FIFA 18 (Nintendo Switch)

Product Information

Those features have to be noted, it's absurd to ignore them, just like any version of a game that has features removed. The graphics are simpler, particularly noticeable in textures (blades of grass; the fabric of players’ shirts) and lighting. Think of it as a card collecting game, where the cards you obtain are the players and your plan is to create the best team you can. The Switch Ultimate Team is a separate entity to the Xbox One and PS4 versions, so even though all three versions require you to create an EA Account to save your squads online, each edition's teams are completely different. That said, if you do fire a shot on target, expect it to go in because goalkeepers are woefully inept.

Seriously, that Wi-Fi interface is criminal in 2017 and the lack of SIM connectivity options feels like an oversight. Career Mode: Take control of a club as a player or manager and steer your club to victory over multiple seasons. Obviously, ideally we'd have liked a straight 1:1 port of the PS4/X1 versions but, for those like myself who haven't owned a FIFA game in a good many years, we won't miss the features that we never had I guess. The rest of the cuts here and there I can forgive, because ultimately they still put out a competent game and a decent experience, but why won't you let me play against my friends directly? What we have here is a portable that plays a quality game of football which looms glorious on the Switch screen and worthy of XB1 or PS4 (older versions at least) on the big screen.The other versions don't bring you out of the game to use the consoles invite system like most games it's all handled in game just bloody lazy of you ask me. This won’t be enough next year, though: a few little additions aside this is essentially a Legacy Edition port, and while EA Bucharest gets the benefit of the doubt this time as its relatively new to Switch development, if the inevitable FIFA 19 doesn’t have full mode parity with the other main versions of the game then no amount of spin will justify it.

Official FIFA World Cup™ Elements: Authentic teams, kits, badges, match balls, and the famous tournament trophy, the FIFA World Cup™ in FIFA 18 delivers a complete and official tournament experience. Essentially, EA did not want to overwhelm new players when others have gotten used to them progressively over the course of years. More often than not they’ll fumble the simplest of saves, and anything from distance seems to blindside them as they stand rooted to the spot as the ball sail past into the net. That means you get Skill Games, Women’s Football and for the first time on a handlheld, FIFA Ultimate Team, which will need explaining later. The review does read like a list of questioning EA's decision to not include features but also tries to hit home that what remains is high quality stuff for what it is.Graphical downgrades were to be expected in docked mode when compared to other systems, so I wouldn't exactly consider that a bad thing. As previously mentioned, its custom game engine means that it runs smoother and looks sharper (the developers claim it renders at full 1080p when docked and it certainly seems crisp enough for that to be true). Hopefully EA can tinker with the Frostbite engine to allow for Switch optimisation going forward - surely better for all concerned (if possible) - but dedicating an entire studio, EA Romania, to the development of one version of the game is nothing to be sniffed at (and not a decision that would've been taken out of anything other than necessity, I'm sure) and if it runs well, plays well and has most bases covered - that's what's important. But Frostbite isn’t being used because EA couldn’t get it to run, according to Lazarescu — the company just felt a unique engine would better suit this iteration.

Additionally, the game would not be produced in EA’s Frostbite engine, used for a number of its games including Star Wars Battlefront, Battlefield, and, well, FIFA 18 on other platforms.Obviously, during development EA wouldn’t have known that the Switch would experience the explosive success achieved thus far, so the sensible portion of my brain can understand the reluctance to invest so heavily in a Switch port of Frostbite – if it is indeed possible at all. The only people who should have any reservations are those who use their Switch primarily as a home console and want the "definitive" experience.