The latest edition of our favorite football game, EA Sports FIFA 17 is set to release in a month. The much-awaited game is coming out on multiple gaming platforms including PS3, PS4, XBox One, XBox 360 and PC. The game will release on 27th September in the USA, and on 29th September in rest of the world (India included). FIFA 17 is one of the most anticipated games in the world and may also release on Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
With a lot of new features in store, get ready to experience a whole new level of football gaming with stunning graphics and improved controls.
Here are 10 things you need to know about EA Sports FIFA 17:
1) The Journey
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Now, you too can pull off a Marcus Rashford. The 18-year old youngster broke into the Manchester United squad and after a few months, he got called up for the England team for Euro 2016. EA Sports must have been impressed by the youngster’s journey because new mode The Journey is much like a Marcus Rashford simulator.
An improvement on Be a Pro mode, The Journey starts your career as aspiring footballer, Alex Hunter. You can select any Premier League team, and you’re on your journey to be an international superstar. The Journey will take you through matches, training sessions and even, interviews. An RPG-style conversation lets you select responses to the interviewer’s question.
EA have also claimed that the story is led completely by performances on the pitch, which eventually decides how things unfold off it. Tottenham’s Delle Alli and Harry Kane are the inspirations for The Journey.
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2) Frostbite
EA Sports are using a new game engine, Frostbite to support physics involved in The Journey, which takes the game away from a completely footballing environment. Frostbite is the engine used by EA Dice in games like Battlefield and Star Wars Battlefront.
In layman’s terms, the new engine will give the game a more real-world look and feel, much like other roleplaying games. An earlier version of FIFA didn’t require this engine because it concentrated solely on the footballing environment, and not the aspects off the pitch. The Journey focuses on many aspects off the pitch too, like training sessions and interviews.
Here’s what FIFA Producer Aaron McHardy had to say about Frostbite: “We've been working on this transition for over two years it was a massive undertaking. It allows authentic, true-to-life action; were one step closer to making the game look real. Frostbite comes with a brand new rendering engine and a new toolset, allowing us to really bring the visuals to life.”
The new game engine will add a far more emotive and realistic experience.
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3) You’ll score more goals
Yes, with FIFA 17 there’s a higher chance of scoring more goals. Not because you’ve suddenly turned into an insane gamer, but because your team-mates will be better at making runs.
Putting aside all the groundbreaking features, FIFA has also added a few tweaks to make the gaming experience better. Many a time you’d charge down the wing to deliver a good cross into the box, but there’s no one at the end of it. That’s not going to be a problem anymore as players runs have been made “more intelligent”.
FIFA has given the AI concept an understanding of space, where players will look to find space for themselves, and also create space for a teammate by drawing the opposition defenders out. They’ll even slow down or stop if it helps them to create a chance- all you have to do is find them.
Get ready to score more goals, and well, concede more too.
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4) Hit ‘em hard and low
EA had previously failed to balance a player’s ability to hit shots hard and low, but with FIFA 17, they have finally addressed the issue.
Now, you can strike as hard as you want, and another press of the same button will keep the ball low. This new feature is developed from passing in FIFA 16. You can hit a belter into the corner and a bullet header low in the corner.
This new feature will certainly help the gamers to keep their shots on target more often than not, and will especially improve the turn and shoot technique, which on earlier occasions would sky into the crowd.
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5) Taking a set-piece is not the same anymore
FIFA hasn’t really mastered the art of set-pieces yet, especially with corners. Corners are more a matter of luck than your technique, but FIFA 17 has completely changed it around.
FIFA 17 has a new set-piece system which means gamers can be more creative with corners and free-kicks. The most basic change is that you can decide whether to whip or loft a ball into the box, using a new on-pitch cursor to aim your deliveries. You can also control the receiving player to lose their marker before taking the corner.
Free-kicks are also in line to be upgraded including outside of the boot shots, and many more improvements to what you can do in a dead ball situation.
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6) Pushback Technology
EA Sports have been trying to improve the physical aspect of the game for quite some time now, but it looks like they’ve got it bang on.
Introducing what they call “Pushback Technology”, two players can contest the ball while running, factoring in balance, strength, and position to produce "real-time physical interactions". The new technology is an improvement over Protect the Ball feature in FIFA 16.
Players will now be able to put their bodies between the opposition and the ball, in an attempt to shield it before help arrives. The new technology also enables players to control the ball from goal-kicks, rather than having to head them on.
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7) Taking penalties is more fun now
Penalties aren’t as simple as they once used to be, and taking a penalty isn’t really as easy as it looks. FIFA 17 has completely overhauled the way you take penalties to add a more real-life feel to it.
For the goalkeeper, it’s exactly the same but it’s completely different for the penalty-taker. Now, you have complete control of your run up- rather than just choosing your power and direction, you can now control the angle and speed of your approach to the ball.
This is going to be harder for the penalty takers, but the new feature will certainly make penalties a lot more fun. So, practice the penalties before the big matches!
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8) Three times as many animations
Going on the more superficial additions, EA boasts of adding three times more animation to reflect the nuances of our favourite footballers.
FIFA has added a lot more fluidity to sprint dribbling, which will make handling pacey players like Ronaldo and Bale better and more realistic. It’s taken a lot of time to add this feature as creators of the game have monitored everything from their stance to their kicking and running styles, right down to their facial expressions.
This will add more “life” to the game, and would certainly upgrade the emotive element of the footballers.
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9) Premier League managers come to life
Finally, you’ll get to see the managers on the sidelines. FIFA 17 will include Premier League managers like Jose Mourinho, Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola among others. This feature is introduced to add a more realistic feel to the new story mode ‘The Journey’.
The new story mode relies heavily on the journey of a young footballer through various stages including training sessions, interviews, and the presence of managers pushing you to score that one elusive goal will surely add to the ‘feel’.
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10) FUT goodies for pre-order
FIFA 17 is already up for pre-order in leading e-commerce stores. There are 3 editions: Standard, Deluxe and Super Deluxe which along with the full game, offer various FUT goodies. Each editing features its own range of goodies with the Super Deluxe Edition the most coveted thanks to incredible offers on Team of the Week loan players and FUT loan items such as Eden Hazard, Marco Reus and James Rodriguez, just to name a few.
The Standard Edition also comes with a few goodies but those pale in comparison to the Deluxe Edition. For any FUT player, these deals would certainly make pre-ordering FIFA 17 worth it.
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