If The Journey has been EA’s off-pitch focus, on the field of play it’s the Frostbite engine that the publisher has trumpeted loudest.
EA has positioned The Journey as an experience never before offered in football games, and correctly so it’s one that football fans both casual and committed should find satisfying and unexpectedly insightful. Without spoiling it, there’s also a neat, user-specific reward for completion. A likeable cast – ex-pro grandfather, single mother, belittling team-mates turned friends – keep you invested throughout the season, and story landmarks, such as an Adidas boot deal for hitting 200,000 Twitter followers, pull you towards its climax. Regardless of linearity, it’s a lot of fun.
The Journey mode gives players control of a fledgling Premier League player as he tackles opponents, agents and other dilemmas. Come across as too fiery and you might be dropped for a game or two, but a strong training performance usually catapults you back into the starting XI. (Vermire Athletic, sadly, aren’t an option – only Norwich, Newcastle and Villa.) The media, your first-team coach and those hangers-on can all be conversed with in this way, albeit in a fairly linear manner while most of the speech is of better quality than Match of the Day’s “all credit to the lads on the pitch” fare, your responses have little tangible effect. Developer EA Canada worked with Bioware on the mode’s dialogue options, which give you Commander Shepard-style choices at various points such as post-match interviews and scenes out on loan. That Mass Effect reference wasn’t a typo. Reece Oxford was involved as a consultant – and you sense that much of what’s presented as fiction is reality for the West Ham youngster. And cut-scenes, featuring an array of hangers-on such as agents and endorsement reps, offer a tantalising glimpse into the life of a fledgeling superstar.
Choose Swansea and you see Francesco Guidolin gesticulating on the touchline. Select Manchester United and you compete with Zlatan Ibrahimovic for a first-team spot. What do you give the sports simulation that has everything? In Fifa 17’s case, the answer is a 15-20 hour, Mass Effect-inspired story mode called The Journey.Ĭharting the rise of 17-year-old prospect Alex Hunter, it takes you through the first year of a Premier League career, including weekly training and a full slate of fixtures, and is far more enjoyable than it has any right to be.
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