![]() ![]() He’d gone from a slightly rough and unpolished diamond to a pacey, goal-getting wunderkind in just a few hours. I went from a 75 rated Hunter to one in the eighties by the time The Journey was over, and the difference was noticeable. Improving Alex also feels fairer this time out with more emphasis placed on performance-based rewards – no more battering in four goals in the Championship for incremental improvements. I opted for the classic “Mum” tattoo on the neck followed by a ship on Alex’s arm while disinfecting my eyes every time a tribal tattoo cropped up. Tattoos, the hallmark of the overpaid modern footballer, range from the woeful to the acceptable, but there’s still a fair bit of variety. The selection is pretty sparse, somehow unlocking worse haircuts the more you progress, but the fact that the option is there to give Hunter the Lucio look is welcome nonetheless. In FIFA 17, I always wanted to change Alex’s hair and FIFA 18 allowed me to do that almost immediately. While there’s always the urge to just skip some matches and let the AI Hunter bang in a couple, the “distractions” this year mean it’s much easier to get through long sessions of slightly unrealistic drama. This time out, it’s broken up a lot better with small cutscenes that actually develop characters and a lightweight but effective customisation system. Slog through training, slog through Championship matches, slog through the shithead tweets from Gareth Walker – it was all just quite bit of a slog. ![]() If last year’s vision of The Journey suffered from anything, it was repetition. FIFA 18’s imperfect AI still means that controlling the whole team is better than Hunter on his own, but it’s a good excuse to practice the new edition of FIFA all the same. With the kids well and truly demolished like the losers they are, it was time for the real work to begin.Īfter a pre-season tournament which featured Cristiano Ronaldo and the worst voiceover attempt since Peter Dinklage wittered on about moon wizards in Destiny, it’s back to the Premier League. It’s instantly reminiscent of FIFA Street and a neat little flourish that already promised that the stagnant gameplay loop from last time would be getting a refresh. We open up with Alex and his Inbetweeners mate Danny Williams kicking a ball around in Brazil with some local kids. While there are still a few issues with The Journey: Hunter Returns in FIFA 18, it’s an altogether more engrossing and denser experience that won’t have you wandering off to watch the Goal trilogy on DVD instead. Featuring minimalistic dialogue trees and a barebones progression system, it always felt more like a prototype rather than the finished article when trying to take Alex Hunter to the top. When EA Sports revealed that FIFA 17 would feature a narrative about a plucky rookie’s attempts to go pro at his boyhood club, there were a few laughs.
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