Hands On with Fifa 18 for Switch

When EA first announced that they were bringing FIFA to the Switch, back at the January event, most people were very skeptical about the news, purely because of the lack of support EA provided in the past and when we learned that it was not going to be the same as the rest, people were even more concerned, now that I have gone hands on I can say, so far, those fears appear to be without cause.

At EA Play 2017, there are a few Switch units set up for the attendees to go hands on with, in the media only space, there were even more and the good news was that they were always in use. The ones out in the public space usually had people waiting to play, which is a good sign, but the results of their play time seemed to be the best news, that it was good. When I got hands on, I was unsure how I would go, simply due to my lack of skill when it comes to almost all sports games and while I did lose the match in the end, I did not have any issues with what I was playing.

The same controls that I found on the PlayStation 4 version were the same on the Switch version, press the right trigger or Zr down will allow the selected player to sprint, then using a face button, you can pass the ball or go for the shot if you wanted to. If you don’t have the ball, you can slide tackle and steal as much as you want, unless you are like me and slide tackle the wrong player and give the opposing team a free shot at goal. I came away from my match with two thoughts, firstly, that I suck at the game, but secondly, EA seem to be giving this all the attention that it needs and thankfully there is no bizarre motion control to be found.

In the media lounge, the game was playable with two players, each holding their own JoyCon and while I can tell you, it is playable without the strap, if you plan on doing it often, make sure you have your strap present. The controls are simplified a little here, because you lack two buttons from a standard setup, but the end result is still loads of fun. The game was only available to play in handheld mode in the public space and in tabletop mode in the media lounge, but the game looked fine, no matter the option. The controls did not log in either playstyle, which is good and thankfully the visuals are currently up to the standard that you might expect.

While there is still a while to go, until we see the release of the game, they do seem to be on track so far with the game. We need more details about the rest of the options available to the game, but so far it appears that fans of the sport are getting a great version on Switch.