FIFA 18 releases in a few days and we got our hands on its final version. As such, below you can read our first impressions of it, accompanied by a full match and some 4K screenshots. FIFA 18 is powered by the Frostbite Engine and the PC version is identical to the current-gen console version.
Let’s start with some great news. FIFA 18 performed incredibly well on our test machine (Intel Core i7 4930K with an NVIDIA GTX980Ti). Our GTX980Ti was able to handle this soccer game in 4K with constant 60fps on max settings. However, and for some strange reason, all cut-scenes were locked at 30fps. From the looks of it, the game forces the cut-scenes to run at half the framerate of your chosen refresh rate. This may explain why the game was running with 120fps and its cut-scenes were running with 60fps at 1080p (we’re using the LG W2363D monitor which is a 120hz monitor).
Contrary to Pro Evolution Soccer 2018, our Thrustmaster 2 in 1 Dual Trigger was not working properly in FIFA 18 (the right stick was not recognised at all). As such, we had to use an Xbox One controller, and owners of older gamepads may experience compatibility issues with it.
Unfortunately, FIFA 18 feels similar to FIFA 17. Yes, FIFA 18 is better than FIFA 17. EA Sports has addressed some of its issues and added some new features (like the quick substitutions that are really awesome), however FIFA 18 feels like an upgraded version of FIFA 17 and nothing more. Moreover, most of the issues that plagued all previous FIFA games are still present here (like defenders pausing for a bit when you take them under your control).
Compared to their predecessors, Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 has made more progress than FIFA 18. However, and for the most part, FIFA 18 still remains the best soccer game. Passing is better, the pacing feels more realistic, the physical contact between players is better, and we did not witness any input lag. Still, the good news for everyone, is that PES 2018 has narrowed the gap between them, so hopefully both of them will get better next year.
For viewing purposes we’ve resized the images to 1080p. Those interested can download the 4K uncompressed images from here.
Enjoy!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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