FIFA 17 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

[bristolbob]

I won't get to have a play myself until later but from posts online there still seems to be a lot of 90+ min goals again this year. Is it still the case where, not necessarily ending in a goal, you nearly always seem to get a chance to score towards the end of each half. You know the scenario; all half or game the opposition centre backs have been imperious but come the 86min they part like the Red Sea and get stuck in concrete allowing you a run on goal, or, that you know that for the most part of the game 80-90% of your crosses will be collected by the keeper or headed clear, but if you break down the wing in the 90th min suddenly the odds of you getting a shot on goal (not guaranteed to score however) are reversed and its 80-90% chance you will get a headed chance?
Also is the AI finishing better? I'm not the best player by all means and usually stick to Pro level which is mostly fun, but you find the AI quite often hit their shots at 100% power and miss wildly even if they are 6 yards out. Obviously don't want them to score on every shot, but a lot of the time the AI can't hit a barn door from 6inches which is annoying on those odd games the AI is the better team but can't score.

[Jacknine]

Quote: Originally Posted by Thrash13

If they can tweak it to where there are more fouls called and the CPU pass % decreases a little, I'll be perfectly happy with it. I'm looking forward to playing more tomorrow!

My main concern from playing the beta was the amount of fouls commited by the AI, there was hardly any, the ref just wouldnt blow up ever (for them anyway).

I think they had the balance perfect in 16, so I'm hoping this get sorted out.

I will play the demo over the next few days and see if its any different.

[iaxy]

It's a case of mixed feelings.

For an objective review, I played FIFA 16 immediately after the demo.

VISUALS
It definitely looks and feels refined, compared to last year. Others have mentioned it too, but the light, shadows and textures look better. That said, we don't know what "time of day" the demo is set on, so difficult to compare. Night light and pitch turf does not look as nearly as good as daylight.

Player faces look better, more refined. That said, some players have not received any improvement (Higuain looks identical).

Player models look a bit better (last year they were too thin). That said, players are not easy to tell apart (especially when a longer distance view is selected). They run and move too similarly and their body shapes are too similar. As an example I was not able to tell the difference between Yaya Toure and Fernandinho, whereas this is very obvious in real life.

My biggest gripe is an issue which is still not corrected from last year. The CUP's movements (especially when on attack) are still too jittery. It's incredibly frustrating watching the CPU dance around with these jittery turns, which defy the law of physics. Momentum plays no part in ball possession somehow. This is also valid for the user, but to a lesser extent.

Also, when scoring a goal, the ball frequently bounces out of the net. What's that all about?
The pitch still looks small and the goals too. This adds to an arcade feel.


GAMEPLAY
It definitely plays better, especially when in possession of the ball. The controls are tighter, the AI is smarter and looking at the movement and positioning of players it does resemble football.

Passing feels better and shooting too.

The new driven Through pass is a nice addition, as well as the low shot.

There is a sense of unpredictability which I like. It feels less scripted, it feels loose in a good way. Lots of rebounds, ball ricocheting around make for a scrappy (but realistic) feel.

On the downside, the CPU is still too dominant when on attack.

If you play with Tactical Defending, the teammate press is still broken, meaning that the teammate does not actually press the ball carrier. but rather gets close to him (but never too close for a tackle). This makes the control unusable and I can't see many people using tactical defending.

VERDICT
To me it looks like an updated FIFA 16, let's call it FIFA 16.5. Yes, it does look prettier and it plays better, but there are still some legacy issues which make this game feel very similar (for the wrong reasons). After 10 games, I was already feeling as if I've played it for a year. It just lacks a WOW factor. Even when I score, I never find myself replaying the goals, because they just don't look feel exciting. There's several reasons for that - jittery animations, small goals, questionable physics.


COMPARISON
As for the inevitable comparison with PES, it feels miles ahead in terms of controls (PES controls are clunky to say the least). FIFA looks good with the game paused, but when the jittery running and turning starts, it just irritates me so much, that I want to stop playing the game.
PES players look better (both in terms of faces and body structures). You can tell immediately who is who. Even players of the same body structure and height, such as Giroud and Gignac look different. They also run differently. In FIFA they don't. PES feels much inferior when controlling, but there is WOW factor when you build an attack and when you score a goal. Even when you have a near miss. It just makes you jump out of the seat. PES Has a cinematic feel to it. The pass and shot speed are so much better. The swerve on the ball is probably exaggerated, but it looks amazing. I frequently find myself just passing the ball around because it just looks so nice and feels real. In FIFA it's just a bit robotic and it lacks the fluency, the cinematic, romantic (for a lack of a better word) effect.

If only, they could take the feel of PES and use the controls of FIFA....Wishful thinking.

[FelaKuti]

Looking past all the mechanics, I find the demo pretty boring to play.

[JHedges2]

Lot of criticism in here. To be expected I suppose.

I must that there's a lot of potential with this. I think the game looks great, and with Matt & Co ready to attack sliders, we'll have ourselves a good game. You have to keep in mind the games are 4 min halves. Not only will the CPU play differently on longer games, but so will we. Keep that in mind.

The Journey looks really cool to me. Does it likely need "more"? Yes. But it's their first go at this, and the trailer for it looks really cool.

I can't wait for the final product. As was stated above, yeah I wish it was more SIM, but once you discover Football Manager, nothing else stands a chance as a SIM comparison.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[burton378]

I have a hard time getting excited about it. If fifa 16 is anything to go by they will patch the hell out of this game to cater to the ultimate team crowd.

[nunogomes]

Quote: Originally Posted by Matt10

So far, mixed feelings. I felt quite bored after playing. Will play a couple more and see how it goes.

Even with the incredible graphics, sounds, and immersion the game provides (wich is awesome) i can´t enjoy the CPU offense, and to me, as an offline gamer, this is critical. Bored is the keyword, you described the feelings on this game perfectly.

What amazes me is how immersed i feel playing this game from a visual and sound point of view, but it isn´t enough to grip me because of the AI offense that BL8001 so well describes here:

Quote: Originally Posted by BL8001

How are people getting the ai to be competitive? Wherever they go with the ball on the pitch if I go there just before they always turn around and go backwards. It's so blatantly robotic. It's like no matter who the AI has on the ball they only can do A or B computations and when you close down either they do the other. There is no randomness to it at all. The ai is so uber cautious. If you just play zone the cpu loses it's mind even on legendary. Getting way too many AI has 0 shots but has 93% passing matches. I have played every fifa game made and I have never seen the AI be this pathetic.

Exactly my thoughts on CPU offense, you just stand in front of them and they don´t know what to do! They don´t risk passes, they don´t shoot the ball, they are robots trying to find another robot to receive the ball...

[Hugobcs]

Just Ridiculous as in a Penalti Kick can´t shoot at the top of the post with ashoot placed with the inside of the foot, as during the game, when we use the shoot modifier.... In the other versions of fifa we could do this.... now kick penalty on top , only with a strong shoot, we should be given a possibilite to shoot a penalti on top with class, with the inside part of food....

Just weird..... it would be nice to make a penalti like this, Piqué just with class, in minute 1:50... https://youtu.be/Q0DrzDs_7Gs?t=1m50s