EA Sports FC 25 could be my favourite entry in years

I got to play a very early preview build of EA Sports FC 25, ahead of its big reveal this week. EA Sports FC 25 is shaping up to be one of the best football games in years.

There are a ton of new improvements made in the latest annual release by Electronic Arts, but I wanted to run through some of the new features I found most exciting - and I’m not just talking about Jude Bellingham being the featured cover star.

Check out the EA Sports FC 25 reveal trailer below!

Rush Mode: This is the new mode making its debut in EA Sports FC 25 which is a replacement for ‘Volta’. ‘Rush’ is a different and arguably more fun addition to its predecessor.

‘Rush’ is a 5vs5 mode with the player controlling four outfield players and the goalkeeper by AI. There are no automatic over-the-top flashy tricks in ‘Rush’ like in ‘Volta’. ‘Rush’ at its core shares the same in-game mechanics as the traditional 11vs11.

‘Rush’ is very fast-paced and has unique features such as kick-off being determined by a drop-ball. Instead of penalties, it's one-on-one against the goalkeeper and other than the goalkeeper, there are no player roles. Meaning, there’s no need to select defenders, midfielders or forwards. Players will not hold positions, you will often find the likes of Virgil van Dijk in a forward role.

Offsides also work differently. Due to its smaller pitch, the offside line is in the final third instead of the halfway line. There are also no ‘Red’ cards. Your players can get sent off but they will instead be given a Blue card with the offending player being sent to a one-minute sin bin. ‘Rush’ will also feature in Ultimate Team as a 4-player co-op mode which can earn you juicy rewards and it’s a way to level up youth players in career mode.

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FC IQ and improved Hypermotion: Working alongside the newly improved ‘Hypermotion’, ‘FC IQ’ not only results in players behaving more life-like (such as Erling Haaland’s bulldozing sprint and physicality). The improved ‘Hypermotion’ makes players' animation and mannerisms more authentic in the run of play, set pieces and more. Over 1,800 players have benefited from Hypermotion.

‘FC IQ’, takes the tactical game in EA Sports FC 25 to the next level. Not only does this improve player AI on and off the ball with the new Player Roles, but playing against teams has never been more dynamic. Dynamic opponent AI can switch tactics mid-game depending on how the match is going. This reduces the chances of having the same experience when playing against the same team multiple times. Furthermore, with the addition of ‘Smart Tactics’, not only is the UI more streamlined and accessible but you can switch your selected tactical presets on the fly by pressing a designated D-button.

Player Roles: These work alongside ‘Play Styles’ that were introduced in EA Sports FC 24. However, unlike ‘Play Styles’ which adds unique on-the-ball perks and skills to players, ‘Player Roles’ are additional perks off the ball.

With ‘Player Roles’ sounds, there is far greater depth to individual player instructions and behaviours. You can even see a second formation, one for traditional player positions but with a press of a button, you can see the areas in which players will drift as instructed by the Player Roles and abilities.

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Graphics and in-play improvements: For the first time, the series will give us the option to favour resolution or performance. The resolution mode will implement ray-tracing ambient occlusion at 30 frames per second. This will not only enhance the lighting and reflections on the kit as well as soggy puddles but also the stadium lighting will change depending on the dynamic time of day and weather.

The outside world will change in real-time during play whether it's a midday, early afternoon or an evening kick-off. The dynamic weather will not only have implications from a visual perspective but if it's pouring down with rain, the pitch can get slippery for players. Moreover, if the wind is picking up steam, it impacts how the ball moves.

As for the performance mode, this will increase the framerate to 60fps but will disable enhanced ray-tracing features. However, it will still retain some reflections and shadow effects.

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Career Mode: For the first time in the series, there will be a proper youth academy. You can focus on certain skills and abilities of promising youth players to shape them into the talent you need them to be. You can earn bonus progression points for your youth players with the ‘Rush’ mode as well as tournaments every in-game two months for big stat boosts.

As with all previous ‘Career’ modes, you can start the season from the very beginning. However, in EA Sports FC 25, you can jump into the season at any point by selecting a date. There will also be something called ‘Snapshots’ which will be pivotal moments in a season that a player can jump into.

Icons in Career mode: For the first time, ‘Icons’ will be playable in ‘Career’ mode. ‘Icons’ will also be optional. The confirmed ‘Icons’ for launch are - Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo (R9), David Beckham, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Andrea Pirlo, Thierry Henry, and Kelly Smith.

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Women’s Career Mode: One of the biggest inclusions to the career mode is six women’s professional competitions which include - Barclay’s Women’s Super League (England), National Women’s Soccer League (United States), Première Ligue (France), Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga (Germany) and the UEFA Champions League. What’s more, when managing in the women’s leagues, you can be offered a job in the men’s leagues and vice versa.

Customisable Player Cards: One of the best features that stood out for me, is being able to customise special player cards in ‘Ultimate Team’. You can jazz up your best cards with a new background, colours, animations, sound effects and even fireworks.

Store duplicate UT cards: One of the annoying aspects of unpacking a duplicate in ‘Ultimate Team’ is going out of the store and remembering what the duplicate card is to trade in SBC before going back into the store to unpack the rest of the cards. Now, any duplicates that you unpack can be sent to the SBC Storage which can hold up to 100 cards to make it easier to trade unwanted cards.

EA Sports FC 25 will be released on 27 September or 20 September 2024 with the Ultimate Edition for PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch.