EA Sports FC 25 Review: A Good Game That Lacks New Features

This Friday, September 27, EA Sports FC 25, the latest installment in the Electronic Arts football franchise, is officially released. After a name change last year following a financial disagreement with FIFA, is the sports simulation worth a try? This is the question we will try to answer in this test, after a week of play, thanks to a key provided by the publisher.

Prettier and More Immersive Than Ever

FIFA is Dead, Long Live EA Sports FC. New Series, Same Team, Everything Is Done So That FIFA Fans Stay On Board. But What Does This EA Sports FC 25 Really Bring? 4 Big New Features Rule This New Game: FC IQ, roles, goalkeeper playing styles and Rush mode. Before we get into the details of these new features, let's take a look at EA Sports FC 25 as a whole, from its graphics to its immersion, including its gameplay and game modes (where we'll focus on the famous “Rush” mode). The second installment of the end of the FIFA era, EA Sports FC 25presents itself as a promise of renewal, notably introducing innovative elements that modify the gaming experience. In a good way? Not all the time, unfortunately.

Graphically, EA Sports FC 25 is impeccable. The players' faces are faithfully modeled, as are their signature strikes/celebrations. A few managers are also affected, although we would have liked EA to look into this more. With Frostbite, the series' game engine since FIFA 17, the publisher has not said its last word. An engine that holds the distance well, it remains to be seen how far the designers of Electronic Arts will manage to take it. The game mechanics are fluid, responsive, with an increased feeling of control with the ball at your feet, in particular thanks to redesigned ball physics.

The strikes, more realistic than ever, offer an unparalleled feeling of immersion. The passes are precise, when the AI ​​is not playing tricks on them, with well-thought-out controls that do not affect the smooth running of an action. The experience is immersive, thanks in particular to detailed stadiums, but above all to redesigned facial expressions. A strong graphic impact that reinforces immersion, with strikes and ball movement more immersive than ever.

The strength of thisEA Sports FC 25, it is without a doubt its few new features (too few, it must be admitted). With FC IQ, tactics get a makeover.Tactical bases have been redesigned to provide improved strategic control, while collective movements are supposed to be more fluid. That's on paper. In practice, the reality is much less clean. Of course, customization is more advanced than ever, particularly thanks to changes to collective tactics and roles. In reality, your teammates' AI sometimes decides to ruin an action to avoid stepping on your toes.

A sawtooth AI

Understand that instead of making a call or pressing an opponent, a teammate, including with an offensive tactic, will remain wisely at his post without any initiative being taken. It is therefore possible to stay a few seconds on the spot with two players looking each other in the whites of the eyes. Bromance or romance, only the 3rd half will enlighten us on the subject. Frustrating, the AI ​​of this EA Sports FC 25 is undeniably so.

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Tant&ocirc ;and engineering control, sometimes positioning in the cabbages,AI will probably force you to change your approach more than once during the match.Teammates are often too passive, as are your opponents. As a result, matches (on Ultimate difficulty) sometimes resemble an unexciting Toulouse/Nantes. However, despite its uneven AI, EA Sports FC 25 does not lack good sides. In addition to its graphics and immersion, it is through its game modes, in particular the “Rush” mode, that the title excels.

new fun game modes

In this wild 5v5, halfway between a Volta and a classic match, you face your opponents on a well-designed half-court. Visually perfect, this game mode gives way to a beautiful spectacle, including for the most novice. No need to spend 5 minutes reaching the other end of the court to try to score, the game phases are fast, reminiscent of those of basketball.Incessant and explosive back and forths that recall how much fun football can be.

In addition to the “Rush” mode, the “King's League” mode and its personalized rules break the monotony of classic matches. A more relaxed mode than its counterparts that works extremely well, a new feature that deserves to be included in the next installments of the series. Appreciable new features that counterbalance the absence of real major additions in the “Career” mode.Subtle changes that do nothing to renew the gaming experience, a cruel failure on the part of EA for a mode particularly appreciated by long-time fans of the series.

outrageous microtransactions

This feeling of déjà vu, regulars of “FIFA” will certainly have it when discovering the “new features” of the “Ultimate Team” mode. Certainly, Ultimate Team will never have been so complete.Whether you play alone, with several players, offline or online, you will have hours of fun, “packing” and blowing. On this point, nothing to complain about. It is also always nice to be able to form mixed teams, while female players are often shunned. But it is difficult to make an Ultimate Team mode without microtransactions. And in this game, EA is king.

Still as present, they force the player to put his hand in his wallet if he wants to compete with the biggest teams on the market. Between promos, weekly challenges and temporary rewards, everything is good for providing your banking information. Especially with EA Sports FC 25, EA introduces a season pass, similar to what we already know about… Pretty much every other multiplayer AAA game. Some rewards are free, others are paid, a subtle way for EA to ask you to pay more.

Conclusion

Should you buy EA Sports FC 25? If the slick graphics, the faithfulness of the foot ball, the onion animations and fun modes like “Rush” and “King's League” manage to counterbalance, in your opinion, the uneven AI, the lack of concrete innovation and the abundance of microtransactions in the Ultimate Team mode, then yes. Concretely, EA Sports FC 25 is a good game. But after more than 30 years of existence, it is a shame to see the series innovate so little between two installments. EA Sports FC 25 is not very different from its predecessor. If you're a casual gamer and already own last year's edition, it's hard to justify buying it outright unless you want to play with your friends who also own the game. Heavy gamers should still find plenty to enjoy, whether they play mostly with friends in Classic or Ultimate Team modes, or want to try out the new modes. For those who only want to play Career mode, continue your journey in EA Sports FC 24.