E3ODUS [E3 2018 Preview]: FIFA 19 / Madden NFL 19.

FIFA 19 (EA Sports – All Platforms – September 2018) I’ve been an avid FIFA player for years and every installment has come with the sauce! From EA’s impeccable playlist, to the advances in FIFA Ultimate Team, and continuing Alex Hunters’ career mode in The Journey. With the World Cup right around the corner don’t expect anything — sadly! — in FIFA 19 as they’ll be releasing free World Cup DLC for the current version.

The current title, FIFA 18, is the most in-depth as far as presentation of the Premier League matches, from the stadiums, the fans and the pitch. With the Premier League as one of the most popular in sports today it was a good call on EA’s part; maybe they could expand on that for the Bundesliga or La Liga.

As far the Journey is concerned FIFA 17 had you come up through the ranks of the Premiere League and going on to win some silverware for your team, ’18 had Hunter conquer the MLS, and it’s always been hinted that Hunter wants to end up in one of the most highly regarded clubs, Real Madrid, so maybe ’19 will get him there. Prepare yourselves, as the world sport will be invading your everyday lives with non-stop World Cup coverage. But will EA PLAY?

-Lauro Rojas

MADDEN NFL 18 (Tiburon/EA Sports – All Platforms – August 10) – Well it’s about that time of year again, for the annual release of Madden football around the corner and we’ll be amongst the first to get our hands on it at this year’s EA PLAY. Let’s just hope EA Tiburon have made a lot of gameplay improvements to the animations, presentation and glitches that were in Madden 18. In EA’s defense they claimed last year’s Madden was their first time using the Frostbite engine with Madden — which won’t be in the Switch version of FIFA 19, btw; word around town is that devs have noticed a significant difference with the game being displayed in 4K this time around.

One of the biggest improvements coming this August is that Madden will be using player animations that have been previously used in FIFA; there will also be more player control and responsiveness and fresh new gameplay concepts. And much like Hunter’s Journey to Real Madrid, the critically acclaimed Long Shot single player story mode will continue.

The running game sees improvenents, too. Ball carriers will be able to push blockers ahead of them to gain extra yards rather than try to sneak around them—and you’ll be able to zoom down the field and stop on a dime to cut through defenders.

Some of the biggest problems in Madden 18 were: players couldn’t audible if their opponent called no-huddle multiple times, player animations, stretch plays, QB scrambling, man-to-man coverage and the penalties. That said, EA seems to have the gameplan covered with their new Enhanced Control, advancing Real Player Motion, Fan Favorite Celebrations, and a new progression system for Madden Ultimate Team.

-Artez Bailey

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