EA Sports FC 25 Review

As a seasoned gamer and ardent football enthusiast, I must say that EA Sports FC 25 has certainly piqued my interest with its dynamic commentary and immersive gameplay. The feeling of being in the stadium is palpable, even if it’s just a virtual one. However, the controller audio implementation leaves much to be desired, making me wish for a mute button during those moments.

Every football enthusiast is well-acquainted with this familiar ritual: once summer ends, the transfer window shuts, you prepare a good cup of coffee, and find yourself pondering, “Could this season be unlike any other?

As a passionate gamer, I was eagerly anticipating FC 25, knowing it’s the second EA Sports football title following the end of the FIFA licensing agreement. After the rather lackluster performance of FC 24, expectations were at an all-time low. Many thought we were in store for the same old game with minor tweaks, and a full price tag to boot… but it appears this could mark a significant shift for the football gaming titan EA Sports.

This isn’t a complete transformation, but it seems like we’re returning to enjoyable, quality football after quite some time.

Football First

Following Konami’s shift of the PES series to eFootball 2022, football enthusiasts found themselves faced with a decision between FIFA’s swift, arcade-style gameplay and Football Manager’s immersive but lengthy simulation experience.

This split in game development left those yearning for realistic yet approachable gaming experiences feeling neglected, and many have stopped playing football games entirely. However, the latest EA Football Club title brings a refreshing return to form, so if you’re looking for a reason to leave that dusty copy of eFootball PES 2021 behind, here it is.

The most glaring gameplay change in FC 25 is how sprinting works when in possession.

For more than a decade in FIFA games, the Pass & Go strategy has dominated goal scoring, especially when using a swift player positioned on the wing. By executing a give-and-go maneuver and sending an accurate through pass, it becomes nearly impossible for defenders to keep up.

A more straightforward approach would be to mimic Tony Pulis’ strategy by positioning all eleven players defensively and enduring the onslaught of pressure. This resulted in a rather dull game.

In FC 25, keeping the ball at your feet might make you noticeably slower, almost excessively so. It’s unclear if this was an excessive adjustment, but the effects on gameplay are favorable.

Being able to run into space now requires creating that space. The build-up matters in FC 25.

To offset the gradual assaults, the learning curve for defense in games like FIFA and EAFC has become more challenging compared to previous titles.

EA Sports FC 25 Review

Defenders seem heavier and their challenges are effective, but anything less than that causes the defender to overshoot the ball, entering a sort of ‘no-man’s land’ or ‘Twilight Zone’, creating a big opening for attackers to exploit.

In other football games, adjustments were compensated by making defending more effective or simpler, but in FC 25, jockeying and interceptions demand a high level of skill. Since defenders are still learning their roles, goalkeepers will likely continue to play a crucial part.

In this review, we found that goalkeepers weren’t overly powerful, but they certainly added a dramatic flair. Numerous games required passionate exclamations, both joyful and frustrated, due to seemingly unstoppable scoring opportunities being thwarted dramatically at the last moment by the goalkeepers’ agile gloves.

Just as in all prior EA Football series, you can anticipate updates aimed at balancing the gameplay on the field. However, it’s challenging to foresee these patches drastically altering the gameflow of FC 25.

Tactics Galore

This game isn’t like Football Manager, and Electronic Arts understands that their primary audience doesn’t care about the intricate positions such as trequartista or enganche.

The unique aspect of FC 25 lies in its ability to empower individuals with a keen eye for detail to bring their visions to life using the Tactics Hub.

Here’s a more conversational way of explaining it: “This method makes it simple for you to tell your players exactly what they should do. Using an intuitive design, virtual coaches can easily determine what each player should do when they have the ball, as well as when they don’t.

Each role has a fact sheet provided alongside its formation map, detailing its advantages, disadvantages, and essential attributes. This way, novice players can benefit from this feature conveniently, as they won’t need to spend time searching for tactical guides on the internet.

Three Games in a Trench Coat

EA Sports often introduced game modes that failed to sustain themselves across several releases. For instance, The Journey story mode fizzled out after only two installments, despite an impressive debut. Similarly, VOLTA attempted to mimic the style of FIFA Street but ultimately faded away without much fanfare.

This year’s unique gameplay feature, named Rush, can be considered as a compact version of soccer, played with only five players on each team. Unlike the usual full-size field, it features a smaller pitch. However, the goals remain standard in size. Whether or not EA Sports will continue to support Rush remains uncertain, but early feedback suggests that it’s off to a good start.

In a departure from complex storylines like The Journey or Volta’s flashy tricks, Rush gets back to the essentials: it’s all about soccer. You can enjoy this game in traditional offline and online formats, with options such as Career mode and Ultimate Team.

In Football Club 25, it’s worth noting that Career Mode has seen some significant improvements after a decade of consistency in other game modes.

The fundamental aspect remains largely the same, yet the strategic enhancements earlier mentioned breathe life into tasks that once seemed mundane. Managing crucial emails now resembles a simplified version of Football Manager, but EA allows you to fine-tune details or automate everything for a hassle-free experience.

In contrast, South America appears sparsely populated when it comes to major leagues and clubs participating in UEFA and ASEAN competitions, as it is primarily Argentina that represents the region.

Smaller clubs face a challenge because traditionally, South America has been a rich source of gifted young players who come at lower transfer costs.

Sound & Vision

This game, with its stunning visuals and smooth transitions, is designed for an immersive living room experience when played on a larger screen.

The sound system integration appears awkward and incongruous when contrasted with the top-notch audio quality of the match, which is supplied by genuine broadcasting professionals in various languages, offering a dynamic commentary. Furthermore, it’s noticeable that the crowd’s energy level varies significantly among stadiums.

Highlights such as footage from body cameras, crowd shots, player substitutions, VAR reviews, and even seemingly ordinary moments become more noticeable when the ball goes out of play. After some time, you might find yourself instinctively skipping them, but their presence contributes to the sense that a real football match is unfolding, though it may be a simulated one.

With the help of the intriguingly titled Cranium technology, even lesser-known individuals seem less intimidating now. However, the generic faces generated by it are still quite distinct from those obtained through crowd scanning.

Menu Struggles

Navigating the menus in FC 25 feels smooth, thanks to the soothing tunes playing in the background – a welcome relief given how taxing the gameplay can get sometimes.

The sleek visuals are overshadowed by the laggy transitions and inputs. It is not clear how the developers managed to create a game that runs butter smooth in graphically intensive scenes but struggles with menus.

Some menus are also booby-trapped, like the FC Hub button on PlayStation 5. Activating it gets you a splash screen with “Reconnecting to EA Servers” that does not go away until you restart the game, potentially wiping your Career Mode progress between saves. It’s just little issues like this that can make any time not on the pitch a burden.

Eurasian Football Simulator

Instead of aiming to provide a comprehensive gaming experience as Football Manager, FC 25 fails to impress with its restricted license within the confines of its small domain.

Only England and Germany progress past the second league level, whereas Spain, Italy, and France are joined by other leagues that do not feature relegation or promotion systems.

In Italy, playing isn’t exactly the same because teams like Inter Milan, AC Milan, Lazio, Atalanta, and powerful Monza aren’t authorized.

Instead of generating excitement, the large matchup between Milano FC and Lombardia FC, featuring unappealing standard uniforms, fails to stir up interest.

It appears that many national teams are facing similar struggles. To be specific, Europe boasts 22 teams compared to the combined total of just 7 from the rest of the world. In other words, regardless of whether it’s Canada, Brazil, Australia, Japan, or Egypt, it seems like everyone is wearing the same generic badge and jersey at the moment.

Closing Comments:

This is an honest entry into football gaming, the kind you can buy this year and enjoy for two, or three seasons, or however long it takes for EA Sports to add new features worth checking out. Career Mode remains a far cry from Football Manager, and the licensing situation might as well have changed the series name to “European Football 25”. Odds are it will not get better for a while. FC 25 is like watching football: a mix of great moments, frustration, and occasionally asking yourself “Why did I put two hours into this”. The answer is that FC 25, like football, is just good fun.

2024-09-24 22:09