One of the biggest surprises in gaming for me last year was how much I loved playing the single player story mode in FIFA 2017. The Journey was a story of Alex Hunter, a young man who is trying to make his way through his career in professional soccer. I may not be the biggest soccer fan in the world, but Alex Hunter was my guy. I was fully invested in his story throughout the mode. I was actually pretty bummed when I was finished with it all.
Players like me from around the world are going to be able to spend more time with Mr. Hunter this fall when FIFA 18 comes out. It will include “The Journey: Hunter Returns.” The story picks up with Alex Hunter well established in his career in the English Premier league. The new story is built around Alex being forced to make the choice to either remain in England or to move to the US. This is an interesting story because, apparently, it is something that a lot of players in the UK struggle with.
The fact that The Journey is getting a sequel is incredibly telling. EA would not have continued to spend the cash to develop a well written and acted single player mode for a sports game if it wasn’t successful. We don’t have numbers regarding have many people bought the game and played through a bunch of the story, but I’m sure that EA does and that they were pleased with the results.
Sports games these days are all slowly turning into RPGs. Many people think of RPGs as hundred hour long fantasy epics, but if you strip out the genre and leave the various systems sports games aren’t too far off. This is a trend I hope continues.
What about you all? Will you and your family be picking up FIFA 18 this fall? Let us know in the comments!
