In terms of gaming, you know one thing for sure: every year a new version of EA Sports FC 25 comes out. But is this year’s edition worth buying?
The latest version of EA Sports FC always causes quite a bit of discussion. Does it improve the game enough to justify a $64.99 price tag on the Xbox Series S/X and PlayStation 5?
WANT editor Jeroen Kraak got to try out the game a few days before its release. He tells you what he noticed about the new game.
This is EA Sports FC 25
It’s a common complaint every year: there’s hardly any improvement in EA’s latest soccer game. This will probably be the case again with EA Sports FC 25 as well. Still, I’ve had a pretty good time with the game over the past few days. I’ll tell you why.
I myself belong to the group of people who no longer buy a new EA Sports FC (formerly FIFA) every year. My last soccer game I played was FIFA 23.
(Image: EA)
Although I was an avid Ultimate Team player, I didn’t find it outweighed by having to spend another 65 euros on a new installment in which the mechanics and gameplay had barely changed. My players still made huge blunders that I couldn’t do anything about, and online matches sometimes felt a bit scripted.
OK, that was my feeling, and admittedly, I’m not the best player either. But little innovation was indeed there. Still, I took some getting used to starting EA Sports FC 25, as a few things had really changed, including defending. This is sometimes a little trickier because you have to be better positioned. In addition, the dribbling feels more natural and the game has become a bit more realistic and slower. But really innovative? I have unfortunately not been able to discover that.
New features
There are some new features in the game, though. What stands out the most is Rush, a new mode in EA Sports FC 25, which is actually the replacement for Volta. In this mode, you play 5-on-5, with each player controlling a different soccer player.
This mode is especially fun with friends, because when you play it with strangers, it can cause frustration. Many players focus mainly on their own actions rather than team play. Still, it’s a funny addition that makes for quick pots. As with Volta, however, you will find yourself abandoning it after a while.
(Image: EA)
Career Mode also has some new features. It’s easier to personalize your club, and the system takes more into account what happens in the real world. It has become slightly more realistic, if the question is whether you will really play it often, since most people start Ultimate Team right away anyway.
Ultimate Team
And that Ultimate Team has also been revamped a little bit, especially in the background. FC IQ makes it easier to develop tactics for your team in EA Sports FC 25. For example, you can more easily adjust the roles of individual players and choose to change your formation while attacking or defending.
EA Sports immediately indicates the major advantages and disadvantages of your tactics, so you can choose exactly what suits you best. Moreover, you can adopt the tactics of a particular manager and even download tactics from the Internet with a simple code.
But Ultimate Team also has some drawbacks. For example, the menu structure really needs to be revamped. It still works cumbersome when you want to switch from one function to another.
Licenses
EA Sports FC 25 has also lost some club licenses. For example, AC Milan and Inter are no longer in the game. The players’ names are correct, but the clubs’ names, shirts and logo have been changed, as happened earlier with Juventus.
Still, two clubs also return. You can play again in the blue of Napoli and the burgundy of AS Roma.
EA Sports FC 25 is a good step forward
While EA Sports FC 25 is not hugely innovative, it is moving in the right direction. Soccer has become a little more realistic and plays a little more naturally. It’s nice that you can now change tactics to your liking even more easily.
However, there are still plenty of areas for improvement, with the menu structure in particular being addressed. In addition, the connection is not always stable, but this may be solved with an update. So for me it is a fine edition, especially after I skipped a year.
EA Sports FC 25
EA
7
Score
Plus points
Making tactics easier Some more focus on Career Mode More realistic
Minuses
Not very innovative Connection problems Menus should be easier
EA Sports FC 25 is not very innovative, but it takes some right steps. In particular, adjusting your tactics even more easily is a really nice addition. However, it still needs to fix some issues, including the menus and connection problems. Nonetheless, it is still an entertaining game that is sure to entertain you for (way too many) hours.
