EA Sports FC 25 review

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Highly playable, yet naggingly familiar | EA Sports FC 25 review

Transcript

00:00Can an annual sports game improve year on year, and yet receive a lower score?

00:04The first entry of the post-FIFA era delivered innovation across the board,

00:09as EAs sought to reboot with a bang, and our FC24 review certainly reflects this.

00:14FC25, perhaps inevitably, edges the series forward in a more subtle manner. This could

00:20easily have been called FC24 too, it's highly playable, yet naggingly familiar.

00:26The pillars of football can't much be meddled with. Passing, dribbling, shooting,

00:32swearing as Erling Haaland smashes a hat-trick past your back for, and FC24 already covered

00:38these well. It'd be a nonsense to overhaul those fundamentals, so instead this successor

00:43looks to refine and refresh quite subtly. Passes from awkward angles are less effective,

00:49the AI commits a few more fouls, keepers feel different due to new goalie-specific playstyles,

00:54some punch rather than catch crosses, while rebound outcomes from saves feel more varied,

00:59occasionally gifting you a lovely tap-in.

01:02Realistically though, you're not buying a new football game based on keeper behaviours.

01:06FC25's main on-pitch focus is therefore under the hood, with EA choosing to refine the way

01:12tactics work. Player instructions operate within a wider team-focused framework,

01:17with last year's brilliant addition of playstyles enhanced by a new feature called player roles.

01:22Using Jude Bellingham at cam feels markedly different to Jamal Musiala because the former

01:27functions best as a roaming playmaker, while the latter's preference is the shadow striker role.

01:32As such, a simple 4-3-1-2 becomes much more nuanced and fluid, with these roles determining

01:38off-the-ball runs and general positioning sense. Further enhancements occur mid-match.

01:42Nuggets of tactical advice pop up on your HUD, with changes to your personalised presets

01:46simply actioned. Tapping down on the D-pad brings up three options to switch to,

01:50such as tiki-taka 4-2-3-1 or counter-attack 5-4-1. These are separate from your tactical focus,

01:56defending, attacking, default, accessed with a right tap. Overall, this new system is a

02:01dream for tactical obsessives like me, who've spent years embracing similar strategic freedom

02:06in Football Manager. I'm not convinced those who want to sweat their way through Ultimate

02:10Team with pace merchants are going to be as fussed, but that's no reason to criticise

02:14a depth-enhancing feature. Ironically, FC25's best addition

02:19doesn't require much tactical thought at all. Rush is a 5-a-side match type available across

02:24all modes, and a thrill to play in each. It replaces the FIFA Street-inspired VOLTA mode,

02:29featuring matches in a bespoke Nike-sponsored stadium on a pitch around one-third of the real

02:34size. Controls, skill moves and shooting exactly mirror the 11-a-side version,

02:39but innovations within bring immersion. Traditional kick-offs being replaced with a full-on ball

02:43chase, and receiving blue cards rather than red ones securing a one-minute Sinbin stint.

02:48This new gold bonanza is best indulged via Ultimate Team, and is the highlight of this

02:53year's card-collecting fantasy-fest. You choose an individual card from your club,

02:57and that player is dropped into an 8-keyman match where only the keepers are AI-controlled.

03:02You can choose to play for friends, but the chaos of random teammates and opponents is actually more

03:07addictive as you gradually figure out who's playing where and adapt to teammate tendencies.

03:11Sadly, the commentary is dreadful, but more often than not you're having too much fun to care.

03:16Otherwise, Ultimate Team is what you're used to with assorted quality of life improvements.

03:20Pack openings are neatly revised, with a quick glimpse of the highest-rated player's silhouette

03:24providing an initial tease. The new duplicates folder, enabling untradeable cards to be dropped

03:30into squad-building challenges, is a godsend, although hardly rocket science. And FC24's

03:35god-awful teal design for upgraded evolution items can finally be waved farewell. Now you

03:40get to customise your card shapes, colours and even sound and visual effects. Such granular

03:45improvements pop up throughout FC25. Full-match intros with line-up screens and team close-ups

03:51return, but can be toggled on or off before kick-off by holding a button. Replays now offer

03:55a means to build your own highlights package, and splendid photo mode. Season pass XP is earned

04:00across the game, unlocking rewards throughout, although Season 1 demonstrates a heavy focus

04:05on Ultimate Team. Player profiles within team screens are far more easy to digest. It all counts.

04:12Those open-minded enough to eschew Ultimate Team for Season Mode are in for the most pleasant

04:16surprise of all. Once FIFA's marquee mode, it has had to hover in the background during the

04:21rise of foot, yet FC25 introduces a suite of new features to form a strong alternative.

04:26Women's teams are a vital inclusion, and job offers can see you switch back and forth between

04:31male and female sides as the years progress. Rush is cleverly integrated to cover youth tournaments,

04:37offering a chance to test out your wonderkids, and new Cranium tech, where AI converts real-life

04:42photos into in-game likenesses, means even players in lower leagues can look

04:47somewhat like their real selves. The pick of these Season Mode upgrades is the Sim

04:51gameplay option. Matches play out at an enjoyable cerebral pace, where realistic

04:56weather effects see wind-chained ball trajectories on crosses or clearances.

05:00It's still unmistakably FC, I'd hope the feel might be more like classic Pro Evo,

05:05but such a relief from the breathlessness of Ultimate Team. As a purist, I'd love to see this

05:10become the default way to play FC26, but the fact that it often ends in narrow 1-1 draws already

05:16tells me that it won't be. There is a contradiction in that FC25's best bits are the full-on chaos of

05:22Rush and the pared-down pace of a simulation-oriented career, but this has always been a series of

05:28consistent inconsistency, where a walkout pack opening or a 25-yard equaliser convinces you

05:34it's the best sports game going, only for an opponent's last-minute victory to have you

05:38launching your controller across the room. You love it, then hate it, you tear into it

05:43on social media, then buy it anyway. You swear you'll never play it again on Friday,

05:48then binge an entire weekend league on Saturday. Such is the joy and madness and brilliance and

05:53fury of FIFA. Sorry, FC24 too. Sorry, FC25. It might get on your wick, but we both know you'll

06:01still be playing it endlessly from now until next August. We give EA Sports FC25 four stars out of

06:08five. Thanks for watching. Have you been playing EA Sports FC25? If so, what do you make of it?

06:15Let us know in the comments and stick with GamesRadar for the latest reviews, features and more.

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