FIFA 17 NEW FEATURES!
FIFA 17 hit the shelves in North America on Tuesday and is released to the rest of the world on Thursday.
Ahead of its roll out across the globe, Goal spoke to the developers behind the latest edition of the world’s most popular sports game to get the details on the changes and improvements fans can look forward to this year.
For the first time since the introduction of Ultimate Team seven years ago, FIFA has delivered a brand new game mode in The Journey.
Users take control of the path to the top of budding star Alex Hunter, controlling the young hopeful not only on the pitch but also in his relationships with his friends, family and coaches.
It is powered by FIFA’s new Frostbite engine, which is noticeable in the stunning graphics and cut scenes and brings all kinds of new possibilities to the table in terms of the game’s future development and direction.
The Journey is not only a new experience for FIFA’s core fanbase but also an engaging way in which less experienced players can brush up on their skills before diving into the competitive online world.
Mat Prior, who led the development of The Journey over two years, explains: “I think it will appeal to all users, but one of the key things is new users and lapsed users.
“For people who have maybe heard FIFA’s a great game but don’t understand football a bit, this is the perfect mode for them to pick up and get to grips with the game.”
Let FIFA’s lead gameplay producer, Sam Rivera, reveal all: “For free-kicks, there’s a new mechanic where you position yourself wherever you want behind the ball and that’s going to affect your trajectory, your angle of approach to the ball, the speed of [the shot], the type of shot you get.
“You can take an outside-of-the-boot shot and score a goal like Roberto Carlos, where he gets a very powerful shot around the ball.
“Penalty kicks, same thing, you can position yourself and then you decide [your approach]. You can sprint and go as fast as you can to shoot the ball, or you can just jog and go slow.
“That’s going to affect the power of your shot but your [chance of an] error as well. If you sprint you get a more powerful shot, but it’s more likely you will miss. If you jog it’s more likely you will hit where you’re aiming, but the ball is not going to be as powerful and the keeper may have a better chance to save it.”
Take it from someone lucky enough to spend a few hours with the game before its release: the movement of your team-mates when you’re in possession of the ball is dramatically improved, and it makes FIFA 17 a lot more fun to play than its predecessor.
“You will feel this - there’s more activity and players making runs because your players are better at understanding three things,” Rivera says.
Firstly, computer-controlled players are better at sensing which areas to attack. Secondly, they are more intelligent when making those runs, recognising that they can, for example, shed a defender by stopping suddenly to buy themselves a couple of yards of space to receive a pass.
Finally, they have an increased understanding of the situation of the player in possession. That helps your team-mates to decide which kind of run to make and when to make it, reducing things like unnecessary offsides and creating a coordination with other players in their off-the-ball movement.
Rivera described this as his favourite new gameplay feature. He elaborates: “It’s the technology which allows us to understand the balance of a player, how much he is being pushed, with how much force; do I need to step away to recover balance and then push back, do I need to prepare for the impact because it’s a very big impact… understanding all of these things allows us to put in the game features that look much better when players are colliding with each other, are pushing each other, are jostling.”
Getting this right has a knock-on effect in a number of ways. It allows FIFA to implement things like the 360 shield dribble, which gives players more flexibility to position their body when they are shielding the ball. Then there is the enhanced first-touch control, which ends the problem of defenders being able to step in front of a forward to make an interception as if he or she wasn’t even there. You can even battle for and protect space when the ball is in the air just before an aerial challenge.
There are two main additions here: powerful low shots and threaded through balls.
EA had the help of Anthony Martial in designing a new shot type that allows players to fill up the power bar without blasting it into Row Z. Simply by tapping shoot again after initially powering up, you can now keep your effort low and driven. It’s perfect for hitting the ball across the goalkeeper inside the far post and works for headers, too, powering them downwards.
Threaded through balls are, again, easy to execute - just press R1 or RB while playing a normal through pass - and give you more options when creating chances. Simply put, they allow you to curve the ball, with the outside or the inside of your player’s boot, to meet the run of a team-mate on the move.
It’s all designed to give you more ways to create and score goals and better replicate the variety of skills and techniques we watch every week in the real world.
