Platform(s): Xbox Series, PlayStation 5, PC
Genre: Sophomore Season Strides 

“Hello everybody! We welcome you today to the review of the latest of its long line of storied game franchise: EA SPORTS FC 25. This is not Peter Drury on commentary but if it was him, he’d tell you he’s excited to see what’s in store from the franchise that has grown alongside football to be a global phenomenon.”

Developed by the EA Sports and into its second year under a new moniker, EA SPORTS FC 25 – you would be forgiven to mistakenly call it ‘FIFA’. Two years’ worth of name change does not erase EA Sports legacy with the ‘FIFA’ brand which spans over 30 years producing the most-played football sim game out there.

On the box, the number ‘4’ has been replaced with ‘5’ but trust us, improvements are aplenty. Whether they are your cup of tea is another matter. But what we can tell from our review sessions is that this year’s game is more than just a roster update.

More Than Just Copy Paste Work?

Headlining EA Sports’ annual crown jewel, as always, is the on-field gameplay. Those returning from last year’s FC24 instalment would instantly recognize a reduction in overall pace of play. Not so much that things are reduced to a snail’s pace – it’s far from that. However, the action now feels more measured akin to real-life pace. In return, the game now feels less arcade-y and a smidge closer to the real thing.

As a result, gamers will, by instinct, play a deliberately slower game to capitalize on missteps and overly-committed defenders who miss a tackle. Feint moves now carry greater weight than ever. If last year, EA Sports’ main marketing spiel were the rebranding and volumetric capture – A technology which closer mimics a football player’s overall stats and physical attributes with of their real-life counterparts – this year’s installment focuses more on the football player’s mental attributes and decision making.

The fancy marketing label for it is ‘FC IQ’, a feature that allows you, the gamer to give more detailed on-field instructions to their players. For example, you can instruct your Wingbacks to tuck in to help more with the defense or have your winger to cut into the middle during attacking phases. As seen in the clip below, watch how Chiesa drifts into the empty spot the moment Liverpool got the ball close to the penalty box.

For those who played Football Manager games, this would be like a duck to water as it has been a staple feature for many games now. Needless to say, EA Sports moved in the right direction when it comes to introducing more realism and authenticity to how strategies are played out on the field. However, from our experience, FC IQ, while refreshing when it works, can be equally frustrating when they do not. Several times we found our Wingbacks standing idly in defense eventhough we have recovered the ball, resulting in many missed opportunities for a swift counter-attack.

At other times, you may find players out of their position due to over-commitment in specific phases or just like real-life players, they just switched off. Also, we cannot be fully certain but did noticed that players tend to pass to an unintended receiver or passing the ball short when their stamina gauge is low. This may be attributed to lowered concentration or just our own mistake and/or skill issue.

Mistakes will be greatly punished and momentum carries a lot of sway on how one’s team react especially when trying to hold on to a slender lead with time running out making late-game substitutions more crucial than ever. The price to pay for realism, eh?

But playing bog-standard, 11v11 matches day-in-day-out makes Erik ten Hag a dull boy. So with FC25, EA Sports returned with many of their well-known modes to keep you occupied throughout and we must say, two significant improvements done will make you play FC25 more than you have with its predecessor.

As mentioned earlier, EA Sports introduced a more detailed mechanic when it comes to specific player roles and the mode which benefited the most from it is none other than the Manager Career Mode. You can now tweak your team to suit your own, bespoke playing style and preference. While the depth of detail is nowhere near what Football Manager games offer, this is still a definite step in the right direction. Give EA Sports about three or four more releases of their FC games and the Manager Career Mode may end up giving Sports Interactive a run for their money.

Foul Play

What we do not appreciate is that in the Player Career Mode, the game tends to make some really dodgy transfer decisions which would have not happened in real life. Imagine you signing for Liverpool to play in your preferred position in CM to only find out several matches later that, they’ve sold Virgil van Dijk … to a Premier League rival. We get that this is a step to add unpredictability into one’s save but come on. There should be a parameter of realism to any given scenario. Chelsea buying 14 year old wonderkids, plausible. Manchester United having a great transfer window – highly unlikely.

But regardless of mode you choose to play, they all contribute to an in-game season pass-like progression system which rewards you in the form of various unlockables for several different game modes. One tier may reward you with a Victor Osimhen carbon fiber facemask to be used in your Player Career mode while the next tiers grants you FUT card packs, for example.

Another surprise delight in this year’s FC game is their revamped and beefed up Volta mode, rebranded as ‘Rush’. Now a 5v5 mode, Rush is played on a smaller field; probably a third of the size of a traditional pitch. It can be played in a standard mode or co-op; both on either traditional versus mode or online with and against strangers as one of the sub-modes under Ultimate Team. Helluva fun mode when your random teammates click; infuriating when you’re lumped in together with the ones who won’t pass the ball and track back to defend.

Performance of each random teammates are shown at the end and if we have gripes about this mode, there would be only two. First, there’s no ‘stay as a team’ option for randoms and two, the commentary which can be extremely grating. Nonetheless, apart from the standard 11v11 Classic Match mode, Rush – on any variant – will most probably be our most-played mode in FC25.

EA Sports’ moneymaker in the FC franchise, Ultimate Team is back to consume your weekends, as expected. Like last year, the card collecting & team building, time and money pit allows you to mix and match your team’s composition using both male and female players. A great step in raising the awareness for women’s football but we still feel this takes a ton of immersion out of the game – no matter how realistic EA Sports tries to make it. Our belief is shattered the moment we see Mia Hamm (81) has better Physical stats than Adama Traore (80). Yeah, we know she’s one of the ambassadors of the game but come on. One cannot claim to be realistic but release OP cards at the same time.

That aside, you will not run out of things to do in FUT thanks to the various modes to jump in be it FC Pro, Squad Battles and Champions but as we mentioned earlier, Rush may be a sleeper hit for everyone. Give it a go. It’s worth your while.

All in all, FC 25 is not a perfect game. There are still areas which EA Sports could improve starting with making FUT less dependent on overpowered cards and capitalizing on FC IQ. Expand on the importance of football IQ, rewarding smart plays rather than just the flashy ones and emphasize on overall team movements and EA Sports may have a winner here. However, I enjoyed this iteration more because it honestly tried harder to add more about what I love: offline and online high-level football gaming with stellar production values. The improvements & attempts here made me come back to FC 25 moreso than usual, even if it’s the only major console-centric football game in the market.

As Lor San Tekka said it in The Force Awakens …

Final Score: 80/100