EA Sports
FIFA 18 is looking to push the boundaries of FIFA even further. This seems like a common theme with sports games recently with Madden’s Longshot mode and NBA 2K18’s robust Neighborhood mode. FIFA has a lot to compete against but it looks like it will do a good job of holding its own. EA Sports laid out all of the new features in a post on its website.
FIFA 18 is once again powered by EA’s Frostbite engine and that will give fans much improved visuals and gameplay over previous games. The engine promises even further to immerse fans into their career by introducing a bevy of features including interactive transfer negotiations, dynamic cinematic news clips, custom training presets and new broadcast overlays. EA promises this version’s Career Mode is the deepest and realistic it has ever been.
The first thing EA laid out was the interactive transfer negotiations. The whole process has been overhauled in an effort to create a more immersive experience that will unfold in real-time. The new transfer hub will appear in the Career Main Menu and it lets you keep track of all your transfer targets and listed players as you utilize the interactive transfer negotiation system.
EA Sports
In order to begin negotiations you have to enter the transfer hub and select a player. From there you have two steps to take:
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1. Meet in-person in your office with the manager or a representative of the selling club to arrange a fee for the player. Using the new decision wheel, you’ll be able to submit an offer fee, and even include optional conditions such as a sell-on clause. Submit the offer and you’ll begin the dialogue with the opposing manager, who will either accept, reject or counter your offer. New AI negotiations mean opposition managers will engage with dynamic and varied responses to get the best deal for their club.
2. Once an agreement is made on the transfer price, you can negotiate directly with the player and his agent. You will determine not just the player’s wage and contract length, but also his role in the squad, release clauses, and newly-added bonuses (appearances, goal and clean sheets bonuses) as you offer and counter-offer to strike a deal with the player.
The Dynamic News Clips will help bring your FIFA 18 world to life in many ways. Once you close a deal with a player and the club, they’ll be transferred to your team. When a player switches teams you’ll see dynamic representations of their announcement and unveiling, including billboards, line-up shots with teammates and even press conference presentations. If your players end up winning Player of the Month awards, there’s a new visual for that too.
FIFA 18 is streamlining matches as well as this installment will mark the first time you can make substitutions in-game without having to head to the pause menu. You can also create pre-set subs before a game so it makes the process even easier. EA Sports is also implementing a new feature called Team Styles. This means they have done their best to recreate how a team plays in-game based on their real-life counterpart. The adaptive commentary system will point out these styles and make note of them which gives the game a stronger sense of realism.
The stadiums are going to do an excellent job of standing apart from one another in FIFA 18. Immersive Atmospheres will allow you to see things like region-specific atmospheres, pitch-side fixtures, stadium-specific banners and high-def dynamic crowds. EA Sports has promised this will be the most realistic FIFA ever and it certainly sounds like they are delivering.
On top of all of this, the FIFA series is making its debut on Nintendo Switch with FIFA 18. It’s not all good news though because while it is almost the same as the other versions, it is missing a couple key elements. The Switch version is powered by a custom engine instead of the Frostbite engine and it will be missing “The Journey” story mode. While that’s disappointing, this will be the only version of the game that’s fully portable and maybe that’s a trade off you can live with.\
FIFA 18 hits store shelves September 29 for Xbox One, PS4 and Nintendo Switch. Those who purchase the Ronaldo Edition will have three day early access beginning on September 26.
