FIFA 18 could bring big changes. Read the latest rumours on the FIFA 18 features, platforms, price and UK launch date.
Some people might lambast us for saying, but when you consider the global impact of games releases FIFA is head and shoulders above Pro Evo now. The latter continues to impress but with each passing year, FIFA becomes more than a game, it’s an event – for some, a way of life. Or at least a way to earn bragging rights each week.
Check out the latest FIFA 18 trailer from E3 2017 above.
You can pre-order FIFA 18 at GAME already.
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EA Sports made a big deal about the fact FIFA 17 is powered by Frostbite. Frostbite is the gaming tech used to drive the graphically outstanding Battlefield series, and was used in Battlefield 1.
FIFA 17 benefitted from even more realistic gameplay and the ability to shape the journey of Alex Hunter, the game’s protagonist, with immersive tactical and interview segments interspersed with the traditional top down matches. The Journey mode will return in FIFA 18, which is great news.
It’s yet to be confirmed if this will continue the story of Alex Hunter or start afresh. At E3 EA Sports didn’t let on the plot, but it looks like he’ll be jetting to LA and meeting Cristiano Ronaldo at some point along the way.
EA even went so far as to give the fictional character his own Twitter account, and SportBible suggests his following leagues such as the German Bundesliga may mean players will be able to take him abroad in Journey mode.
Here’s everything else you need to know about FIFA 18.
Although 26 September seemed like the best candidate for the FIFA 18 release date, the official date is 29 September.
FIFA 17 was released on 27 September, FIFA 16 on 22 September 2015 and FIFA 15 on 23 September 2014 – all Tuesdays. However, this year it will be a friday.
We’re expecting to hear more news about FIFA 18 at EA Play, which will be held 10-12 June 2017. We’ll be hosting a live stream on this site, so come back in a couple of weeks for some FIFA 18 news.
In the UK the FIFA 18 price for PS4 and Xbox One is £54.99, a little more than FIFA 17 which was £49. You can pre-order from Amazon, also on Nintendo Switch for the same price, while PC Origins code is even more at £59.99.
You can also pre-order FIFA 18 at GAME and you’ll get a free gifts depending on which edition you buy including a leather ball and a one month Now TV Entertainment Pass.
FIFA 18 will very likely be out on the usual platforms – Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.
What others it may be on gets less clear. FIFA 17 was also released for PS3 and Xbox 360, but by September 2017, things will be different. While we are unlikely to see a new PlayStation, we could see a version for the new Xbox One X.
This may mean there is no Xbox 360 version because by that point that console would be two generations old. Sony might also decide to drop support for PS3 – time will tell.
There will also be a Nintendo Switch version of FIFA 18, but it’s going to be called EA Sports FIFA. This implies there will be a change in gameplay of some description, but it is unclear how. It will likely be a scaled-back version, which is a shame.
At E3, it was confirmed that the Journey will not come to the Switch due to hardware limitations.
The firm is describing the Switch version as: « the most immersive, social, and authentic sports game ever created for Nintendo players. »
Nintendo Japan also ran an advert for the Switch that includes FIFA footage. Get excited by watching here:
Eurogamer reported that EA Sports is no longer bringing Legends to FIFA 18, instead bringing Icons to all platforms. Previously, Legends was an Xbox exclusive.
The legendary (icon) Brazilian Ronaldo is the first confirmed retiree to get the treatment.
It also reported that in the latest trailer of the game the fine print details that the Switch version of FIFA will not run on the Frostbite engine, and will not have the Journey mode. This makes sense considering the game will be released under a different name.
FIFA 17 is only a few months old and there aren’t many confirmed new features for FIFA 18. There are obvious things that players will always want changed, such as more realistic close ups of the most famous footballers, but FIFA 17 was a great step up for stuff like that.
Gameplay is often filled with niggles but it depends on your preference – we find it hard to tackle, whereas others find it more difficult to shoot. Everyone wants something different.
From playing FIFA 17, though, there are a couple of things that stand out. For us, we really want EA Sports to change penalties back to the way they were. They were hard enough to master before, and now with the arrow protruding from the ball with a power bar built into said arrow? No thanks EA. And then the arrow doesn’ t even appear in multiplayer because your opponent will know where you’ re about to kick the ball. So you just miss instead. Great.
Also Zlatan is the eighth best player in the game. Hmm. FIFA 18 will more than likely be celebrating Cristiano Ronaldo once again, with a boost to his overall performance in the game.
Maybe it’s the journalists in us, but we’ d also like to see EA hire a proper writer to do the dialogue in The Journey. Cut scenes with actions like interview answers and contract negotiations added much-needed colour to an old game system, but sometimes it’s a bit stale.
Post-match interview answer options are also all basically the same footballer-esque platitudes said three different ways:
While gameplay itself likely won’t differ a great deal, some things we should see include improvements to in-game graphics and FIFA 18’s overall usability – fewer yellow cards handed out by the refs would be nice.
