EA Sports is bound to announce FIFA 17 at the special EA Play event at E3 2016, but we find out what the fans want from the game. These are the top 10 features you want to see this September. Below is the list, so here we go.
Of all the new features or tweaks you’d like to see in FIFA 17, the biggest request across the board has been an Online Career Mode. Although you can play online matches with your mates, the Career Mode is very much a personal journey.
Fans would love to see a 2-4 player option at the least, just to get an Online Career Mode started. That would make fighting for titles and transfers all the more energetic – and competitive. Football is all about challenging and fighting for the glory, so why not make that more of a part of the Career Mode?
2. INDOOR 5-A-SIDE
Ah, FIFA 98: Road to the World Cup. There are so many reasons why you might class this one of the best FIFA games of all time, but the feature that everyone is missing right now is the indoor 5-a-side matches. Rather than including the feature in subsequent games, EA Sports decided to spin it off into FIFA Street. What a mistake.
Fans have been asking for the return of 5-a-sides or Pub Leagues since FIFA 98 and they’ll keep on asking until EA Sports hears their chanting.
3. FOCUS LESS ON GRAPHICS, MORE ON GAMEPLAY
Many fans have argued that the actual gameplay in the more recent FIFA titles has gone a bit downhill. They’re suggesting the golden year was FIFA 12, where the game still looked great, but felt great to play too.
Shots felt more direct and accurate in FIFA 12, whereas nowadays fans feel like there are too many features that dilute the actual fun you can have.
It might be called the beautiful game, but there’s little point in it looking nice if you don’t want to play it, is there?
4. TAKE SOME INSPIRATION FROM MADDEN
In the more recent Madden games, there’s a feature where you recruit and put together a team of current players across the various positions. It’s a mix of tactics and risk, because you won’t get a good player in every position, so have to balance out between the awful default players for the positions you’ve not yet recruited for and your top players. You can also choose one of the three legendary players for your squad in the final round.
The idea is that you play challenges in order to win yourself new players and upgrade your team so you eventually have a team made up of current players from different squads, as well as legends like Pele and Best.
Who wouldn’t want a FIFA 17 team like that?
5. FIXED LANGUAGE SETTINGS
We all know the moment we boot up FIFA 16 and then have to select English for the bazillionth time. Why do we have to pick our language every time the game boots up? It’s 2016, surely the game can remember you choice?
6. FOULS AND DIVES FROM FIFA 98
Now we know that EA Sports probably won’t go for this, but fans would love to see the intentional foul and dive buttons back from FIFA 98: Road to the World Cup.
Gone are the days where FIFA games were a bit of a laugh and occasionally silly. Heck we even miss when you could run away from the referee.
7. BETTER CAREER MODE SYNCING
Fans are also asking that the Career Mode is synced better, especially the League and International Manager Modes.
Currently the latter is only a bonus that has no context within your season. There’s no conflict of interest for players, no media scrutiny and your international achievements don’t even get logged on your season review.
8. IMPROVED TRAINING
Another top-request fan feature for FIFA 17 is to have better training options – not just those arcade-like loading screens. You could have options to take training sessions that affect your player stats depending on their performance, rather than just having to click a ton of tick boxes.
One fan even went as far as to say that EA Sports could sign a deal with FA Learning, so that the training could follow the same real-world training games and sessions as the professionals.
Kids playing FIFA 17 may then learn about coaching and drills too.
9. TATTOOS
You can’t deny that footballers’ tattoos are practically part of the football uniforms now, but players are almost baby-skinned in the latest FIFA games.
NBA 2K games embraced player ink in all their glory. It’s about time FIFA was a bit less prudish.
10. INCREASED REALISM
And of course, what would football be without a bit of drama? Could EA Sports take it all a step further and infuse the football sim with some real-world drama?
Serious injuries? Pitch invasions? Protests? Player scandals? Poor attendance for bottom of the league matches? Football really is a bit of a soap opera.
You could even have objects interrupt play. Fans, balloons, a stray cat, or even a streaker? That’s true to life right?
