Fifa 18 cop-or-drop review

It’s that time of year again, when EA Sports once again graces us with the next installment of the FIFA series. With millions of players buying a copy of the coveted FIFA 18 as this story is being written, we want to take you inside on the reasons why you should or shouldn’t get a copy of this year’s game.

First off, arguably the most highly rated and popular mode, FIFA Ultimate Team. This year, EA added a brand new game mode called Squad Battles to cater to offline players. Squad Battles is a mode where players challenge user-submitted squads, and if they accumulate enough points, they earn big rewards. This was a big step away from the pay-to-play motto EA have held onto so tightly, as now more and more players will be able to get coins, and thus good players, by playing the game instead of spending money. The addition of new weekly and daily challenges, while not being game-changing, add a bit of spice and, more importantly, more rewards to the mode, which is always needed. EA have finally figured out FUT, even if it took them a few years.

Career mode, easily our favorite mode over the many years we’ve played, has gained a bit of traction in the last few years, and it seems as if EA actually are investing time into the mode. This year, there are cut scenes for when you attempt to sign a player along with a restructured transfer hub for your team. This may seem like a huge step up from last year, when signing a player consisted of selecting a price and submitting, but unfortunately, it really isn’t. Career mode still lacks some fundamental features that it has been missing for plenty of years. It would take the addition of just TWO key features for us to be content, and those two are a stadium creator and a jersey creator. This would be especially helpful when doing Career modes with lower-league teams, as you wouldn’t have to play in a 5,000 seat stadium when you’re hosting teams like Barcelona and PSG. It would be much more realistic because, as your team goes up throughout the league’s, your fan base grows with you. Another issue that involves your team growing is your jersey sponsor and badges. Each league makes every club have the same number font and badge. What ends up happening is the game doesn’t change your badge from League 2. Even when you’re in the Premier League, you end up having to use the League 2 badge. The worse part is when you’re in the Champions League final, playing against Real Madrid with the League 2 badge on your jerseys. It’s totally unrealistic. Another problem with the kits is the company that sponsors you. Usually, if you’re a League 2 team, you have a small sponsor, for example, Alfie’s plumbing. You don’t want Alfie’s plumbing on your kits when you’re in the Premier League playing against teams who spend millions on bench-warmers. This may not seem like a big deal, but in the long-run, when you eventually purchase Messi or any other high-profile player for that matter, it’s frustrating to see Alfie’s plumbing on their jersey as opposed to a big-name sponsor that would be expected like an Arabian airline. Sure, it sounds delusional to complain about something as small as a patch on your team’s jersey, but that’s what stands between Career mode and realism.

Next up, the most hyped up mode by EA, but the least hyped mode for the players. The Journey. This was a new mode in FIFA 17, and it really wasn’t all that good. This year they think that adding hairstyles and a few more clubs will get us to play it. This sounds weird but, we don’t have the time to play The Journey. FIFA 18 is only a good game for so long, and I don’t want to spend my precious FIFA time playing The Journey. If I were that desperate for a good game mode, I would consider taking time out of my day to play it, but thankfully I’m not.
The best multiplayer mode in FIFA 18 is Co-op seasons. In this mode, you and a friend get to join together to play as a club against other people online. This mode can get really exciting, especially when you score the game-winning screamer from 30-yards out to take the lead and get promoted. This year they added a shorter timer when you pause in-game from 60-seconds to 45-seconds. This new addition is great because, your opponent becomes frustrated sometimes and thinks that pausing, mid-game will make you salty at them. Often times they succeed at making you frustrated because it wastes your time. Another addition is a 3-second countdown, which allows you to become focused on the game after a quick Instagram check. This is one of our favorite modes to play together, because of how competitive it is and we recommend it for this years FIFA.

Overall this year’s FIFA is decent, but changes need to be made in modes like Career Mode and The Journey. For this to be a great game, there needs to be more realism and The Journey needs to be even more customizable than what they added this year. We are just very thankful that FIFA is back new and improved, and that the wait for it is finally over.