FIFA 17 Review

[TheDutchDad]

Quote: Originally Posted by Lovesports

I have it dumb dumb. And typically I prefer it over FIFA. However, that stuff you're talking about with the runs, pure nonsense.

Uh, no. There is no way you have it, or you're just totally lying. PES is in no way arcadey, and in no way can you just sprint past people. Maybe up the difficulty next time if you have indeed played it.

Quote: Originally Posted by extremeskins04

Last year PES was extremely arcadish. Not sure what you're talking about. I haven't played this year's version yet but I went back to FIFA last year because in PES, the goalies were too stupid and would let goals just roll by. Hated it.

I'm not sure what you're talking about...last year PES was a number of things, but it still was not an arcade soccer game. The goalies this year in PES are light years ahead of what they were last year. PES 17 is simply one of the best pure soccer games I have ever played, and that's not hyperbull.

Someimes when it comes to people comparing the two, FIFA and PES, I feel like I'm on Planet Crazy cause FIFA fans always claim the most ridiculous things about PES, that don't come close to the truth.

And yes, I have fifa 17, and really enjoy it, but your assessment of PES is far off base.

[extremeskins04]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheDutchDad

Uh, no. There is no way you have it, or you're just totally lying. PES is in no way arcadey, and in no way can you just sprint past people. Maybe up the difficulty next time if you have indeed played it. I'm not sure what you're talking about...last year PES was a number of things, but it still was not an arcade soccer game. The goalies this year in PES are light years ahead of what they were last year. PES 17 is simply one of the best pure soccer games I have ever played, and that's not hyperbull. Someimes when it comes to people comparing the two, FIFA and PES, I feel like I'm on Planet Crazy cause FIFA fans always claim the most ridiculous things about PES, that don't come close to the truth. And yes, I have fifa 17, and really enjoy it, but your assessment of PES is far off base.

I think it was more of the goalie AI that killed the game for me last year. I've read some reviews where PES 2017 beats FIFA in the "on the pitch gameplay", but lacks in everything else. To me I need the graphics, the licenses, the career mode, and the gameplay. I need the whole package honestly.

[BSDShoes]

Wow I can't believe people call PES arcadey, PES strayed away from that back in 2013 or so (don't remember exactly).

Quote: Originally Posted by extremeskins04

I think it was more of the goalie AI that killed the game for me last year. I've read some reviews where PES 2017 beats FIFA in the "on the pitch gameplay", but lacks in everything else. To me I need the graphics, the licenses, the career mode, and the gameplay. I need the whole package honestly.

Master league is one of my favorite career modes in a sports game, it's pretty flexible and I like how the CPU approaches me wanting to trade some of my players, and licenses are easy to fix with option files.

[extremeskins04]

Quote: Originally Posted by BSDShoes

Wow I can't believe people call PES arcadey, PES strayed away from that back in 2013 or so (don't remember exactly). Master league is one of my favorite career modes in a sports game, it's pretty flexible and I like how the CPU approaches me wanting to trade some of my players, and licenses are easy to fix with option files.

Yea the career modes are my main thing. So Master League is good this year? I liked how FIFA handled the youth training and progression of your youngsters last year. Not sure how Master League is in that aspect.

[Lovesports]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheDutchDad

Uh, no. There is no way you have it, or you're just totally lying. PES is in no way arcadey, and in no way can you just sprint past people. Maybe up the difficulty next time if you have indeed played it. I'm not sure what you're talking about...last year PES was a number of things, but it still was not an arcade soccer game. The goalies this year in PES are light years ahead of what they were last year. PES 17 is simply one of the best pure soccer games I have ever played, and that's not hyperbull. Someimes when it comes to people comparing the two, FIFA and PES, I feel like I'm on Planet Crazy cause FIFA fans always claim the most ridiculous things about PES, that don't come close to the truth. And yes, I have fifa 17, and really enjoy it, but your assessment of PES is far off base.

I have it and don't like it as much as FIFA...sorry. I've hated on FIFA for years and didn't feel bad about telling FIFA fanboys that their game was crap. I'm not saying I don't like PES because I do. It plays a good game, I just like the tempo of FIFA better. This isn't an attack on you so stop getting worked up. You don't get a dime from Konami so you can stop your heroic attempts of defending your favorite football game. I like both and this year I'll take FIFA with all the upgrades they've made.

[Fraser G.]

Quote: Originally Posted by SCB1990

The writer of this review is clearly not a "real football fan".

I can assure you that isn't the case.

I've had the pleasure of watching football for the past twenty years, from yearly season tickets at my local club to hundreds and hundreds of games on TV. FIFA 96 was my first football video game, and even the bizarre ones like Three Lions and Ronaldo V-Football were stuck in my PS1 disc drive as a kid. Football Manager (known as Championship Manager in the early days) regularly ruined my social life over the years! Actually, it still does...

My review of FIFA 17 gave it the moniker of 'great'. Our PES 2017 review also received the moniker of 'great' (albeit with a higher score). We've got two games with different pros and cons on our hands, both offering an exciting football experience in their own ways. I'm not in favor of sparking the debate further -- I'm just glad we've got two great football games on the market.

[wordtobigbird]

I've never paid PES but it is somewhat annoying how every single FIFA thread seems to turn into a PES vs FIFA debate which the same exact points get repeated over and over. If I I go to the PES forum are people constantly bringing up FIFA instead of discussing the game? In the NFL/NBA forums I feel like they are pretty strict about this..

Anyway, good review. Looking forward to seeing how deep I get into the Journey. With EA Access I got a few games into the season and really like the way they did it with the training drills and conversational cutscenes/interviews. The game shines for me playing against my friends though. We just have too much fun every single time. Going to be a fun weekend.

Quote:

Nevertheless, it has its downsides, and it feels like the mature approach of the game goes out the window in a multiplayer setting, transforming into a one-dimensional game of pace-dominated, zig-zag gameplay in its worst moments.

This is entirely up to the person on the sticks.. the the game doesn't force you to sprint or zig zag. I have a friend who is a slide tackle maniac and always goes forward down the middle with through balls/pace once he gets the ball. I have another friend who will almost never push the tackle button and will play possession to his detriment trying to walk the ball into the net.. Have competitive games against both. If the multiplayer is the weak point of this game FIFA 17 is definitely a great game.

[Fraser G.]

Quote: Originally Posted by wordtobigbird

This is entirely up to the person on the sticks.. the the game doesn't force you to sprint or zig zag.

Firstly, thank you for your kind comments about the review!

In regards to the point you made, I agree that it doesn't force you to sprint or zig-zag, but it certainly encourages it. Far too often, I felt punished for trying to move the ball around the pitch, and found that I got much more success when I simply took hold of the ball as a speedy winger (or even as a speedy defender!) and started hitting top speed and making quick turns to exploit the underpowered defense.

Of course, multiplayer contests are always going to have more instances of this than CPU encounters due to player skill, but the mechanics are still very unbalanced. I played many multiplayer matches with everything from people who were clearly new to the series, to friends who I've been playing FIFA with for a decade. It was still a very similar experience -- one of frustration when I simply felt powerless to do anything, despite doing very little wrong in terms of defensive positioning, and dissatisfaction when I scored easy goals that didn't require any footballing skill. I won about 75 % of my multiplayer matches during the review period, but I can't say many of them were that enjoyable.

It's in those instances where FIFA 17 feels like a huge step backward in my view. Luckily, it balances that out with some fantastic content in other areas.