FIFA 17: 8 Things EA Still Can't Get Right

FIFA 17 is out and fans have wasted no time getting stuck into the latest entry of the famous football simulator. The new story mode, ‘The Journey’, has proved popular with the majority of fans, suggesting story-based modes have a future in FIFA games, and Ultimate Team is still as addictive as ever.

With improvements in defending, goalkeeper reactions and Career Mode, including global brand exposure as a way of earning income, FIFA 17 has been praised by critics and looks to have pipped Pro Evolution Soccer to the title of ‘Best Football Simulator’ once again.

However, despite its improvements, FIFA 17 still has the same old problems it’s had in every previous game.

Here are the basic issues that EA still hasn’t got round to fixing this year...

With even more licensed and perfectly-replicated stadiums available in FIFA 17, you would think that EA may have finally addressed the issues with the poor crowd designs that have plagued the series for years.

Unfortunately, they haven’t. The fans still look terrible, they still react unrealistically to the events on the field, and the strangely negative reactions to slide challenges that marred last year’s Pro Evolution Soccer seem to have crept in as well (it’s nowhere near as bad as PES 2016, but the boos and jeers that occur when someone even attempts a sliding tackle are still noticeable).

With console power getting bigger and better each generation, and with upgraded consoles on their way, there’s no excuse for EA to neglect the crowds. There are games on the PS2 that made more of an effort with crowds than FIFA do.

World Championship Rugby, released in 2004, showed short cutscenes of fans celebrating, waving to the camera or holding their heads in their hands following tries and conversions. It was primitive, but at least it made an effort to engage with the crowd and make the game really feel like it was being played in an actual stadium.