Another year, another football game from EA Sports (itsnsegäim). After the name change last year, EA Sports FC 25 presents itself with some interesting innovations, but remains true to the familiar recipe in many areas. I kicked my way through the virtual football fields and don’t want to withhold my impressions from you.
When you start the game, you immediately notice the revised user interface. Unfortunately, this isn’t always an advantage: the menus sometimes seem overloaded and not particularly intuitive. It takes a while to get your bearings – this can be frustrating, especially in menu-heavy modes like Career. Works with the controller, becomes more frustrating on the PC with mouse/keyboard. Important information is sometimes hidden behind several tabs, making navigation unnecessarily difficult.
Example: Contract management is completely opaque and has to be found first. Unpleasant: Sometimes the submenu would get so stuck that you couldn’t get to the main menu. You then have to save and restart the mode – even going directly to the menu items using the shoulder button was impossible.
The biggest innovation in FC 25 is undoubtedly the FC IQ system. It replaces the old AI behavior and gives each player specific roles and focus. In theory, that sounds promising: more tactical depth, more individual player profiles. In practice it also works quite well, especially when it comes to the offensive players’ routes. The defense still often puzzles me. I also experienced complete failures in behavior – this was also confirmed to me by co-author Caschy, who also spent hours in the game.
The overhaul is still noticeable on the pitch. The game feels a bit slower and more deliberate than its predecessor. Passes have more weight, shots have more force. You have a little more control over the gameplay. However, there are also downsides: the defense often feels sluggish, especially against fast attackers. The new system doesn’t seem to be fully developed yet. The goalkeepers also continue to show inconsistent behavior – sometimes they parry impossible shots, sometimes they let easy balls through. Just a classic. Pro tip is that you adapt the difficulty of the game to yourself. If professional is too lame, but world class is too hard, then you can readjust the AI. That works well.
Graphically, something has changed again. The player models look better than ever, especially among the football greats. The new “Cranium” system for generic faces is a step in the right direction, even if it is not always convincing. Under optimal conditions, the players look much more realistic – but occasionally also very strange. Greetings from Uncanny Valley.
The presentation during games is impressively detailed – something EA has always been great at anyway. Stadium atmosphere, overlays and team-specific graphics packages contribute to authentic football play.
A positive surprise is the new Rush mode, which replaces Volta. The quick 5v5 matches are just fun and a welcome change. In general, I miss the arcade-like nature of Volta a bit. Rush is much slower and more realistic and in my opinion falls short in the general game.
Ultimate Team in general remains – surprise, surprise – largely unchanged, apart from minor improvements. For example, contracts have disappeared. However, I was never able to do much with UT, so I’m not a reference there. For me, this is EA’s biggest money grab. Career mode has received some interesting additions. Women’s leagues are now included and the weather plays a larger role, if desired. The new customization options for board expectations and training intensity give you a little more flexibility. Nevertheless: As already mentioned above, the complicated menus ruin a lot for me. It takes forever to get to your destination, or you simply miss crucial options because you don’t know where to look.
All in all, EA Sports FC 25 is a step in the right direction, but only a tiny one. The new FC IQ system and the rush mode are successful additions that make it a little more varied. Unfortunately, there is also the overloaded user interface and well-known problems such as sometimes surprisingly stupid AI and occasional bugs. There are still situations where you think the game will decide who wins. Colleague Caschy already had the problem with his predecessor that there were far too many penalties (handball) – and that your own goalkeeper leaves the box when you are in your own 16 with the speed button.
In my opinion, it’s only worth taking a look here if the last game you bought was a FIFA title or you always need the latest version. Caschy, on the other hand, thinks that the update is worth it – from his point of view it feels even more realistic.
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