EA Sports FC 26 Review

The years seem to fly by, and I feel like I am saying this more frequently. It is that time of year again. What I mean by this is the arrival of this year’s instalment of the most popular football game (not soccer) on the planet. EA Sports FC 26 has arrived on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One, alongside PlayStation 4|5, PC, and Nintendo Switch 1|2. I’ll be honest and say that the last few titles have been minor changes from year to year, but this time around, there appear to be many more notable alterations. For those who haven’t visited in some time or are undecided about buying, there is something to make everyone happy here.

Seasonal Structure Has Changed

EA have refined the free and premium season passes so that it isn’t such a relentless grind. Previous games had you having to pour hundreds of hours to even get close to the end. Now there is cross-mode progression so that you can earn XP in different modes that all count towards the same progression loop. As far as I am aware, the development teams are going to keep adding content throughout each season to keep things fresh for maximum engagement. Great work by the teams here, and it makes everything much more achievable.

Pro Clubs

Well, they have finally gone and done it; you can now join more than one club at a time. Three clubs can be joined at once, and you are free to switch between them at any stage. Only your favourite club counts towards any seasonal rewards, though. The skill tree has vanished and now adopts an Archetype selection where you can choose from a range of different playstyles. You can still unlock different playstyles as you progress to give some incentive to continue playing. Rush has introduced some knockout tournaments, and it feels like the mode is much more polished and direct than last year.

Ultimate Team

Ultimate Team is what turns the hamster wheel for EA, and when you see how much revenue is involved, you can’t blame them. The virtual card-based mode has evolved massively since its introduction over a decade and a half ago. Everything is a little tidier when it comes to the modes and menus.  There is a live events hub with rotating competitions. Knockout tournaments are back with exclusive rewards. Gauntlet mode has been introduced, but is currently not available at the time of review. This Mode has you playing five matches with a different squad each round. There is even a challenger’s mode, which is basically FUT Champions for players with less time.

Rivals mode has had a few tweaks, with bounties added that will give extra rewards for carrying out certain challenges. Checkpoints are much more interesting, and there are no more play-offs for champs qualification. Ultimate Team opts for the competitive style of play, which makes matches fast-paced. Evolutions are more flexible, and you can also evolve goalkeepers for the first time. Free and paid season passes are still present, and also the plethora of different priced packs, but grind out the mode, and you can still be pleasantly rewarded. Ultimate Team has a shower of new depth this season.

Hurrah, Loads Of Changes to Career Mode

Whilst Ultimate Team is usually the bread and butter, Career Mode is a mode that the more casual players tend to dive into. I’m pleased that there has been a lot more love poured in than usual this year. The biggest addition is, without a doubt, the Manager Live Challenges. These scenarios range from rescuing a club from relegation or rebuilding a squad ridden with injuries. Length of these experiences can range from short, snappy bursts of gameplay or spread across several seasons. It was refreshing to see other angles to engage in career mode.

Playing Career Mode in the Authentic Gameplay type makes for a slower-paced experience than Competitive. It allows for methodical and thought-out-paced football where passes have decent weight and battling against players feels realistic. Along with more cutscenes between matches and build-up to big fixtures, it all seems to be more exciting to play. Transfers seem to be a bit more believable from opposing teams, and the youth system also appears to be deeper than ever and also easier to understand. EA have made the whole Career Mode feel like a totally revamped portion of the game rather than tacking on small additions year on year.

Visuals & Audio

This time around, everything seems a bit more polished right across the board. Whilst the look and feel of menus hasn’t really changed much, they appear to be tidier and segregated better. Ultimate Team modes are far easier to navigate compared with previous instalments. On Xbox Series X, the game runs at a native 4k resolution at 60 frames per second. As previously mentioned, cutscenes are now on a wider scale, bringing more atmosphere before kick-off.

There are plenty of lighting improvements which I found much more noticeable in Career mode, seeing shadows and lighting moving across the pitch as the game progresses. Crowds also look like they have had a bit more work with more reactive crowd noise and much more detail. Commentary does the job and has various duos commentating across different modes, leagues, and more. One feature that did impress me was the number of real-world managers that you can take control of, though I would have liked to have seen some in the Championship and below in England.

One aspect of EAFC that I always look forward to is the soundtrack. They always nail the playlists on each title, so much so that I have some of them saved on Spotify for listening away from the games. You’ll have a diverse range of music that is often undiscovered till you hear the tracks on these games, and the tunes are always catchy!

Final Thoughts

EA Sports FC 26 feels like it has made some exceptional strides forward this year. Having played for approximately 25-30 hours since Early Access was released and having invested a similar amount of time in the Closed Beta build, I can confidently say it’s the best version of the game we have had in several years. The key feature is the introduction of two gameplay modes: Authentic and Competitive.

It’s nice to see that a lot more attention has gone into Career Mode as well as Ultimate Team. EA have for sure put the work in this time around to try and please every player type that dives into the yearly release.

The game is almost polished to perfection this time around, and whilst I have struggled finding my feet in Ultimate Team so far, I am having a bloody great time. If you haven’t dipped into the series for some time, then this year is an ideal opportunity to return. If you’re a regular, then you’ll be right at home with a sprinkle of exciting new features.