FIFA 17 VS PES 17 in Six Ways (Part Two)

For the first time in many years, it feels like the FIFA-PES battle is a genuine derby clash rather than a cup competition with teams from different leagues. We’ve gone hands on with early builds of both games, and have put together our first impressions in a little face off to see who wins.

We’ll be updating this page as we see more from both titles and upon review, so be sure to bookmark. FIFA 17 coins for sale and you can buy it now!

4. FIFA 17 VS PES 2017 – MODES

FIFA 17:

One of the huge new introductions in FIFA 17 this year is its new story mode – The Journey. Players will follow the career of Alex Hunter – a young hopeful looking to make his way from the academy to England international footballer.

Hunter will only be able to play in a limited number of positions in the mode, all of them attacking, but you’ll be able to take part in training drills to improve his skills and attributes to become one of the best players on the team. The better you play, the better the team you’ll play for. Conversely, poor performances could see you sent out on loan and dropping down the leagues.

PES 2017:

For PES 2017, we don’t know if any new modes will be introduced as yet. The first hands-on only gave us the regular kick-off mode to play around with, but we fully expect the return of Konami’s answer to Ultimate Team – MyClub along with PES’ iconic Master League. Konami will likely keep hold of the Champions and Europa League licences so expect to have these cup competitions as separate playable modes once again.

Hopefully at E3 we’ll see a bit more in terms of what comes in the box for both games, though EA tends to hold its Ultimate Team reveals until a little closer to launch.

5. FIFA 17 VS PES 2017 – GAMEPLAY

Both EA and Konami have made significant changes to gameplay this year. EA has focused on four key areas this year: set pieces, AI, physical interplay and attacking techniques.

For set pieces, you can now manipulate exactly how the kicker approaches the ball. Everything from where he stands to take the kick to the run up and even the camera angle for free kicks has been adjusted.

The camera will now stay behind the kicker on direct free-kicks so you can see the exact trajectory of the ball, making those set-piece goals that much sweeter.

For corners, a new reticule will pop up on the penalty spot which you can aim your delivery more accurately. However in practice both these additions proved a bit cumbersome and make me miss the older, simpler implementations.

You can now move up and down the touchline for throw-ins, too, and even fake throws to send defenders the wrong way.

The physical play overhaul is considered a bigger undertaking than FIFA’s goalkeeper fixes over the past two years, so is a pretty big deal. All jostling is now handled on one button, and you can now protect the ball while dribbling, which makes a huge difference. You can also try and outmuscle opponents in aerial challenges without having to jump for a header.

This means big strong attackers like Martial can attempt to bring the ball under control, rather than be forced to head the ball to a teammate and hope you keep possession. In practice it makes a huge difference, too.

The improved AI movement helps with this too, as players don’t make as direct runs toward goal and instead move into space out wide and even look to create space for other players on the pitch by dragging defenders out of position.

PES 2017:

For PES, it’s a case of fixing what was broken and polishing what worked in 2016. Goalkeepers have been given a makeover, as they were heavily criticised last year. They now react much better and are capable of making superb double saves, adding to the drama or indeed frustration of a match.

The first touch has also been improved, with players able to react and take the ball away from defenders in much better ways. In-step, out-step, stepovers, chest controls and plenty more ways to bring the ball under control are here and it all looks sublime.

New tactical instructions are available for you to tell your team. You can set two attacking and two defending philosophies for your team, including Tiki-taka and Gegenpress – Jurgen Klopp’s favourite – to adapt strategy mid-match to try and beat the opposition.

A big addition is ‘Adaptive AI’, where your opponent will learn and adapt to your tactics, meaning you won’t be able to simply use the same strategy over and over again in pursuit of a win.

6. FIFA 17 VS PES 2017 – VERDICT

It’s still very early days for both PES 2017 and FIFA 17, but based on the first hands-ons, PES has come away with a narrow lead. It’s refinement on what was already great last year means we could be in for a truly excellent game of football. Its simplicity while making you still feel completely in control and capable of achieving great moments with the ball is special.

FIFA has introduced some great new systems but at the consequence of added complexity. It’s an issue that has plagued the EA series for a while, and it it takes the approach adopted for physical play – all mapped to one button – then the game could be all-round better for it.