The long-running video game rivalry between Fifa and Pro Evolution Soccer is every bit as partisan as Arsenal v Spurs or City v United. At least 90 per cent of football sim fans make their respective buying decisions long before either game hits the shelves: PES season ticket holders decry the opposition as all-style, no-substance, while Fifa disciples mock their foe’s licensing issues and off-key presentation. There’s little reasoning with either side.
The 2017-18 editions of the big two reveal those preconceptions to be built upon half-truths. PES 2018 does suffer from publisher Konami’s lack of riches comparative to EA’s, with Man Blue, Man Red and North East London duking it out for top-flight honours. Yet its on-field action is a touch more substantive, the smoothest passing system seen in a video game especially worthy of praise.
But in a sport whose very foundations centre on vanity and bragging rights, where Sunday League pretenders attempt stepovers in pro-aping luminescent boots, it’s snobbish to dismiss the stylings of Fifa. On the pitch it’s very good if not quite excellent, and off, it dwarfs all contemporaries, Pro Evo included.
The majority of fans really do care that all major top flight clubs are present and correct, with authentic faces, kits and – increasingly – stadia. La Liga and MLS join the Premier League in having TV-accurate presentation overlays. Devotees of Ultimate Team, meanwhile, share stories of spending 200+ hours in the mode building teams and completing squad building challenges, in addition to time spent playing matches. I know, because I did exactly that in Fifa 17. Fifa’s omnipresent card-trading mode is again bolstered this year with offline-only squad battles, where defeating celebrity- or community-created dream teams earns mammoth in-game rewards. At £50, the exhaustive depth of this mode represents more-than-respectable value.
For the purist who considers on-pitch action paramount, Fifa does look to resolve some longstanding gripes. From a player-control perspective, that means a completely reworked crossing mechanic; simplified to a single tap of the square button on PS4 for a default ball into the box, and a double-tap for a low cross. Default, however, is an understatement; players truly whip the ball through the area this year, causing havoc for defenders and meaning a fast-winger/strong-header combo is often devastating.
Also upgraded are off-the-ball runs, low shots, a new halfway-house standing tackle and goalkeeper awareness. After years of accusations that net-minders are broken, there are now times where they feel too strong, emphatically repelling deliveries into the six-yard box (likely a design call implemented to prevent that new crossing system from becoming too deadly) and palming low shots away with such ferocity that throws-in near the corner flag stockpile in record numbers. Better that than too many goals conceded through flaky glove work, although it won’t be a surprise if the first patch downgrades the Hulk fists.
Welcome changes are introduced from an AI opponent standpoint. Recent Fifa reviews have repeatedly criticised a lack of tactical variety from computer-controlled teams, and it’s addressed by every one of the game’s 700-plus sides being given two of 12 possible play styles. (One attacking, one defensive.) It doesn’t completely eliminate the issue, and is still an area where PES outperforms Fifa, but at least ensures career mode matches against possession-heavy Arsenal, Vardy-targeting Leicester and stoic, defensive Burnley no longer feel identical.
Other career mode changes equate to subtle Mourinho-style tinkering rather than wanton Redknapp-like reconstruction. A big deal was made of Fifa 17’s Frostbite implementation, and the engine now feeds into careers by way of face-to-face transfer negotiations; try to buy a player from Real or Chelsea and you actually get to sit down with Zidane or Conte to seal the deal, using click-wheel conversational choices.
It’s a constant smile-raiser at Premier League level; less so when controlling Exeter City and being confronted with a series of suit-wearing genero-heads. Even Fifa’s licensing doesn’t stretch to fourth-tier managers. Transfers are much improved generally, with a new bespoke hub enabling you to manage all incoming and outgoing moves in list form, instead of having to trudge through labyrinthine menus to get any deal done.
One area of Fifa to which PES has no answer is The Journey: Hunter Returns. Where fictional prospect Alex Hunter’s predictable-yet-fun story rode a voice-acting rollercoaster in Fifa 17, season two finds both scriptwriters and cast on mature, Tuesday-night-ITV calibre form. Tomiwa Edun (Hunter), Sharon Duncan-Brewster (mum Catherine) and Lisa Solberg (I won’t spoil it) offer understated-yet-polished performances opposite footballing names such as Rio Ferdinand, Thierry Henry, and Cristiano Ronaldo.
OK, Ronny’s bits are excruciating, but the tale is just about believable and contains agreeable diversions from matches and cut-scenes: a Fifa Street-like mini-game in Brazil, a training session with Solberg’s character in LA and – later on – neat player-choice elements when selecting a new club and famous strike partner. Plus this time around, your cut-scene decisions shape the mode from a cosmetic standpoint.
Hunter’s hair, tattoos, casual wear and kit accessories (tape, wristbands, those aforementioned luminescent boots) can all be customised via a smart, GTA-influenced wardrobe selection screen, and many of these items – such as a monstrous leopard-print hair-don’t, cloned from Paul Pogba’s Juventus days – are only unlocked by developing Hunter’s personality in a certain direction.
It’s a thoroughly enjoyable mode lasting between 12-15 hours, depending on key choices – the same length as many a full-priced game outside of the sports genre, again hammering home Fifa 18’s strong value proposition. Whichever side of the footballing gulf you plant your neon footwear, there’s no question that EA’s behemoth delivers bang for its megabucks.
Electronic Arts; PS4 (version tested)/PS3/Xbox One/Xbox 360/PC; £49.99; Pegi rating 3+
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