FIFA 18 promises to be the biggest and best game int he EA Sports franchise yet, and more details of what will be added to the game have been revealed.
Alongside the ordinary game modes, The Journey returns with its long-awaited sequel, The Journey 2, which sees players given the chance to act as Alex Hunter, a player now in his second season of professional football.
Alongside huge improvements in the story line and gameplay, it has also been announced that you will be able to modify your Alex Hunter character with features such as blonde hair and tattoos.
Speaking at EA Sports’ FIFA 18 preview event, Creative Director Mat Prior revealed that alongside different hairstyles and tattoos, you’ll be able to choose what clothes he wears, with special Adidas tracksuits available for players as well as casual wear.
We’ve only seen a snippet of what to expect from The Journey 2, but the early signs are promising.
One criticism that could have been levelled at The Journey last year was the fact that he stays the same the whole way through the season, and everyone’s Hunter character was exactly as he appeared in the game.
But now that will be a thing of the past, and we’ll soon be seeing YouTube videos of a whole load of different Alex Hunter’s – ours will be the one with Paul Pogba’s hair and sleeve tats.
Everything we know about The Journey 2 so far
You’ll still be playing as Alex Hunter
The Journey 2 will still follow the life and career of Alex Hunter, and no, you won’t be able to be anyone else.
Unfortunately for those hoping to put themselves in the game, or play with a player of their choice, you still have to be Alex Hunter.
The storyline decisions are much broader
Last season’s game mode saw the storyline quite narrow, with limited decision making.
It was the first time EA Sports had entered in a story mode like this, so we can forgive them, but this time round the storyline is much, much broader, and the decisions you make will make a much greater difference.
Whereas most of us ended up winning the FA Cup with our Hunters in FIFA 17, it’ll be interesting to see where our character can end up once we’ve taken different decisions from our mates.
The gameplay and mechanics are virtually the same
We haven’t had a chance to play the whole thing, far from it, but it looks as if though they’ve maintained the things we enjoyed most from The Journey.
So decisions of fiery, cool or moderate stay, you’ll have to earn ratings in training and matches to excel, and scenes will happen sporadically through the story.
Will you be able to start where you left off in FIFA 17?
That’s one thing we’ve not been told as yet, but it looks likely that you’ll have to start afresh with your new Hunter in this game.
Presumably the thinking behind this (if it were the case) will be that because everyone ended their Hunter in a slightly different way but broadly on a similar path (winning the FA Cup, getting a 75 FUT card etc.), it would make more sense to just wipe the slate clean.
Slightly annoying for those who became fond of their Hunter, but probably it’s all for the best.
Alex Hunter gets a girlfriend?
Hmm, now this one could get interesting.
At the FIFA 18 preview event in May, we watched a presentation on The Journey 2, in which an image of a woman, probably a similar age to Hunter, popped up.
The guys from EA Sports pointed it out, said they won’t tell us exactly who it was, before adding that there were ‘a lot of new characters’ that you come across and interact with.
We can’t say it definitively, but certainly one to watch.
Cristiano Ronaldo features in it, and quite heavily
CR7 seems like the real star of FIFA 18, given what we’ve seen of the game so far.
It’s no different in The Journey 2, and we’ve seen images and clips of Cristiano appearing in a scene alongside Hunter.
Speaking of which…
Alex Hunter gets offered a move to Real Madrid?
Whether or not this is as a result of a few decisions and good performances going right for your character, but we’ve witnessed a scene in which Hunter’s agent storms into his kitchen/dining room/lounge (that hasn’t changed) and offers him a move to Los Blancos.
That’s all we’ll say about it here, you can read all about the scenes we’ve played here.
You can play local multiplayer in your game
This is a lovely little addition – you’ll now be able to play The Journey alongside your friends.
When you’re met with the start game screen, you can play local multiplayer mode, meaning you can blame your friend sat next to you for not slipping in Hunter to secure a goal an a much-needed 7.0 rating.
That’s pretty much what we’ve seen so far of The Journey 2 – we’ll post more as it comes.