FIFA 17 Demo: 10 Hands-On Impressions You Need To Know

The new penalty system will take some getting used to...

FIFA 17 Penalty
EA Sports/YouTube

Eagerly anticipated by football fans around the globe almost as much as anything involving the real sport, FIFA is an annual pilgrimage for gamers of all ages. Each year, we wonder whether or not this might be the edition in which EA Sports finally upgrade that Career Mode, or get round to putting more actual stadiums in the game.

For FIFA 17, EA have wheeled out the same old talk of 'gameplay changes'. Play any of the previous three or four iterations of the long-running franchise though, and it's genuinely hard to spot the difference if you're a casual gamer. In 17, that looks set to change, and not before time - FIFA 17 plays very differently.

Obviously, the demo just released on Xbox One and PS4 for download is a shell of what the complete game will be. That doesn't change the fact that it promises so much. EA didn't scrimp on features, even allowing a short introduction to what The Journey has to offer, including a post-match media interview.

Having played the demo extensively, using every team available and on a variety of difficulty settings, here are ten observations from a hardcore FIFA fanatic...

10. Passing Feels Slower

FIFA 17 Penalty
EA Sports

It stands to reason that good passing is at the core of any football video game. After all, it's one of the most basic parts of the sport EA emulate so well, making the ability to string together intricate passing routines critical. In FIFA 17, some subtle changes have been made to the way passing works.

Fire up last year's game after a session on the 17 demo, and this becomes much more obvious. Overall, passing this year feels much slower, and doesn't seem to be as pinpoint, either. This takes a bit of getting used to, but it's a good thing.

Through balls naturally don't go to a player, they're always available to run onto. Passing in general has that feel, players now have to do much more moving towards the ball rather than waiting on it to get to them. In other words, the ball doesn't 'stick' to anyone's feet like it once did.

EA Sports will likely tweak this further in the final release, but it feels natural in the game's demo as things stand.

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