You can sometimes be trying to roll a square ball to somebody a half-dozen feet away, only to see it bypass that obvious target and continue towards somebody making a break down the wing. But something is a bit awry with the game’s sense of who you’re aiming passes at (especially noticeable on the semi-assisted setting), and I think it’s related to the eager AI running. This has definitely been upped from previous titles and, in conjunction with auto-interceptions from AI opponents being toned down in midfield, goes pretty far towards encouraging a short passing game up to the final third of the pitch. I may have taken the increased physical aspects a little too far.įIFA 17’s other gameplay change of note is the willingness of AI players to make useful runs into space. The ‘cancel queued action’ command seems to have vanished. When this occurs, it rarely feels like you had much of a chance to avoid it.
Problem is, a number of situations which would previously have been a simple header away with the A button have now turned into ‘wait for the player to slowly chest the ball down and aimlessly hoof a pass to the opposition because you pressed A a few seconds ago hoping for a straightforward header’. That’s not an inherently bad move, and it can be useful when it triggers at the right moment. Particularly irritating is EA’s new-found fascination with players automatically chesting a ball down. But FIFA 17 pushes these factors to the detriment of the player feeling fully in control of the game. Slowing down the pace of play, acknowledging that players cannot instantly control every ball, and punishing button spam are all fine as design goals. This is a problem even in single player, and obviously gets worse if you have lag in an online match. It forces you into a semi-clairvoyant mindset, where you’re sometimes trying to predict the button input you might want in the next half-second rather than immediately. Player animations seem even slower to play out than ever in FIFA 17, which means you can find yourself watching a player dithering on the ball before trying to put your (now possibly worthless) command into action.
Whether you adapt to these changes will largely be down to preference, and how you like your football games to ‘feel’ but a regrettable consequence of the beefed up player mass is even lengthier control input delay than usual. You can actually use a large, strong striker as a proper target man this year. Shielding (LT by default on the 360 controller I was using on PC) is now much more necessary, both as a means to hold off incoming challenges, and for holding up play while you wait for team-mates to get into better areas. As a result, quality dribbling in FIFA 17 is much harder (because you have to remain aware of your own player’s momentum), and it’s easier to get nudged out of possession by a jostling defender. There’s much more emphasis on remaining balanced while on the ball. In terms of this year’s gameplay changes, the increased importance of a player’s mass and physical presence makes the most difference. They did change corners though, you get a little aiming cross-hair now.
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