The developers at EA Sports managed to post up a full match featuring Real Madrid versus Real Madrid in an 20 minute match from a pre-release version of FIFA 18.
The footage comes courtesy of a live-stream that was captured by YouTuber MKIceandFire. There’s some intense back and forth as the mirror match advances and the two teams duke it out. You can check it out below.
Much like real-life soccer, there’s a lot of stop and go gameplay and plenty of near-goals.
At first there’s just a lot of back and forth play where both teams just kind of move around the field, but as the game nears half-time, the match picks up in a big way and they start getting a lot more serious about trying to score a goal.
After the home team goes up 1 to nil, the away team puts it into high gear and then they get serious about trying to win.
The footwork looks par the course and the passing is okay. The highlight of FIFA 18 is in the animation blending and how smooth the characters handle on the pitch.
The team strategies start getting more serious and the smoothness of the passing puts put on full display as we see how players can trap ball, create openings and then push through the opponent’s defenses.
The game looks and runs better than I thought it would, but that’s only assuming you actually enjoy FIFA games enjoy putting money into EA’s coffers.
The body checking and collisions look natural, and the characters react and respond accordingly as they bump, stumble, spin and leap over the opposition.
The nuances of the physics help to create some tension during the match and give gamers a reason to be excited. The swell of emotion penetrating the defenses and getting close to scoring was palpable during the live-stream. Whether or not that translates into an experience worth $60 remains to be seen, but the Frostbite looked good on display here.