Like every year, the start of the school year means the return of the virtual football championship with the release of EA Sports FC. The game has been officially available since Friday and available in early access since September 20 for all players who have fallen for the Ultimate edition.
Unfortunately, a bit like every year, this is more of a new update than a real new game. We won't be able to count on a revolutionary change in terms of gameplay, nor on new game modes. As always for far too long, EA is content to add a few features and (partially) rebalance certain things. But the price remains unchanged and at a high price with €80 for the simple edition and €109.99 for the ultimate edition.
Should we therefore fall for this EA Sports FC 25 this year? Let's take stock right away.
Yes, for the two main new features: Rush and FC IQ
The positive points will be fairly quick, since there are two of them with the "Rush" mode and the new gameplay feature "FC IQ". These two new features will bring the main changes to most of the title and will be implemented in the different phases of gameplay and game mode of EA Sports FC 25. Unfortunately, it remains very meager.
Let's start with the "Rush" mode, the new game mode that replaces Volta. The latter is largely inspired by the Kings League offering 5 vs 5 clashes on a reduced playing field. The Kings League was very popular this summer with the first World Cup organized by former F.C. Barcelona player Gerard Pique.
This is a somewhat unusual football, where the engagement is made with all the players behind a line in the center of each camp. After a countdown, the ball is released in the middle of the field and the match begins. Offsides are only called if they happen after the line in the center of the opposing camp, there are no red cards. There is a blue card that allows you to exclude a player who has committed a serious foul for one minute before he comes back. In short, it is a different kind of football, 5 vs 5 (four players and a goalkeeper) with a smaller pitch to make the matches more dynamic and fun.
Rush mode is integrated into all the game modes of this EA Sports 25 FC. But again, this will not please everyone and this game mode is really to be favored online and in co-op with your friends to get the most out of it. Otherwise, it could quickly become redundant.
The other new feature is the integration of FC IQ. EA Sports 25 FC is much more tactical than the previous games in the license. And this will be confirmed from the introduction of the game, where Mr. Zinédine Zidane receives us in his office to make us understand that this year, we will have to be tactically irreproachable to make the difference on the field.
FC IQ is a new tactical and positioning system based on three axes: collective tactics, intelligent tactics and the notion of roles for players. This new system is mainly aimed at players who love to prepare game tactics before the match. For those who don't like that, this new feature will be anecdotal and will not be of much use to you.
If we assume that you dream of being the new Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti or Jose Mourinho, FC IQ will allow you, before each match, to go even further in the composition of your team and your strategy. As always, you will be able to set up a collective tactic, as we are used to doing in EA Sports FC (offensive, defensive, etc.).
With intelligent tactics, you will be able to make decisions during the match via your directional pad, with a few suggestions that will allow you to turn the match around. And finally, with the notion of role for players, you will be able to assign specific roles to one or more players (before the match). So you can bring two more roles to each player (which will change whether your team has the ball or not).
For example, a striker in the lead can have two more roles and become a pivot or false number 9 when your team has (or does not have) the ball. The goalkeeper can for example hold his basic position in order to take no risks, or play the role of Libero to contribute to the team's attack.
These tactical novelties are interesting and quite advanced. But, let's be honest, they will really be aimed at players who are passionate about this. For many, this risks being a novelty that will quickly be forgotten. Most players are likely to focus on smart tactics, which are now much more numerous in matches and which especially benefit from numerous suggestions, allowing you to select them while you play.
These two new features with Rush and FC IQ thus represent the main additions to the manager career mode. This game mode thus benefits from greater richness and immersion, almost getting closer to a Football Manager. Because yes, from now on, you will be able to spend a lot of time on the management of your team in order to prepare specific tactics before each start of the match by assigning several roles to your players.
Once in the game, you will be able to modify its strategies with intelligent tactics. Note that EA Sports FC 25 will also allow you to take strategies from great coaches and model them on your game if you don't want to spend many hours preparing your different game systems.
The other new feature is the ability to manage, in addition to your A team, the team of young talents from the training center. This is how Rush mode is integrated into career mode. Unfortunately, these are the only new features, with the possibility this year to play as a manager of a women's team and to participate in the Champions League.
Yes for the better balanced gameplay (but until when?)
Like every year, EA Sports FC 25 has the right to very slight improvements in terms of gameplay, which is necessarily felt with the controller in hand. This allows in particular to rebalance the game. Of course, we are still in a gameplay very far from the simulation that we could know ten years ago. EA Sports FC 25 is still very arcade-like, favoring charms to have a show more than realism.
But with this new version, we find several simulation settings to customize our game and our experience. For example, the "Simulation" gameplay slows down the game, forcing players to build better and giving a small advantage to defenders who intercept balls more easily and who do not get eaten alive during the accelerations of the attackers. With this preset, the wind and weather effects will have an influence on the game.
You will be able to choose other settings with the "Classic" mode where the wind and weather will have no effect and the gameplay will be more dynamic and less realistic than in simulation. And finally, a “Personal” gameplay where you will be able to configure everything yourself, including AI errors, their offensive and defensive effectiveness, etc.
Unfortunately, even if these improvements are pleasant and allow us to find a semblance of simulation and realism in the game, we clearly cannot count them as something positive. Indeed, every year, EA offers us an update a few weeks after the release of the title that breaks the gameplay. Let's say that these new features are appreciable at the launch of the game and for the moment, but until when?
No for almost everything else
If you are not a fan of Rush mode, and tactics are clearly not what drives you the most in football games, what can seduce you about this new opus EA Sports FC 25? In all honesty, not much. Like every year, it is nothing more, nothing less, an update of EA Sports FC 24, which was itself an update of FIFA 23, which was itself an update of FIFA 22 etc…
In addition to the new jerseys and updated squads, we find the same game modes, almost no new features for the player career, a FUT mode that is always identical, with the integration of Rush mode with these random and questionable packs. The "Pro Club" mode stands out a little, allowing players to meet online, create their own club and play together. But here again, although the fun is still there after several years, the new features are far from being incredible.
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