Big FIFA 18 patch nerfs passing

FIFA 18 has a new patch - and it's a hefty one.

Title Update 3, which brings FIFA 18 up to version 1.04, nerfs ground passes and ground through balls.

Most FIFA 18 players agree the passing in FIFA 18 is particularly effective. I've found the game favours fast one-touch passing, with even mediocre players able to drill accurate passes into the feet of teammates from seemingly impossible angles. (More on this in my FIFA 18 review.)

Now, though, this kind of pinball-style passing should be less effective, with a patch that makes ground passes less accurate depending on their angle relative to the passer.

In short, your pass may struggle to hit its target if it's directed between 90 and 270 degrees, where zero degrees is the direction the player is facing. The biggest impact will be felt when the pass angle is between 140 and 220 degrees. Early impressions from players indicate the patch has had the desired effect, and it's now best to try to aim passes in the general direction the passer is facing, which is a bit more like real life.

Here's the patch note on gameplay:

• Made ground passes and ground through passes less effective when blindly passing the ball between 90 and 270 degrees, where 0 degrees is the direction the player is facing.
• The most significant impact will be seen when the pass angle is between 140 and 220 degrees.
• The impact scales when the pass angle is between 90 (least impact) and 139 degrees and between 221 and 270 (least impact) degrees.
• The passes impacted by this change will see: reduced ball speed, reduced accuracy.

There's more to the patch. EA's had another look at goalkeepers again to make them more robust:

• The goalkeeper sometimes parrying the ball into his own goal.
• The goalkeeper diving too early on downward header and volley shots.

And here's an interesting note: the volume of the audio in the Cristiano Ronaldo celebration has been tweaked. Now why would EA do that?

FIFA 18's Title Update 3 weighs in at 1.735GB on PlayStation 4 and 2.3GB on Xbox One. The patch notes in full are over at EA's forum.