This September, EA Sports released their annual edition of the popular soccer game FIFA 18. The trendy game has came out with a new edition every year since 1993, and this years certainly did not disappoint by any means.

The prestigious award of being the game’s front cover athlete was given to the established superstar Christiano Ronaldo, who plays on the historic club team Real Madrid, which is based in Spain. Ronaldo won the Ballon d’Or trophy in 2016 which is given to the best soccer player in the world in that particular year, which certainly makes him fit to be the game’s cover athlete.

One thing that right away stands out in front of everything else in FIFA 18 are the impeccable graphics. When playing the game I can definitely tell which player is who just by looking at their faces, style, and/or cleats. EA Sports even took the time to put in human like fans, so when you score you can hear their thundering cheers and chants.Throughout the game you can even see players sweat and find grass stains on their jerseys slowly evolving later in the game.

Every year the FIFA video game franchise does a fantastic job with smooth, authentic, real, and fair gameplay, and this years newest game is nothing short of that.

The players in the game start off with full stamina and energy, which makes the game right away start off fast. But throughout the game the normal player will realize that his/her players are slowing down substantially like real soccer. This attribute causes the gamer to make important decisions, in whether they should sub the energy deficient player out or keep him in and hope he can be productive for the last few remaining minutes.

Just like in real soccer, the game features referees so they can observe the players and make sure there are no fouls, penalties, or offsides. While playing the game I have come to the conclusion that the refs are right for the majority of the time. This topic is vital because if the refs were not accurate in their calls then it could cost the gamer to lose the game and perhaps stop the player from playing the game altogether.

FIFA 18 is sensational, but there are some things I hope they fix for  next year’s edition.

First, the players overalls. Without a doubt EA got the majority of the players overalls right in order of player, but I just wish the  ratings were higher. For Ronaldo to just be a 94 overall and Lionel Messi (93), it just makes me question, Why are they not higher?  those are the two elite players in the world and for them to just be in the low 90’s is extremely odd.

Also finally when playing online, there are times when the server could be more functionable. There will be times when playing your opponent, the connection will be slow or even staticky, which can be frustrating and slow down the game’s duration significantly.

Overall EA Sports produced another gem in FIFA 18 and I would recommend any soccer fan to purchase this game. FIFA 18 retails at $60  and you can purchase it at the nearest Game Stop, Walmart, or Target by you. Reviewer Rating: 9/10.