FIFA 18 Plays the Best Football of Any Entry, but Its Story Mode Never Justifies Itself

FIFA 18 landed on September 29, 2017, and it arrived with a promise EA Sports had been making for years: that the gap between the virtual pitch and the real one was finally closing. The headline addition was Real Player Motion Technology, a new animation system built to make movement feel less like a set of canned loops and more like a body responding to the ball. Cristiano Ronaldo, then at Real Madrid, was the cover athlete. Alex Hunter came back. The Frostbite engine powered the PS4, PC and Xbox One versions.

Real Player Motion Technology and the feel of the ball

This is the part of FIFA 18 that earns its keep. Real Player Motion Technology is not a marketing phrase bolted onto the box. It changes how players turn, how they shield the ball, how they accelerate out of a stop. The stated aim was responsiveness and player personality, so that Ronaldo and other top players move the way they do on a real pitch. That is a tall claim, and the truth is somewhere short of it.

But the gap between what a winger does in FIFA 18 and what a winger did in FIFA 17 is the biggest step in gameplay innovation in franchise history, by EA’s own description. Player Control, Team Styles and Positioning are the supporting pieces. Together they give you the tools to build what the game calls Dramatic Moments, and when those land, the atmosphere around them holds up.

82 grounds, 52 licenses, and the commentary booth

FIFA 18 ships with 52 fully licensed stadiums from 12 countries, plus 30 generic fields. That is 82 grounds in total. All 20 Premier League stadia are represented. Martin Tyler and Alan Smith return on commentary. Alan McInally handles in-game score updates, Geoff Shreeves delivers injury reports, and Mike West reads the classified results.

The booth is familiar to anyone who has played the last several entries, and that is both the strength and the limit of it. The lines are well delivered, but the repetition sets in faster than the new animation system does. The licenses, though, are the real infrastructure here. Turkey’s top-flight league is back after EA renewed its licence. Germany’s 3. Liga is in. Iceland’s national team is in. Saudi Arabia’s national team is in. Both the men’s and women’s New Zealand national teams are in. This is a game that wants to be a world, and on the licensing front it largely is one.

The Journey: Hunter Returns, from Brazil to a scam in Madrid

The story mode returns, and it is the most ambitious thing in the package. The Journey: Hunter Returns picks up Alex Hunter’s career and opens with a TV-style “previously on” recap of the first season. Hunter and his friend Danny Williams are on holiday in Brazil, where some local kids challenge them to a game. Back in England, the team learns of a pre-season tournament in the United States. Hunter sits for an interview with Rio Ferdinand, then runs into his old rival Gareth Walker, who cannot believe Hunter is still with his agent Michael Taylor.

In Los Angeles, Hunter’s team plays Real Madrid. Whatever the result, Hunter swaps numbers with Ronaldo, who is impressed enough to suggest Hunter come play for Madrid. Beat Real Madrid and you get LA Galaxy next, with Gyasi Zardes waiting in the tunnel. Hunter also meets his father on the tour and reluctantly agrees to dinner.

From there it is Chicago for the MLS All-Star Game, then the Premier League season opens, and Michael tells Hunter that Real Madrid want to sign him. Hunter requests a transfer, and the fans turn on him, booing him when he is subbed on. One day before the window shuts, Michael reveals the Madrid deal was a scam.

That twist is the best writing the mode has done. It takes the most obvious fantasy in football, the big move to Spain, and turns it into a con. The mode also adds cutscenes to transfer and contract negotiations in Career Mode, where you can watch interactive talks play out and see new signings unveiled in the news tab. It is a small addition that makes the business side of the game feel less like a menu.

Icons, Maradona, and the celebrations

Ultimate Team gets the Icons treatment. What used to be called Legends is now Icons, and for the first time it is playable on PS4, Xbox One and PC. Legends had been exclusive to Xbox One. Diego Maradona joins the pool, alongside Pelé, Ronaldo Nazário, Lev Yashin and Thierry Henry, with a 95-rated card. This is a meaningful correction. Locking the best historical players to one console was always a bad deal for everyone else, and opening it up is the right call.

The celebrations are a small pleasure worth naming. Cristiano Ronaldo’s “Siii” jump is in, with a voiceover from Ronaldo himself. Wayne Rooney’s “Knockout” is in. Samuel Eto’o’s “Old Man” routine is in. Robert Lewandowski’s “X” is in. Raúl kissing his ring finger is in. The Cruyff turn, named for the Dutch star Johan Cruyff, is one of four new skills added. Quick Subs lets you make a substitution when the ball goes out of play, which solves a genuine annoyance.

And there is one more thing worth flagging. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions, sold as FIFA 18: Legacy Edition, are not built on Frostbite, carry no new gameplay features, and are identical to the previous release apart from updated kits and squads. If you are still on those machines, you are not buying this game. You are buying last year’s game with new shirts.

What FIFA 18 gets right, and where it stalls

The core football is the best it has been in the series. Real Player Motion Technology makes the game feel less scripted, and the licensed world around it is deep enough to lose a season in. Career mode, Ultimate Team and Online Seasons all return, and the Icons change to Ultimate Team is a genuine improvement for PS4 and PC players who spent years watching Xbox owners get the legends.

The Journey is where the ambition outruns the execution. The Brazil opening, the Ronaldo number swap, the dinner with Hunter’s father are good beats. But the mode still leans on cutscenes that play more like a television recap than a story you are inside. The scam reveal works because it is a real reversal, not because the writing around it earns the emotion. And the commentary, however well performed, runs out of things to say long before a season does.

The Legacy Edition problem

It has to be said plainly: EA shipped two different games under one title. The PS4, PC and Xbox One versions are the real FIFA 18. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions are a re-release with updated kits and squads and nothing else. The publisher did not hide this, since the Legacy Edition branding is right there, but it is still a split that matters when you are deciding what to buy. If you are on a current machine, you are getting the game that was reviewed. If you are not, you are getting a roster update.

Hard numbers

• Release date: September 29, 2017
• Platforms: PlayStation 4, PC (Microsoft Windows), Xbox One, plus PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Switch
• Developer: EA Romania, EA Vancouver
• Publisher: EA Sports
• Engine: Frostbite (PS4, PC, Xbox One only)
• Installment: 25th in the FIFA series
• Stadiums: 52 licensed from 12 countries, plus 30 generic, 82 total
• Cover athlete: Cristiano Ronaldo
• New mode content: The Journey: Hunter Returns
• Ultimate Team: Icons, including a 95-rated Diego Maradona
• Critic aggregate: 8.0/10 from 15 outlets

Release schedule and modes

What the score means

FIFA 18 is the best-playing entry in the series to that point, and it is not especially close. Real Player Motion Technology does what EA said it would do, and the licensed world, with 82 grounds, 12 countries, the return of Turkey’s top-flight league, the addition of Iceland and both New Zealand squads, gives that movement somewhere real to happen. The Icons change fixes a years-old grievance. Quick Subs fixes a smaller one.

The weaknesses are the ones the series has carried for a while. The Journey: Hunter Returns has a genuinely good twist and a lot of filler around it. The commentary booth is a known quantity that runs dry. And the Legacy Edition is a reminder that “FIFA 18” meant two different things depending on which box you owned.

An 8 of 10 is the right score. This is a strong football game with a clear step forward in how it feels and a clear step short in how it tells a story. If you play on PS4, PC or Xbox One, it is the version of FIFA to own that year. If you play on PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, it is not.

Alex Hunter · EA Sports · FIFA 18 · FIFA review · Legacy Edition · Ultimate Team Icons