This week, EA Sports held a conference at the annual E3 to announce what gamers can expect this fall in FIFA 17.

Let’s take a look at what was announced and how it may stack up against previous versions.

FIFA 17 will be running under the Frostbite engine

EA’s proprietary graphics engine, which powers many games including Star Wars: Battlefront and Battlefield 1 will now power the FIFA series. Hopefully this means we will see better player representation and better stadium renderings as well as more realistic dynamic lighting because playing a game set at 5:30pm doesn’t mean that the lighting looks like it’s noon. Also, with the new graphics engine, we should see better, more realistic player animations as well.

FIFA 17 introduces “The Journey”

Let’s call it what it is. FIFA 17’s “Journey” mode is similar to myCareer mode in NBA 2K16 or “Superstar” mode in the Madden series. “The Journey” gives players an opportunity to follow a unique and individual player, “Alex Hunter,” as you guide him from the academy all the way through to his professional level. It plays out as a story complete with dialogue choices, RPG-like elements that affects your player’s standing with his team and likenesses of real managers such as Jurgen Klopp, Jose Mourinho, and more.

While I think this is a good idea, players are only able to follow “Hunter” through this process in the Premier League and the inability to create your own player is frustrating. It’s a good start to the freedom games like NBA2K and Madden offer, but many may be disappointed with not having the option to create their own players.

On the field changes

Several changes will apparently be made this year that impact how the game is played. We typically hear EA touting big changes year in and year out but hopefully some of what they promise will actually work this time.

Here is a short list of a few of the changes:

– Set pieces have been rewritten that will allow players to have greater freedom in controlling things such as positioning, aiming, ball placement and even targeting players.

– Players can now position themselves for penalties and can now also control their run up to the ball.

– FIFA 17 introduces “Pushback Technology” that should see players more realistically keep their balance when jostling for position.

– “Active Intelligence System” has been added, offering better player positioning when the AI makes runs downfield and tracking back. Players will do more to create space and opportunities.

– Curled through-balls will be introduced as well.

SEE MORE: EA Sports launches FIFA 17 trailer, promising big changes

Next, here is a short list of some things not mentioned during the main EA press conference but hopefully will be mentioned during the week as E3 continues.

– No mention made of improvements to women’s clubs in the game. Last year, FIFA 16 made a token gesture to introduce women’s national teams to the game. While it’s applauded that this was finally done after over 20 years of FIFA without, this mode was incomplete. It has been rumored for a while that more may be added this year but unfortunately, this was not discussed during the conference.

– No mention on improvements to Manager’s mode or Career mode. This goes without saying. These two areas have been in need of an overhaul for years. There have been unrealistic transfers made, the stats and graphics have uniformly been getting more drab, and much of what’s there now has essentially been unchanged since 2011. It would behoove gamers to keep their eyes out during this year’s E3 as hopefully this gets addressed.

– Nothing has been addressed as far as new league or tournament licenses. This may be really disappointing to fans especially since EA also did not push a Euro 2016 DLC pack this year either. On the other hand, that’s $30 saved for something that should already be included. However this doesn’t mean that gamers won’t hear anything between now and its release date.

Lastly, there will be different editions for gamers to choose from. Per EA’s website, gamers can purchase the following:

Standard Edition
– Full game
– Up to five (5) FUT Draft Tokens (one (1) per week over five (5) weeks – worth up to $15)
– Eight (8) match FUT loan item of Hazard, Martial, Reus, or Rodriguez
– Custom FUT kits created by designers or FIFA soundtrack artists

Deluxe Edition
– Full game
– Up to 20 FIFA Ultimate Team Jumbo Premium Gold Packs (one (1) per week over 20 weeks – worth up to $60)
– Three (3) match FUT Team of the Week loan player (up to one (1) player per week over 20 weeks)
– Eight (8) match FUT loan item of Hazard, Martial, Reus, or Rodriguez
– Custom FUT kits created by designers or FIFA soundtrack artists

Super Deluxe Edition
– Digital Only
– Full game
– Up to 40 FIFA Ultimate Team Jumbo Premium Gold Packs (two (2) per week over 20 weeks – worth up to $120)
– Three (3) match FUT Team of the Week loan player (up to two (2) players per week over 20 weeks)
– Eight (8) match FUT loan item of Hazard, Martial, Reus, or Rodriguez
– Custom FUT kits created by designers or FIFA soundtrack artists

So far, this is all we know about FIFA 17 as of right now. The big question, of course, is whether or not FIFA 17’s “overhaul” will mount a challenge to whatever Konami’s PES 2017 puts out. In my opinion, PES 2016 was the better of the two games last year; at least as far as on the pitch game play was concerned. If EA paid attention to the small things that made PES 2016 such a great footy game, we may see this year heat up for footy and gaming fans.

FIFA 17 releases in the US on all major current generation consoles on September 27, 2016 and rest of the world on September 29, 2016. For those with EA Early Access they should get a chance to access the game a few days before the release date as well.

Own FIFA 16 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, or PC? Pre-order the FIFA 17 Super Deluxe edition through the FIFA 16 main menu in-game and save 10% on your purchase.

Or pre-order FIFA 17 from Amazon today.