The FIFA 17 demo doesn’t have a lot on it, but it’s gotten this newbie interested and wanting more.
It should be noted that I have never played a FIFA game before, at least not in many years. While I’ve played other EA Sports games, soccer has never quite appealed to me. With the addition of The Journey this year, I figured I would give it a shot.
The demo only has two modes, the option to play a one-off game and a tiny sliver of The Journey. The latter is basically if BioWare made a soccer game, and could draw in new fans like myself to the series.
Players control Alex Hunter, a fictional up-and-coming star in the Premier League. Alongside your childhood friend, you get drafted onto a team to start your professional soccer career. Outside of how you perform on the pitch, you must also make major decisions for Hunter: answering press questions, signing a manager and more.
While the demo only includes Hunter’s first big game and a few dialogue choices based around it, The Journey looks like it will be a long and engaging story. For a new player, it also helps that you only have to worry about controlling one player through a game instead of a whole team.
As for the one-off game mode, the AI must be set way low. Having never played before, I have yet to lose a game. While I’m not busting out multiple goals and doing fancy footwork, my strategy of “rush the net, shoot and hope” seems to work out well. I fear for when I have to play an actual opponent.
As far as presentation goes, it’s a strange feeling transitioning from having just played this year’s Madden and NHL games. Both of the games I’m familiar with feature multiple breaks in the gameplay, replays on replays and other similar presentation styles. FIFA 17 feels much more stripped down, largely due to the fact that there aren’t as many natural breaks in gameplay. This makes matches feel fast, as I wasn’t looking at the scoreboard and time remaining as much as other sports.
Other modes, like FIFA Ultimate Team, are not included in the demo, so we’ll have to wait until the game releases on Sept. 27 to try out these modes.
If you have played a FIFA game before, be sure to hop on this demo and see what you think of this year’s game. If you haven’t played one, give The Journey a shot. The very small sample given in the demo already has me wanting more, and it seems the game mode will deliver some surprisingly good storytelling, especially when you remember this is a sports game.
FIFA 17 will be coming to PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC on Sept. 27.
So what do you think? Are you interested in trying out The Journey in FIFA 17? Are you more interested in the top-notch soccer gameplay? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
