Fifa 18

Fifa 18

- Nathan Hunter

After months of deliberation, I decided to go ahead and buy FIFA for the PlayStation 4, and why not? My obsession with football grows year after year, and despite my initial hesitance to buy FIFA 18, I couldn’t help myself. I just hoped that it would be better than last year, and up to par with its competitor.

The first point that was noticeable to me was how much quicker this game was than recent FIFA games. I’ve played every game in the series for well over a decade now, and the pace and fluidity of games is definitely as smooth as I can remember it being. It’s enjoyable, sure, but it feels too arcade-like to be taken seriously. What I love about PES 2018’s gameplay is that it picks up on all the little subtleties of modern football - the tactical battles, controlling the midfield, organising your defence, and utilising the in-depth tactics to your advantage. It feels like all of these nuances of the beautiful game are missing in FIFA in favour of unparalleled, yet unrealistic attacking flair. Passes feel far too assisted and midfield players lack the discipline to do their jobs. If I was to compare a player like N’Golo Kanté on FIFA and PES, I would be confident in saying that he feels special in PES, and that his defensive midfield role actually matters, whereas FIFA makes him feel like your average run-of-the mill midfielder. Could you replace him with two attacking midfielders and not miss his influence? Probably, yeah.