EA Sports FC 25 Review (PS5) – As difficult as it is to innovate on yearly franchises, it felt that last year’s FC24 was a step in the right direction. Despite some exploits and repetitive gameplay loops against more competitive opponents, FC24 felt better than the previous years’ iteration.
EA Sports‘ insanely popular football simulation is walking a similar road with EA Sports FC 25, albeit due to different reasons. What is certain, is much like Jude Bellingham at Birmingham City F.C, the potential is clear to see, but will FC25 live up to it?
EA Sports FC 25 Review (PS5) – Form Is Temporary, Class Is Permanent
Welcome To The Club
Ahead of FC25’s release, I really didn’t pay much attention to gameplay reveals, or hype trailers. At this point, having played every entry since FIFA 99, I generally know what I’m in for. There is comfort in the predictability of EA’s football simulator, that whilst it doesn’t always reach such lofty heights, it is consistent in a way that none of its competitors have managed.
In the past few years, there has been a distinct lack of space in the attacking third of the pitch, which as a result saw players run down the channels and cut it back for easy tap ins. If that wasn’t available, they’d simply try it again and again until it was. Work the angles, controlled dribbling, intricate turns utilizing certain player traits, all funnelled into one eventuality; a snooze fest of cut backs and tap ins.
Towards the middle to latter stages of FC24’s life it was a bit maddening. FC25 clearly learnt from that. So far, in my experience, I have been able to protect and keep hold of the ball more in the final third, and even find incisive passes to cut a defense open, from multiple angles at that. This is such a satisfying part of the beautiful game, and it really brings the whole experience up a notch.
However, as of writing, there is (once again) a frustrating gameplay exploit, especially as you work your way up the divisions, where you can hold L1, release, tap R2, to transition from controlled dribbling and burst into space, and it effectively beats every defender, leaving them for dust. This gameplay quirk absolutely needs addressing and fixing ASAP.
Halftime Adjustments
FC25 presents us with a more deliberate gameplay loop than we’ve seen from EA’s football franchise in a long time. I don’t think it is going to land with everyone, as people might associate the FC games with pace and fluidity, but there has been a conscious change in EA’s approach to its simulator.
Breaking teams down now requires more patience, perhaps more knowledge of tactics, and certainly some imagination. Unless you get on the half turn and use the exploit to burst into space, which even the worlds best defenders can’t adjust to, of course.
This change to a steady build up, is certainly very welcomed. The ability to switch up tactics on the fly during the game to more personalized options, even allows for a level of creativity that we definitely haven’t seen in previous entries. It remains to be seen, but it might even help with singular transitions on the field.
Suffocating, oppressive, possession football isn’t working? Switch up the inside forwards to hug the touchline and stretch the game, or maybe concede possession and attempt a counter attacking brand of football. This certainly isn’t the be all, end all, as sheer mechanics will likely win out, but it’s still a very solid addition, that overtime, could and should become vital to the experience.
It is worth noting, there is a more heavy feeling to the gameplay, which might be intentional, but can alleviated somewhat with certain adjustments in the settings.
Pack Luck
The traditional gameplay modes are all back as expected. Yet again, career mode has received more minor updates that try and see it compete more so with Football Manager. With the game as a whole bringing about a focus on tactics, it definitely draws closer to being a genuine competitor, but still falls short with FC25.
I do always enjoy playing as West Ham and making all the signings I wish we would have made, though. We may not achieve Champions League football in reality, but Gyökeres is leading us to the promises land in my career mode, with none other than Alesandro Nesta in the managerial hot seat.
At the risk of repeating myself when it comes to Ultimate Team, the same criticisms apply here, in that it feels like a free-to-play title within a full price game. Having SBC’s (Squad Building Challenges) and rewards for rivals helps, as it gives alternative ways to build your squads and move on players that don’t fit your system.
However, unfortunately, the only way to truly compete in this mode is to spend money, quite often a lot of money, and hope you win the digital pack lottery. I had some pack luck last year, netting Mia Hamm in one of the free packs, which roped me in, but I can’t say I’ll be spending much time in FUT this season.
Surprisingly, I absolutely adore the new mode they’ve introduced to FC25, named Rush. Rush is available in every gameplay mode, where you play five aside football on a smaller field, which I find is best experienced in clubs, even if your teammates likely won’t pass the ball.
Rush Goalie
They’ve done away with Volta and brought about Rush, which oddly enough, feels like the game itself is more suited for. Everything that’s applicable in the full 11v11 game, feels better in their smaller game mode, that often feels more like football x hockey.
These fast paced games allow for a bit more freedom and creativity. It is a diluted, yet more streamlined, fast paced version of its full size counterpart. Plainly, it’s just more fun. Although that does rely on having a team who want to actually play the mode as team, rather than thinking they’re prime Lionel Messi and losing the ball trying to drop the shoulder on the first defender.
It is also in this mode where I felt a distinct lack of balance in the games audio design. The ambient sounds, crowd noises often drown out the commentators, or the goal music, and finely tuning it in the settings often means sacrificing way more of one of those than I would like. Overall the sound itself does seem improved upon, but the mixing definitely hurts it.
Also included is a lot of new minor tweaks, which some work and some don’t. Most notably the professional foul system being introduced is a great addition. Especially as it is tactically important to the modern game. On the other hand, the newly introduced first person replay system is awful. It only takes away from seeing the great goals you’ve scored over again, and often looks like a geometrical mess.
Extra Time
Other than Rush being the biggest improvement to the Clubs game mode, there are other additions that include facilities that provide coaching hires which in turn give your players some stat boosts. On top of that is a new creation suite which has seen players get really creative, but unnecessarily more frustrating to navigate.
Graphically there are minimal improvements, but it does look great on PS5, with some player faces looking better than others. The development team have fine tuned some animations that successfully lend itself to realism. You can also apply wind and rain effects in the settings, as they aren’t on by default, which will actively impact the gameplay, if a more accurate simulation is what you are after.
As long as the L1 sprint boost is patched, FC25 proves that form is temporary but class is permanent. With its highly satisfying incisive passes, thoroughly enjoyable Rush game mode, and the ever increasing additions from more in-depth tactics, and refocused deliberate gameplay, EA Sports FC 25 is a definite improvement on last year’s entry, and continues its upwards trend as a franchise.
EA Sports FC 25 is available now on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series Family, and PC.
Review code kindly provided by publisher