2018 will be remembered as a year of incremental change in our genre in many ways — but that didn’t stop some new and interesting features from finding their way into our rotation. Let’s see what the staff voted for, and see their justification for how they voted!
Phil Varckette
I chose Madden’s custom draft classes as my best feature of 2018. The fact that you can have real college players come into your franchise is basically the best thing Madden could have done to franchise mode in one year. Simple as that.
Matt Llewellyn
From the moment I started playing baseball as a kid, I always imagined myself playing in the bigs. While I didn’t get there in real life, RttS is still an extension of that fantasy. Now with the batting stance creator, I can further enhance that fantasy by tweaking and creating my own personal stance in the game. When paired with the hundreds of stances already in the game, the possibilities are endless.
Josh Houtz
For as simplistic and straight forward as the mode may be, EA does a great job of bringing UEFA’s Champions League to life. It is a crucial part of European football, and is a game-changer in FIFA 19.
Joe Doyle
For those of us looking for a truly sim-like experience, the batting stance creator added a wrinkle allowing authenticity to take off. Not only has the batting stance creator allowed the community and users to change their favorite players’ stances as the year progresses and stances change, but the feature has allowed roster creators to give minor league prospects not yet signed into the MLBPA as authentic a representation as possible. The batting stance creator allows perfectionists the ability to nail the personality of each and every player down to the smallest detail, creating a more immersive experience. For this, the batting stance creator was the biggest game-changing feature in sports gaming this year.
TJ Henderson
FIFA, a title that has made its bed with licensing integration such as the World Cup and the Premier League, has been missing a very specific feather in the cap. This feather, UEFA Champions League, has returned to the EA Sports pitch for the first time since 2007. This is a power move by the sports gaming giant, bringing back the most passionate competition from arguably the most passionate footy continent.
