FIFA 18: 4 Ways It's Different On The Switch (And 1 Similarity)
Good news: it's coming out. Bad news: it's watered down.
Last year, EA Sports' newest entry to behemoth 24-year-old football simulator, FIFA 17, represented something of a new beginning for the series. The game felt like a refreshed take on the franchise, with features such as 'The Journey' and set piece rewrites that allowed you to immerse yourself in the game in ways that had never been conceived before. It was a typically strong release.
This year at E3, EA Sports announced FIFA 18, promising to build upon the mechanics and gameplay of the last game, as not entirely unexpected music to the ears of fans. And excitingly for Nintendo players, unlike previous FIFA games (at least since 2013), the developers also previously announced earlier this year that the Switch would be receiving its own version of the game.
Somewhat annoyingly, they revealed that it will be missing several key features, adding a caveat to the release that has not gone down entirely well.
With Nintendo's console delighting fans, but an inevitable frustration around a watered-down release, it's important to look at how the Switch version will differ (and one key way it will be the same)...
5. A Custom Built Version Of The Fifa Engine
FIFA 17 and FIFA 18 run on the ground-breaking Frostbite engine, which allows player animations and graphics to be more lifelike and realistic. Sadly, possibly due to hardware limitations, FIFA 18 for the Switch doesn't run on the Frostbite engine, causing concern from fans regarding how this will change the game.
The Switch's version of FIFA has a custom-built engine, but the lack of the Frostbite Engine means that certain features will be missing.
For example, FIFA 18 allows players to interact with the fans and the stadium, giving the game a more realistic look and feel, but, as the Switch's custom-built engine is based on the old FIFA game code, the fans are stuck as blurred and pixelated images in the background and players are restricted to the confines of the pitch.
While the lack of the engine isn't game breaking, and doesn't tangibly impact on the how gamers will react when playing the game, the overall feel of the game will be different when compared to the Xbox/PS4/PC versions.