EA Sports FC 25 Review

It is now the second outing of the most popular video game adaption of football without the “FIFA” name, but I reckon 99% of the hardcore fanbase still calls it by its original name. I’m not wrong, am I? We have arrived at that time of year when plenty of players, especially the streaming and YouTube scene spend ridiculous amounts of money on the annual outing of Ultimate Team. Ever since the introduction of the card-based mode, it has always appeared that the rest of the game has been neglected and brushed aside somewhat. I can’t say I blame them, as a business you’re going to lean towards where the revenue is and Ultimate Team generates an obscene amount of money for EA. Has EA Sports FC improved on last year though? After around 25 hours of gameplay let me divulge in my thoughts.

Rush Mode

Gone is Volta football as a core mode, so no longer will you be knocking the ball around concrete jungles doing fancy flicks in tracksuits. Instead, we see the introduction of Rush 5v5 mode which I have spent a lot of time playing during my review. You can’t access this as a standalone mode, but it can be found in Kick Off, Career Mode, Clubs and Ultimate Team, so there are plenty of opportunities to play across a smaller pitch. Offsides exist and so do yellow cards, but instead of a red card, we have a blue one that will put you in the sin bin for 60 seconds, meaning your team drops a player for a short period. Penalties are also similar to ice hockey where the player runs one on one with the keeper, so be prepared for rebounds.

Rush matches last 7 minutes in total so it is ideal for a quicker turnaround against your standard game of football. If the match finishes as a draw then it goes to extra time and the first team to score in a further 2 minutes and 20 seconds wins the match. If no Golden Goal is secured then a penalty shoot-out decides the outcome. Whilst this is essentially 5v5, bear in mind that the goalkeepers are AI-controlled so only you and three other mates can get in on the action if you’re playing as a group. Playing Solo? Not an issue as you can jump into drop-in games with other solo players and still play. If you’re missing Volta football, then this can be found under the Kick-Off section for offline play with mates or AI.

Ultimate Team

Not everyone likes Ultimate Team but plenty do, so I have to talk about it, unfortunately. There are plenty of changes here which feature across the variance of modes and mechanics. As heavily featured in this review, Rush mode is a nice space to take a break from deep competitive play and still allows you to level up your season pass and gain UT coins. You pick from your catalogue of cards depending on the rules of the featured playset and away you go. For example, at the time of writing you can only select a player that is untradeable in your collection up to a maximum rating of 79. I like that they have these rules so that not everyone is running around with the Haalands and Mbappes.

Team Of The Week cards have been tweaked to grant the particular player a role based on their performance in the match that gave them the card. Also, a very welcome addition is the ability to store up to 100 duplicate ultimate team cards to use towards your squad-building challenges. Finally, those duplicates will have some use rather than being quickly sold or untradeables going into the abyss.

Evolutions have been tinkered with to allow more upgrades to be achievable for even more players. Division rivals’ point scoring has been adjusted so that you now gain points for a draw, which is much needed as drawing a match felt like a complete waste of time previously. My favourite change though has to be the season passes are now spread to gain XP from most modes in the game overall, meaning you won’t feel guilty for diving into Career mode for a bit.

Career Mode

One of the biggest new entries into Career Mode is the addition of Women’s Football, you can now get involved as a player as a manager across the female leagues. These include Barclays WSL, D1 Féminine, the NWSL, Frauen-Bundesliga, Liga F, and the Women’s Champions League. This is fantastic not only for people who love the Women’s side of the sport but gives extra options to play through.

Tactics have had a complete overhaul this year with the new FC IQ options, which allow you to get deep with your management brain. Allowing you to fine-tune your players with different playstyles and pre-set formations that allow you to adjust on-field arrangements on the fly. Icons are also available in Career with origins stories which will allow you to take former world-class players and embark on a player career with them.

So if you fancy getting your Zinedine Zidane head-on, you can do so. There are a few other changes such as being able to switch between realistic and classic options to switch between that arcade vibe or one that is more true to life. If you love your transfer negotiations then you can also now mess around with the difficulty of the transfer market along with a stricter board if you wish. Or if you’re like me you can take on a League One or Two club and give yourself a billion quid to play around with. I did find that press conferences have altered ever so slightly but still repeat similar questions and cutscenes are lacking between matches still.

Graphics & Audio

Visually I’d say EA Sports FC 25 doesn’t differ from the last outing in terms of its looks. A new season brings new kits and suchlike which are always authentic where licenced. One thing that I have noticed is a lot more players move authentically with their real-life movements, something I only perhaps noticed in popular players. This is all thanks to the FC IQ and consistent approach to Hypermotion Technology. I’ve always said I’d love to see Conference teams in EA FC but unfortunately, League Two is as low as it gets when it comes to the English leagues.

As always we have a stunning soundtrack and they always do really well with bringing catchy undiscovered music to the fray in these games. The commentary remains very similar to previous titles with a mix of male and female commentators. Rush mode appears to have adopted the voicing from Volta modes and whilst their enthusiastic approach is somewhat annoying at times, I can’t help but keep it on for the feel and atmosphere, so I guess it’s doing its job.

Final Thoughts

There are many adjustments in this year’s instalment of EA Sports FC, plenty of them minor and some of them a bit more obvious. I always come back to the fact though that it must be incredibly difficult to change a football game year on year without changing the gameplay loop. The stand-out addition for me is the addition of Rush in both Pro Clubs and Ultimate Team, allowing you to play five a side without those silly Volta power-ups from years gone by. If you’re on the fence about whether you want to spend your hard-earned on a game that may not differ much if you invest time in a particular mode, then I recommend playing the ten-hour trial.

Try Before You Buy

You can access the ten-hour trial using an Xbox Game Pass subscription or via EA Play on other platforms. For me personally, I have never skipped a “FIFA” game in all my gaming life and I’m not going to start now. As always though, on the face of things, the changes aren’t drastic and quite subtle. Those who plough hours every year will notice the changes, but there is still enough to call it the most polished and realistic football title out there. Unfortunately with not many to contend with eFootball and UFL lacking in many areas, EA Sports FC 25 is where to get your football fix this season.