EA Sports FC 26 Review (PS5) – A Game Of Two Halves

EA Sports FC 26 PS5 Review. EA Sports‘ latest entry in its annualized football simulation franchise is upon us, and they will undoubtedly be looking to course correct. What was initially a solid start with last year’s FC25, saw a few too many tweaks to the formula with updates, and its community was none too thrilled with the direction it had taken.

After a substantial decline in player base, FC 26 has a big task ahead of it. It needs to make the correct changes, to bring about a winning formula, and maintain that form throughout the course of the year. So just how does it fare so far?

EA Sports FC 26 Review (PS5) – A Game Of Two Halves

It’s In The Game?

Regardless of its quality in any given year, FC 26, (formally known as FIFA) tends to remain as the premier option for football simulation games, mostly because there is very little competition, and most cannot contend with the licenses EA hold, and yet, while that is still evident, the gaps in that library of licenses are becoming more and more apparent.

The lack of many international teams, to the point where you cannot hold a traditional World Cup and absent Serie A, are both notably disappointing. Unfortunately, that does take away from the realism that the FC franchise tends to strive for, but it is especially notable this year, as the reality of the beautiful game itself, and all of its imperfections, play an active role in FC 26 itself.

Whereas in previous games you could begin a managerial career, take your team from the bottom to the absolute pinnacle of football, or start out as an amateur footballer and work your way up to the top of the game, there are more options now.

With its new “Live Challenges” addition, FC 26 brings about new ways to enjoy the career mode. For example, you can pick up where your team is at in the premier league and attempt to change their fate. So if you’re salty that Arsenal‘s title hopes were somewhat damaged, early in the season, by a Man City side uncharacteristically sitting deep, then you can hop in, and get the win. It won’t ease the pain for Arsenal fans, but it is a neat addition.

That is not all, though. Alongside this new feature boasts more unexpected events that you have to adapt to, and a very active manager market, which sees some really strange, and unrealistic scenarios take place, such as a manager roulette that started with Thomas Frank taking the Barcelona job, and ended with Arne Slot at Celtic. It’s not necessary realistic, but it is quite fun to see unfold.

In addition to this added layer of simulation and realism, not only can you choose exactly how much you would like the weather to impact the game, but also how realistic you want the gameplay itself to be. Competitive being the default choice for PVP, but opting for realism in career mode, makes for a nice change of pace, and I mean that literally.

Total Football

When it comes to the gameplay itself, EA Sports FC 26 really is a game of two halves. On one side you have total football. Passing is back in a big way. You can cut teams open by moving the ball quickly, with accuracy, perform highly satisfying incisive passes, where your attackers will run off the last man, and likely use a low driven shot to score. Perhaps until the latest update anyway. There is a sense of heightened responsiveness in FC 26.

On the other side, you have a defensive system that feels removed from the hands of the AI in many respects, which people did ask for, and thus you will be cut open quite easily by the liquid football as mentioned above. On top of that, some of legacy issues still remain, like counter attacks on corners feeling like an automatic goal, especially in the pro clubs game mode.

The conundrum is, if I had to pick, I’d rather these games with insane scorelines, where no one can defend, if the attacking play feels as good as it does right now. That is the fun part of football ultimately. I can’t imagine too many players go on FC to brag about how they jockeyed a striker into losing the ball for 15-20 yards like they’re Virgil Van Dijk.

However, EA does have a history of releasing patches that change the feel of the game so much, they become unrecognizable to the one I would review at the beginning of the season. A patch to nerf low driven shots has already been released, which while they were powerful, low driven shots across the goalkeeper is the optimal type of shot to score in reality. If simulation is the goal, or even a hybrid, then this should remain.

One aspect of gameplay that FC games typically always get right is the skill moves, and that’s no different here. The skill moves are performed with simple button inputs that allow you to create an awesome of highlight reel of skill combinations that look fantastic and feel great to pull off. The trickster rainbow flick this year is absolutely sublime, and performing one over the keeper is the sort of thing we play this game for.

The game in its current format does feel great to play overall, if you prefer the offensive side of the beautiful game, and it is my hope that if they do tweak it, they don’t go too far and uproot what is a very promising foundation for this year’s FC title.

Ace Of Clubs

Usually Pro Clubs as a game mode is largely overlooked, and tends to offer mostly the same experience as previous years. The same cannot be said for this year, however. FC 26 ushers in the most drastic alterations the mode has seen in years.

Instead of freely choosing your position and moving your ability points around to correspond with that position, you will now have to pick an archetype, which costs points to unlock, and you’re locked into that archetype until you can afford to unlock another one.

Each archetype is based on a player, such as the one I chose is based on Ronaldinho, named “Magician” which focuses on certain attributes such as dribbling, composure, and bursts of acceleration. Essentially a left winger or left attacking midfielder who operates as inside forward.

Beneath each archetype is a level based system, that has you earn stat points, to upgrade your abilities until they correspond with a specialization. When it comes to specialization, they will also be based on an actual player. With magician I will have the options of Thierry Henry, Mia Hamm, and Ronaldinho himself. All of which specialize in different parts of the game, so you can really make that position your own, and ultimately play exactly like your favorite players.

I would recommend researching beforehand, as It’s quite a grind to fully realize this, and I feel as though I chose incorrectly, and therefore locked in through both a lack of currency, and sunken cost fallacy. Having spent much time investing into this archetype, I decided to stick with it, and it is now paying off.

Admittedly, I wanted change to this game mode, as it was in desperate need of new life, and I got it. I don’t entirely like the new system, especially with its constraints and not being able to properly change position, I do like investing into the archetype, and aiming for a specialization. It does create a sense of progression that the mode was lacking. A less restrictive version of this system would be absolutely perfect.

Best Of The Rest

Naturally, not everything can receive as significant an update. Ultimate Team is largely the same, in that its a heavily monetized game as a service, that fits a free to play model, within a fully priced annual release. It will always be quite fun assembling a team of all stars, from both the men and women’s game, but it hasn’t got its hooks into me this year.

Post launch they will be offering tournament and gauntlet modes, the latter being that you can’t field the same team twice, which does create a unique and interesting challenge, that will also require more cards for you to own. However, I cannot speak to it yet as they were not available at the time of this review.

The game itself looks marginally better than it did last year, and runs about as well as you would expect. Primarily the players that are associated with the game boast the best character models, and they are impressive, such as Jude Bellingham and Jamal Musiala, and they certainly like to show that off in the main menus. Beyond that, some of the hair physics and textures look a touch improved, but still have a ways to go.

Menus meanwhile feel convoluted, and there surely has to be a better way to communicate the majority of its UI with the player. It’s negligible once you know your way around, but somewhat frustrating nonetheless.

At least while you’re fumbling around menus you will have a banger of a soundtrack to listen to, as with all FC games, the soundtracks that exist within them take on a life of their own, and I feel as though this year is a fine return to form on that front. It’s eclectic both culturally, and in terms of genre.

As someone who is use to seeing bad defending, what with supporting West Ham, I can accept that if it means playing highly responsive total football as a tradeoff. Not that West Ham do that either, but my point is; that is preferable from the perspective of sheer entertainment.

What remains to be seen however, is how far they go with their patches and balancing updates. What we have right now is a great foundation, with some interesting changes to my favored game modes, and hopefully I can say it’s still great come the end of the season.