Let us cut to the chase. If you are expecting a major overhaul and update in FC 25 compared to FC 24, you will be disappointed. There are some changes and a brand new game mode, but when it comes down to it, FC 25 is going to be very familiar to FC 24, from the presentation to the on the pitch action. The big change, and in my opinion a change for the better, is that Volta is gone and Rush is in.
For many people, the first port of call in FC 25 will still be the career modes, whether that’s player or manager. In player career, you can create your own professional, or pick a player and rewrite their story to create an alternate history for them. I chose to create a player and to mix things up I decided to pick a team that I am sure very few will: Punjab FC. I chose them partly because getting the chance to play as any team from my own cultural background is rare, and partly because it would be easier for my new player to breakthrough into the first team here compared to a big team in the major European leagues.
At the start of your career, your agent will also give you the option to pick a target club that you want to eventually sign for, but you need to perform on the pitch to get there. Once you finally start, it is obvious that the career mode is the same as FC 24, except the starting rating for my player was 75 and not 70 as it was in last year’s game. Just like FC 24, you pick your position and personality type – Maverick, Heartbeat or Virtuoso. Again, your player is set objectives and you play training drills to unlock abilities and improve your player rating, and you have the option to play as just your pro during matches or as the whole team. Down the road, Live Start Points will be added to player and career modes, taking moments from the 2024/25 season, and letting you replay them, but they are not available yet.
Manager mode is similar to player career, and just like last year you can create your own or choose a real life manager to take control of. I made my own, and went to Punjab FC again. Rush mode is part of career mode as well, at least for the youth team, where you can play as some of your club’s up and coming stars in a small Rush tournament. This is a decent addition as it focuses you on players that could eventually break into the first team, and lets you really focus on their development. Other than that, manager career is very similar to FC 24 in terms of layout and objectives. The coaching rating system returns too, in which coaches are rated on their effectiveness of training players in different areas of the field.
On to the multiplayer, and Rush is very front and centre to get eyes on it. It is part of Ultimate Team, and in it you pick one of your Ultimate Team players to control as part of the five player squad, though not the keeper who is controlled by the computer. Rush has potential if players learn to remember that this is a team sport, and not a place to always show off individual skills or ball hog. You can play with friends, but I jumped into random squads, which were a mixed bag in this regard. Getting a group of players together who played as team really displays how Rush comes together, but play with selfish players and it sucks any fun out of the mode. You can also play Rush in kick off mode where you control the whole team yourself, which is fun too.
Rush, as implied by the name, is fast paced and moves end to end very quickly, as you are playing on a smaller pitch. The commentary is very repetitive though and only one arena could make the mode feel stale quickly. Rush features the same rules as a normal match, but also adds the blue card where a player is removed from the pitch for a minute before being allowed back on.
Aside from the addition of Rush, the other online modes are very familiar. Ultimate Team is still the same where you play to climb the ranks, play in tournaments, and earn/buy coins to buy packs or buy specific players in the transfer market. Chemistry is still key to how a team operates together, with those sharing the same nation, club, or league having a better chemistry with each other than those that do not. Your enjoyment of the mode will really come down to how your team shapes up against other players, and if you are good enough to climb the ladder.
On the pitch, there have been some changes with the key addition being FC IQ. This adds Player Roles to FC 25, making players much more like their real life counterparts in terms of what they do on the pitch, and these roles do impact your tactics. Across the 11v11 modes, you can set up different tactics to rotate between, with the success of these being dependant on your players and how they will do in the positions your put them in.
Additionally, FC IQ will suggest tactical changes while in matches depending on the situation. If you are losing, it will suggest new formations or tactical approaches to counter your opponent, and if you are winning it will likely suggest tactics to defend that lead. It’s a good addition, but just like switching a team playstyle in matches the way to do so feels clunky and does not fit into the rest of the flow. There is also something noticeable in that players do not seem to react as well or quickly to any changes, and off the ball movement comes across as lacklustre, which does not change if you are playing as either a top tier team or a bottom rung club.
Where Rush is an arcade style fast paced mode, 11 vs 11 matches go further into simulating real life, and that is starting to remove some of the fun from older EA football games. The focus on real world simulation means, as the series has progressed you are less likely to go in for sliding tackles due to the high risk of being booked, for example. I’m old enough to remember running away from the referee in FIFA 94 on the Sega Mega Drive…
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