It’s amazing what a year can do for yearly game iterations. Admittedly, I took last year off from FIFA to give PES 2017 a try and while I really enjoyed it, FIFA 17 gave me something to look forward to this year. While not much has changed with the gameplay, the new Frostbite engine as well as the single player Journey mode will bring longtime fans and lapsed players back to the table.

Presentation
Upon cranking the game up, EA is eager to get gamers acclimated to the new Frostbite engine by sending you to the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium with Manchester United playing against Chelsea FC. Gamers can opt to play the game or pause, then exit out to the menu. The menu set-up is a little sleeker than before, but it’s still mostly the same design that EA has used for years, so gamers won’t have too much difficulty navigating to where they want to play.

As far as the commentary is concerned, Alan Smith and Martin Tyler return – and for me, they were missed during my time with PES 2016. They also have a deep bag of tricks, as they really go in deep talking about the nitty gritty of a game. If a star player isn’t getting enough touches on the ball, that is brought up along with quick graphic overlays. If a young up and coming player is doing well, you will hear about that and so much more. Occasionally, you may hear some repetitive commentary but as with all sports games, it’s to be expected. Bottom line is, it’s vastly improved compared to all its previous iterations.

The biggest addition this year is The Journey mode and it will be covered later. But everything else is still present including FIFA Ultimate Teams, a plethora of online tournaments and Career mode. By the way, the Women’s teams are still there and it’s still a tacked on option.

In the Career mode, it seems as if not much has changed with previous years as if you choose to use a player, you are tasked with accomplishing a set amount of goals in a certain period in order to keep your place in the team.  I am still not happy however, that with the player creation, not only is the EA  GameFace option gone, but players would still have to play to unlock custom hair styles, kits, and other items.  I mean really, dreadlocks is not an open option?

With the Manager’s mode a few tiny tweaks have been added as you are not only tasked to keep mostly yearly goals such as win a cup or place well in a league, but you must also tasked with rudimentary financial duties to keep your team in the black and also try to get players’ jersey sales high.  There is still a low amount of changes from previous years to distinguish it but, it’s still mostly playable.

Graphics
After so many years of watching the Madden series getting better at this, EA Sports finally added the Frostbite engine to this game, vastly improving the quality of the graphics. Just when you didn’t think FIFA could look any better, the Frostbite engine comes along and adds layers and depth to a series that all but stalled in this current generation. Player likenesses are much better than they have been in years past, and stadiums look much more robust – but best of all, the lighting system finally looks more realistic. Anyone that knows me and has read my past reviews of FIFA games knows that, for me, it’s not the big sweeping changes that mean so much. It’s the small tweaks. With the Frostbite engine, a game being played at 6pm in the fall looks vastly different than at the same time in the spring, just like it should. It even seems like EA Sports took into account how pitches are designed so that the right amount of light, even bits of sunlight, falls properly on a pitch. To put it another way, you can see the different nuances in the lighting at Camp Nou vs Old Trafford. This honestly has to be prettiest, most immersive sports sim I have seen in a long time. One can only imagine how EA Sports will improve on this in years to come.

Controls and AI
The controls mostly remain unchanged, although there are a few new moves to passing and shooting to which I need to re-acclimate myself. The game still mostly feels like any other FIFA game. If you’ve played one, you have played them all. What I am noticing, however, is that when passing and shooting, gamers will have to adjust how much pressure they use on the buttons, because many times what should be a screaming clinical shot winds up overshooting the net or becomes a fizzled out underpowered pass. Thus gamers may have to re-adjust their playing style. EA Sports also changed how corner kicks are taken, which will take some practice to get things to work properly. Truthfully, this is one major change that I truly hate.

The game AI seems to be a bit more aggressive this year (which I have no problem with), but there seems to be a lot of fouls going uncalled. At one point, an AI midfielder clearly upended me from behind, which normally should have been a red card. Not only was no foul given, but play still went on – in some cases just like a real game. EA Sports still lives up to the motto, “If it’s in the game, it’s in the game” and blind refs are included. With the bit of added aggression, I have noticed that at times (depending on the score line) teams will adjust their play style. Winning by a lot will cause the AI to play more defensively and pass a lot more. A closer game will cause the AI to try to take the ball more often.

The downside to all of this, is that there are still a lot of times I noticed that (as in previous iterations) the AI will many times run past a player who has the ball and not try to take it. Worse, is that many times in the box, if there is a volley, or a ball bounces back in play from the frame, your players will still not scramble to get the ball. In PES 2016, this was quite the opposite, as the AI worked harder to get a loose ball. It can be frustrating to know that you could have been up 3-1 instead of 1-1 because the AI got caught napping watching the ball in the penalty area, and not taking opportunities to score.

Taking the Journey
This is a new(ish) mode being introduced to the FIFA series in which gamers control the destiny of Alex Hunter. Alex starts off as a raw new footballer who can become as great as you make him, depending on your gaming skills. I say “newish” because we have seen these modes pop up in various sports games over the years including Madden and the 2K series. The biggest difference here is that it plays ala Mass Effect, in which your player has choices in what dialogue he will use to shape his career. The Journey is fully fleshed out, as Alex has to contend with family life, whether he and his best friend Gareth Walker will remain friends or turn to enemies, and more.

The Journey starts off with Alex as a young kid playing little league ball, and giving you a glimpse of his family’s background. After some story scenes, it jumps ahead a few years, giving players a chance to play a few skill games to shape the character, pick a choice of all 11 positions in which to play, and finally land a contract with any 1 of 20 EPL teams. Beyond that, the rest is up to you. From the time I spent with it, I enjoyed the feeling like of controlling someone’s story. However, knowing that EA Sports games had virtual pro modes before in which you could use your likeness, I would have preferred having a choice of creating my player. My only other concern is how far beyond the first year or 2 will this mode play out for gamers, and will it play out far enough to keep gamers coming back long after the newness wears off. This is something that I will re-examine in a few months. Otherwise, in the early going, it looks like it could be fun but still feels that it lacks something to truly make it worth your while.

Overall, FIFA is like that girlfriend we can’t shake. She may have some obvious flaws, like lacking the licenses to Champions League, FA Cup, and a few others, or having questionable AI play and some issues with manager’s mode. There are redeeming features, though. The Frostbite engine gives the game a big enough facelift that it’s really hard to say no. The Journey may also be just intriguing enough to give gamers something else to do outside of FIFA Ultimate teams. To be honest though, all things considered, if PES had everything that FIFA has (including the licensing and commentary), the choice would be that much harder. On the pitch, FIFA 17 still lags far behind what PES 2017 can do and that’s where it really hurts the most. It does seem, however, that FIFA has the very slim edge this year. There is just enough of everything else to bring players in.

3.75 Penalty kicks out of 5