FIFA 17 review: O jogo bonito

As much as EA Sports might hate to admit it, competition is a very good thing. For the past few years, their FIFA series has stagnated, while Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer series took the opportunity to make massive strides forward in creating a true-to-life soccer sim. Gamers started to notice, and the pressure was on for EA Sports to deliver with FIFA 17. Luckily for soccer fans everywhere, they did.

From the moment you start the game and are thrust into the FA Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester United, you'll notice a new yellow-and-black visual style that will feel very familiar to fans of Borussia Dortmund. You'll also notice that most of the Premier League managers are fully modeled now, realistically pacing the sidelines, wondering why EA Sports bothered to model them when half of them will probably be canned after this season anyway. Much more central to the game, however, is the fact that FIFA 17 is now running on a completely different game engine, one that was, oddly enough, originally built for shooter games. The engine performs admirably, with on-field interactions seeming much more true-to-life, especially on set pieces where players throw their weight around trying to jockey for position. 

There are some growing pains, though. Responsiveness is an issue, with dribble moves (and sometimes even simple cuts) often locking your player's movement or simply sending your player off course. Passing can be finicky as well, necessitating finesse if you don't want to accidentally launch a ball to your striker when you just meant to play it to the midfielders. These small nitpicks mean that PES may still have FIFA 17 beat on the actual pitch despite the improvements, but that doesn't mean EA is down for the count.

No, EA has taken a page from 2K Sports's book and included a full-on story mode into FIFA 17. Titled "The Journey", and featuring some surprisingly good acting (as well as the voices of a whole bunch of soccer stars), it follows the story of Alex Hunter, as the player takes control of him through his soccer career. The storytelling is, frankly, great. Even the token jerk character is memorable in his own right, and well-acted. EA even added in Mass Effect-style dialogue options so that you can determine Hunter's temperament, which actually ends up affecting team chemistry and on-field play. It's astounding, and is honestly one of the best story modes in a sports game that I've ever played.

FUT is back as well, though the card-based game hasn't received much other than a new coat of paint. If you loved it in FIFA 16, you'll love it in FIFA 17, and if you hated it and everything it stood for in FIFA 16, well, the new game isn't going to convince you otherwise. There is, however, a new game mode called FUT Champions that features weekly tournaments and competitions. Someone more cynical than myself might surmise that this is a blatant attempt from EA Sports to lure people into FUT's microtransaction-laden underbelly, but for what it is, the mode is fun, and the promise of real-world and in-game prizes for performance is a nice touch as well.

Pro Evolution Soccer has spent the last few years perfecting the on-pitch action of their games, honing strategies, and making the in-game clubs act realistically as a unit and individually. FIFA 17 has done an admirable job in trying to catch up, but they haven't quite gotten there yet. Having said that, as it stands now, FIFA 17 offers a lot that PES 2017 simply doesn't, and the addition of "The Journey" alone is enough to make FIFA 17 a near must-buy for fans of the sport. Despite the flaws in the on-field action, FIFA 17 truly captures the essence of what makes soccer "the beautiful game."