We tested the new EA Sports FC 25: what Champions, Rivals and the new Rush mode look like

Go ahead compared to the previous installment of CF24 He set the bar high when it comes to the complete football simulator experience; but now I’m waiting for you EA Sports FC25 reaches all players (from September 27), The first look leaves the taste of a game that promises great references and, on the other hand, overflows with ambition. .

The first thing that stands out are some common aesthetic details in the menus and options, nothing important until we enter the mode. Ultimate Team . This is where the first surprise appears.

It is about Rushing a kind of football that came to “replace” the Volta mode (which in turn incorporated the gameplay of the FIFA Street that disappeared in the FC saga years ago).

These are quite dynamic matches of 5 against 5 (although the gatekeeper is still controlled by the CPU) of course on a field smaller than a football field . And they’re a good place to start to find one of the game’s big first changes and surprises.

Let’s say it almost from the beginning: FC25 made ball control more “real” or in other words, Speed ​​starts became more difficult after ball-oriented control . Of course, it’s a matter of adaptation, but too many turns or sudden changes in running direction will make you lose the ball easily at first.

Acceleration also enters into the equation of increased difficulty of games and spatial clearances, which now also depend on the intensity of execution.

The truth is that this point will be much talked about, I imagine that it will affect the dynamics of the tournaments but the truth is that offers surprisingly more realistic team movements . We will come back to this later.

The more classic modes have also seen some changes, for example in terms of their scores. Namely, the Play-Offs of Champions They will be played in 5 qualifying matches, where it will be necessary to add 3 victories to be able to continue the race, which adds more complexity but, at the same time, reduces the time to reach the final.

Once the Champions Final is reached, we will have to play 15 matches where each victory will add 1 point and each defeat 0. In this way, the winners will be divided into 10 ranks in order to collect their respective rewards:

• Rank 1: 15 wins
• Rank 2: 13 wins
• Rank 3: 11 wins
• Rank 4: 10 wins
• Rank 5: 9 wins
• Rank 6: 8 wins
• Rank 7: 7 wins
• Rank 8: 6 wins
• Rank 9: 4 wins
• Rank 10: 2 wins

This continues to be the daily game mode to play matches against other users. Yes indeed, Wins are much more valuable as they will add 3 points while ties, as happens in leagues, will have only one extra point.

This complicates things: FC25 increased the number of wins required for weekly rewards from 3 to 5 and for enhanced weekly rewards from 7 to 15 .

Also, if you lose a lot of competitive matches in higher divisions, now it is possible to fall on the descent!

Regarding the team assembly, we come with good news: Electronic Arts decided to cancel the contracts . Finally, in FC 25 there will be no contract letters for either footballers or coaches!

Chemistry is still relevant to building teams, but the central element seems to be strategy. Zinedine Zidane already says it in one of the cinematics that open the game: “Tactics is football” .

In this sense, according to EA Sports, A new AI model, powered by real-world Opta data, influences player tactics across entirely new roles. .

In other words, players not only have physical attributes, special skills and their own measurements, but their roles on the field promise to resemble their real counterparts, thanks to this new technology called HR IQ which adds to HyperMotionV and those mentioned Playing styles .

In this sense, there is 50 new player roles which will guide the way each footballer thinks and behaves on the pitch, resulting in “more authentic tactical intelligence and unique off-ball movements “.

Let’s see what the manufacturer says:

GK

Goalkeeper – Defend | Balanced

Sweeper Keeper – Balanced

RB | KG.

Back – Defend | Balanced

Wingback – Balanced

Falseback – Defend | Balanced

Winback attacker – Balanced | attack

CB

Defend – Defend | Balanced

Stopper – Balanced

Defender Playing Ball – Defend | Stack Up

CDM

Hold – Defend | Roaming

Center Half – Defend

Deep-lying playmaker – Defending | Roaming

CM

Box-to-Box – Balanced

Hold – Defend

Deep-lying playmaker – Defending

Playmaker – Attack | Roaming

Half-Wing – Balanced | Attack

RM | LM

Winger – Balanced | Attack

Wide Midfielder – Defend | Balanced

Wide playmaker – Attack

Interior Forward – Balanced | Attack

cam

Game Master – Balanced | Roaming

Shadow Striker – Attack

Half-Wing – Balanced | Attack

RW | LW

Winger – Balanced | Attack

Interior Front – Balanced | Attack | Roaming

Wide playmaker – Attack

ST.

Advance – Attack | Full

Poacher – Attack

False 9 – Accumulation

Target Forward – Balanced | Attack | Wide

The technological equation HR IQ , HyperMotionV And Playing styles they make the gameplay of the game inaccessible FC25 for the other titles in the competition, which provides scores of fluidity and dynamism to players, and sometimes a quota of additional personality among footballers on the pitch added to the graphic detail which at this point is no longer surprising but convincing (the repetition of the goals seen from the camera in a subjective shot seems excessive).

Sometimes The matches are truly unique , not at all mechanized nor the coaches’ favorite metaphor for praising rival stars: “He looks like a PlayStation gamer.”

On the other hand, this gives the impression at first glance that the best players and teams are far superior to the more modest and average ones.

Line for the amount (and if there is no update that puts everything back as it was in CF24), The gameplay is a tactical delight to spend a few good minutes thinking and coming up with a convincing strategy.

Indeed, every coach brings with him his club’s strategy into real life.

To enrich your teams, EA Sports has announced as icons of FC25 Welsh Gareth Bale (88), the Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon (91), the Swedish striker Lotta Schelin (90), French players Marinette Pichon (88) and Lilian Thuram (88), the American midfielder Julie Foudy (90), the Japanese Aya Miyama (90) and the German goalkeeper Nadine Angerer (92).

In FC 25, Jamie Carragher , Laura Georges , Guti , Marek Hamšik , Eden Hazard , Tim Howard , Maicon , Blaise Matuidi , Mohammed Noor , Celia Sašić , Jaap Stam , Fara Williams And Zé Roberto They will be reinvented as heroes.

The price of new EA Sports FC25 It costs $89,990 for the physical edition of the PlayStation 5 at retail, or $69.99 for the standard edition and $99.99 for the Ultimate edition in the PS Store.

For Xbox One and Series X/S, the Standard Edition costs $60,900 and the Ultimate Edition costs $86,900, on the official Xbox store.

In turn, the Xbox and PlayStation versions include copies of PS5 and PS4 on Sony’s platform and Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One on Microsoft’s.