FIFA 18: Ranking Every Major New Feature (From Worst To Best)
EA love their gimmicks, but only some of them make a difference on the pitch...
Before FIFA 18 was released in late-September, EA Sports made a big deal on their official website about all the new features series fans could enjoy. Gimmicky phrases like 'Dynamic Weather', 'Real Player Motion Technology' and 'Team Styles' were thrown around, but it was never going to be clear just how important these things were until people actually played the game.
Players have been able to get to grips with these 'new' elements EA are so proud of for around a fortnight now. Play enough of the new game and you'll quickly realise that some of them only existed to pad out the feature set during advertising. Others fare a little better though, instantly making FIFA a better all-round experience.
The question is: which features have changed FIFA forever and which ones boiled down to mere marketing hype? This is 2017, so if you pick Real Madrid, it should feel like you're playing as Ronaldo and pals in front of a red-hot Bernabéu crowd. FIFA 18 nails that sometimes, but not everything is perfect...
7. Team Styles
"From tiki-taka to high press, new Team Styles put the most recognised tactics of the world's best clubs on the pitch in FIFA 18". So says EA's official website, but the truth is a little different. After spending hours playing 18, it becomes clear that the developers haven't quite mastered the art of unique styles, meaning even Wigan are capable of playing like Barcelona.
Anyone who watches League One football on a regular basis will tell you that the Latics don't quite pass and move like Messi and company. Hell, you wouldn't even need to watch Wigan play to figure that one out. Why then do 'Team Styles' mean teams in FIFA 18 have around 3 or 4 different rigid formats to choose from? That's hardly realistic.
If anything, League One football should have unique attributes. It certainly shouldn't enable top players like Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku to be overwhelmed by a bit of random tiki-taka during a cold Tuesday night League Cup tie at the DW Stadium.