Ever since FIFA split FIFA 17 Career Mode into the player and manager sides, we’ve been dying for a more authentic manager experience. Aside from the occasional press conference, there’s very little else to create an immersive world that makes you feel like the manager of a football club. Give us more options to really role-play the idea of being a manager, complete with Keegan-esque outbursts, butting heads with the transfer committee, and in-depth player management. EA’s newest annual football game.
FIFA 17, has been confirmed for a release date of 27/29 September, and this year it’s packing something the series has often lacked: an element of surprise. In addition to staples such as Ultimate Team, EA Canada is introducing a second type of career mode called The Journey. In it you play as an upcoming Premier League prospect, with cut-scenes that feel more like Mass Effect or Dragon Age than traditional FIFA. It’ll run on Battlefield 1’s Frostbite engine, rather than FIFA 17’s Ignite equivalent.
Running on the Star Wars Battlefront Frostbite engine is a huge step forward for FIFA 17’s graphics — but it’s how it plays that will define its ultimate success. Using the Frostbite engine and players such as James Rodriguez, Eden Hazard, Marco Reus and Anthony Martial combine to produce a huge step forward for FIFA 17. The big question is whether people are going to want a narrative campaign in a simulation. Electronic Arts tried this before with the Need for Speed series, and it was something of a disaster.
You play as youth prodigy Alex Hunter, signed to the Premier League club of choice alongside his best mate Gareth Walker. The lads grew up playing together, always imagining running out side-by-side to a roaring reception at Old Trafford. It’s a dream destined to become reality, until José Mourinho (manager likeness are in FIFA for the first time) walks into the rooms and reveals Walker is in the starting lineup, while Hunter is amongst the subs in an away game staged at Anfield.
This is the introduction to The Journey, FIFA’s first foray into a scripted campaign. But in terms of making the player feel more personally involved in the action, it may just work. Playing that rainy mid-week fixture against Hull may well take on a new dimension if you know your player will be sacked if they mess up. No concrete details exist yet of FIFA 17’s traditional career mode – instead, early information has mostly focussed on The Journey.
You control a single player, and are able to sign for any of the 20 English Premier League clubs at the outset. This main protagonist is called Alex Hunter, and his interactions (and burgeoning rivalry) with best mate Gareth Walker form a major part of The Journey's storyline. Or it could just be an annoying sideshow. At least no one can say this instalment is just a glorified stats update. Penalties and set pieces. Electronic Arts have completely overhauled the set piece system for FIFA 17, allowing players to better control the power and direction of every run up to a set piece.
