
Back to the scene of the crime, both for EA and for the person concerned, rendezvous with the king of the sports' world. In this case, the second release in the post-FIFA era for EA's popular series of football titles. And the truth is that after the lukewarm start with EA FC Sports 24, expectations were quite high lest we finally see the much-needed change that would bring radical changes rather than a mere retouching of the previous one.

The backbone is pretty much familiar. The available modes remain the same. Ultimate Team, Manager Career, Player Career, as well as the ability to play friendly matches or participate in popular tournaments like the Champions League. As expected, the focus is once again on the online part of Ultimate Team. For those not in the know, in this mode, we are invited to build our own team through players that we either unlock as we progress or buy them ourselves, both through reward points and real money. So hence the priority it receives from EA mum. In practice, probably the best way to keep someone engaged for a whole year.

As in every previous edition, this year's challenge is one. To balance tactics, realism and fun with the ultimate goal of an optimal digital football experience. Ideally, of course, we want to be able to tailor the game to our needs through the various customisation options, because either way, some people prefer... arcade and some people prefer it as realistic as possible, even at Football Manager level. But this is something that once again EA failed to implement and we see the familiar gaps between difficulty levels. Nevertheless, in the realism aspect, I have to give it the credit it deserves in that with the small steps taken every year, digital imaging is getting closer and closer to real football. So this year we have even more support for tactical football, proper build-up and the favour of tactics over taking the ball and dribbling whoever I can find. Still, don't expect to see slow football.
On the contrary, most matches, especially the online ones, are clearly reminiscent of the increasingly fast pace of the Premier League. As a result of this, this year in particular there has been quite a noticeable improvement in AI in terms of defending and setting up players in space, while the "weirdly" of previous years has been reduced to a minimum, with problematic pathfinding and balls going through players' bodies. This has also been passed on to the way we manage our roster, where this year, perhaps more than ever, the familiarity of the players with the tactics and set-up we choose will affect their competitive performance.

Following on from the above statement, we have the following "interesting". The game engine seems to "cheat" in favour of the team that will play regularly and reward them with a goal where you least expect it, usually catching the goalkeeper napping. In common with Football Manager, the feeling is created that certain results in the career section are predetermined. Especially when it comes to long winning streaks, it seems the game struggles to strike a balance, even making the league leaders lose at home to the league's underdog. What if you have 6 xGoals in your favor? If the game decides you should lose, you'll have to do a lot of restarts to win. We said, steps towards realism, whatever that entails, but how can you talk about realism when you're missing the best league in the world? Talk about Super League Greece come on! Still, with the exception of the Italian league, which is incomplete, it's hard to be left unsatisfied with this year's variety as well.

The visual aspect for yet another year is at unbelievable heights and normally would not require any special recommendations, but especially this year I was more satisfied than ever. Even if our hardware isn't capable of running the title with the highest possible settings turned on, nevertheless both the courses and the athletes' models remain gorgeous and sculpted better than waxworks at Madame Tussaud's. However, there are also several instances where it seems that by trying too hard to accurately portray faces, we end up with results worse than The Sims 2 2004.
Typically, playing with the Pro camera, a slightly different over the shoulder perspective, was the first time I saw such intense grimaces and player movements, putting me completely in the mood of the pitch, but when things got more static, I think the game did itself an injustice. On the flip side though, the small improvements made this year in setting up the atmosphere of the pitch, through the choruses and chants, at least for the bigger teams, really made the title "smell like football grass".

Something I admittedly didn't expect to encounter this year, at least not to such an extent, was a big confusion of names, mostly of players but sometimes of teams. Problem/bug that plagues mostly career mode and seems to fester as the seasons go by. The issue started when I started receiving messages from my colleagues with incorrect names within their reports, especially after transfers, which led to incorrect player analysis afterwards, but the highlight was when this started happening on the pitch.
The ball was going to Bakasseta and the speaker was saying Haaland. But come on, that didn't make my Bakassetta play like Haaland! Especially in career, when I took over a second team, the system started to confuse things even more. Fortunately, by the middle of the third season, things don't seem to have gotten too bad to the point where I can't continue. It remains an annoying thorn in the side of this year's title though, especially for single player fans.

Ultimate Team, no matter how many years pass, will always be the part that I will love and hate at the same time. I love it for two reasons. First, because you get to play with the rest of the world, setting up a team in a pseudo career system, which, to be honest, is hugely satisfying. And secondly, because I can also control legendary footballers I watched as I was growing up, so nostalgia strikes as I remember watching Champions League on a small TV every Tuesday and Wednesday night. And what's better than having a card suddenly arrive with one of your childhood football heroes on it. On the other hand, I hate it because while it offers me all of that, it lawfully forces me and the rest of the players to play with the same footballers to get the best possible performance.
You end up in the long run facing more or less the same team over and over again. Especially as you progress, the small-medium players inevitably disappear and the scene resembles something from the Messi vs Ronaldo match. I won't mention the required formatting and financial milking again, as it's something that is now considered standard in online titles and as long as we as gamers didn't reject it in time, it's too late for sobbing. Just register the observation that every year EA forces us more and more to have to pay if we want to be competitive in the online arenas without spending most of our free time collecting points.

This year EA may have kept the basic recipe the same, but with the addition of some spices they managed to create an interesting final result once again. Sure, it didn't do everything perfectly, as it never has, but it took steps in the right direction. We all remember past failures like FIFA '16 where it took EA 4 years to get its act together. I think the secret to the success of the last few years lies in simply being inspired by the times and not just striving to faithfully bring the sport to our screens. We'll never see the ultimate emulator, at least until AR/VR takes over, nor should we expect another Football Manager. And yes, it's very hard to see anything like the arcades of the past again.
The case of FIFA EA Sports FC is in a category of its own and as such I think it is well on its way. I've noticed in myself that over the last few years, the series has made me remember why I love this sport and every time I let go of the controller, I think about when I'm going to go kick some ball myself. Now as for whether it's worth buying a new version every year, the answer is subjective and has to do with the amount of time spent playing. However, I think for football fans, especially at a discounted price, I think it's worth the continued monitoring of the series. I think the subtitle "get up and step on it" fully reflects the way these games should be accessed.
RANKING - 85%
85%
In heaven all brothers and sisters!
A food that is equally delicious whether you reheat it or eat it cold. A title that reminds us that gaming is all about fun.