.

The tutorial that you see from the beginning of your FUT experience is far easier to comprehend and the developers do a great job of guiding you through.

The different goals and tasks have rhyme and reason with useful rewards. Also, the new player card rewards reveals are cool. They're not quite as good as you see in Pro Evolution Soccer's MyClub, but that's the only part that isn't up to par.

Skill Challenges Are Great

Most sports games have weak skill challenges and mini-games. A few exceptions to that rule were the old Virtua Tennis titles and Madden's Gauntlet mode.

The FIFA series should be included on that short list as well. Its skill challenges have always been great and they've gotten even better in the latest version.

There's even more of a variety of offensive and defensive challenges and they're even interpolated into The Journey, which is nice.

Commentary Is Relevant in All Modes

This has been an excellent year for commentary in the genre. NBA 2K and Madden have both taken significant strides. So too has FIFA as it delivers relevant lines no matter what mode you're playing.

Ultimate Team commentary is cognizant of newly acquired players. Matches in career mode features dialog specific to that alternate universe. In the Journey, the commentary is appropriately accented by specific references to Hunter and his friend Gareth.

Likewise, kick-off matches deliver information about real-life events. Aside from multiple announce teams, and new commentary lines being added throughout the season, there's not much else a fan can ask for based on what we've seen from other games.

Negatives

Customization Is Lacking

There's a good number of options in this game, but there isn't enough customization in a few areas. Like all of the Ultimate Team versions, you're not allowed to design a logo, stadium or kit/uniform for your team.

EA Sports still hasn't embraced this concept for Ultimate Team and that's bewildering considering they're the ones that offered the excellent Team Builder app for NCAA Football.

Another area in need of more customization is in career mode. If you elect to play as a manager, you have to choose from 10 or 12 pre-loaded heads. All of the characters are fully scanned and they look great, but they're not me.

Customizing the look of your character has become standard in sports video games. No matter how good the options are, anything less than allowing me to make myself in the game is sub-standard.

Overall

Aside from the missing customization, this is easily the best and most complete FIFA ever. There are other areas with minor issues, but nothing worthy of mentioning in the negatives section.

Tightened gameplay, improved visuals and The Journey make this a monumental achievement in the series and it reestablishes the series as the King of the Pitch, yet again.

  • Platform: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC
  • Developer: EA Canada
  • Publisher: EA Sports
  • Release Date: September 27, 2016
  • Price: $59.99
  • Score: 8.9 out of 10

(Review code provided by EA Sports, XB1 version reviewed)

Mazique’s Review Philosophy

Mazique’s Review Scale

  • 1 – 4 (Not even worth your time)
  • 4.1 – 5 (Serious issues with one or two redeeming qualities)
  • 5.1 – 6 (The dev team did some things correct, but there are multiple issues)
  • 6.1 – 6.9 (This is a playable game in most areas, but there’s likely one tragic flaw)
  • 7 – 7.9 (Good game with some underdeveloped areas)
  • 8 – 8.9 (Excellent release with some minor issues)
  • 9 – 9.9 (About as close to perfect as possible with minute omissions or missteps)
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