It’s hard for you and me to call EA Sports FC 25 by its name, and that’s normal. We’ve been tied to the FIFA acronym for too many years for us to get used to the new acronyms in just one season. Another thing is the feeling of playing with the controllers and the way of introducing important innovations in the Electronic Arts football saga. Some are more experimental and others more risky. At iGamesNews we’re going to put on the table those that are coming this year and, what’s more, they’re doing so to stay for the next installments.
We’ll tell you right off the bat what didn’t make the cut and, most likely, what you won’t miss too much either: six years after its introduction in FIFA 19, the street football experience of VOLTA mode is gone, and the reasons come down to the fact that it failed to match the appeal (and activity) of flagship modes like Ultimate Team or Pro Career mode. That said, and as you’ll see, EA Sports hasn’t forgotten about those who want to improvise kickabouts with friends in quick matches. Quite the opposite.
Rush is the star novelty: this is EA Sports’ 5 vs. 5
EA Sports is taking up the idea of five-on-five matches on a small field, however. Rush is not VOLTA, nor is it a game mode, but rather a type of match that has been integrated into all the main experiences. The goal: to offer quick matches with friends with the advances of the new installment and its own rules that make it more interesting.
To start with, the dimensions of the Rush field are much smaller and that has a total impact on the experience: EA Sports has created a stadium specifically for online matches with three other friends (or strangers), with the goalkeeper being the only one controlled by the game itself. Of course, with the peculiarity that our objectives will possibly vary depending on whether we enter from Ultimate Team or from career mode.
The fact that the field has been reduced means that the rules of 11v11 must be adjusted or completely rethought. For example, the red card has been eliminated and replaced by a blue card that will take the offender to the bench where a golden minute for the opposing team will be awarded. On the other hand, penalties are taken in the classic style of the American Major League and there is no out. One more detail: there is no throw-in at the start of each half: as in table football, the ball appears from one of the sides and you have to dive for it.
EA Sports’ grand plan with Rush is self-explanatory: to offer a type of match that is more dynamic and encourages more goals to be scored, but also to take advantage of everything that each instalment’s gameplay and technology entails. So it’s not necessary to stop playing Ultimate Team to play Rush as if it were a separate mode, but Rush will enable us to progress faster and faster in Ultimate Team.
The tactical foul arrives and that means pulling the shirt
Sportsmanship is not at odds with strategy. And by strategy we also mean stopping a dangerous advance with a not very decent but really effective alternative: by approaching the opponent and pressing the PlayStation buttons R1+Xor on Xbox RB+A Our player will do the tactical foul and will use his hands to grab the jersey of the person carrying the ball and knock him down. Just like it sounds.
The idea is to give new options to desperate defensive players in extreme situations and, in the process, bring the game experience closer to what happens in official matches. This means that these types of techniques will be penalized:
- To start with, and according to EA Sports, it is normal that the tactical foul cost us a more than deserved yellow card. Always depending on the context, of course.
- However, we are already being warned that excessive use of these fouls will result in red cards. We may prevent more than one goal, but it will cost us the game and time.
The premise behind this is to continue to push the idea of big risk for big reward and the other resources and types of additional entries are not disabled. It will be interesting to see to what extent a tactical foul used well or very badly determines the final result of a very disputed match.
The new repetitions
Not only is Electronic Arts flexing its muscles on the visuals of EA Sports FC 25, but it’s also giving players more and better tools to relive great moments and share them beyond the game with the new Highlighter system, the future of replays of Electronic Arts sports games.
Accessing the Highlighter is as easy as going to the replays, but from there we’ll find a complete redesign of the idea: not only is the interface new, but tons of camera options, settings, and systems have been added to unleash our imaginations. And best of all, a new photo mode has been added in the process with effects, filters, and even the ability to tweak focus and aperture.
The general idea is that in just a few steps we can make a thrilling moment from any match worthy of a cover of the game. However, we are not just talking about frame-worthy screenshots, there is also an editor to create video clips in which, of course, we can also play with angles, timings and cameras as we wish. Crazy.
What is FC IQ and how real football affects EA Sports FC 25
Many football games bring hard-earned data and statistics to their gameplay experience. In EA Sports FC 25, it’s not just about blocks of information, but a new tactical model has been created that seeks to offer a more authentic and believable experience on the pitch based on three essential pillars: player roles, team tactics and intelligent tactics.
- The roles of footballers guide the way each player thinks, behaves and moves off the ball based on real-world recordings and the Opta database.
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Position |
Goalie |
Lateral I /D |
DFC |
MCD |
MC |
MD / MI |
MCO |
L/R end |
DC |
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Role |
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- Team tactics They seek to get the entire team to think and behave like real-world professionals.
- Smart tactics They make tactical decisions more accessible and intuitive, displaying both our tactics on screen and through a new system in which the game will suggest changes based on the current development of the match.
The basic idea is to give more presence to strategy when playing and, in addition to simplifying how to access tactics, that these are not only faithful to the real world, but also adapted to the game we are playing and the conditions we have ahead, both on the scoreboard and in regards to each player.
Elements that, in fact, complement the PlayStyles system introduced in EA Sports FC 24 and they gain new nuances with the technology of this release and an additional addition: this year the goalkeepers also gain playing styles like the rest of the footballers.
Winning, evolving and making our Ultimate Team more attractive is now better too
As we mentioned at the beginning, Rush mode is integrated into all modes of EA Sports FC 25 and that includes his own Ultimate Team: If we play from the game’s star mode there will be specific events with prerequisites and through these it will be possible to progress faster in our weekly Rush objectives in which, as expected from UT, we will be able to import our player cards.
In addition to Rush, this year EA Sports FC has implemented some incredibly sensible changes to the gameplay experience:
- For starters, contract items have been completely removed from the game, both for players and managers.
- And not only that, in Division Rivals The number of checkpoints has been reduced, and it will also be possible to be relegated when competing in the higher divisions.
- As far as weekly rewards and points are concerned, 3 points are now offered for a win and 1 point for a draw.
- And as far as cards go, not only do they evolve now, but you can customize the cards and untradeable duplicate players will have their own storage system within SBCs.
In the end, all these changes and improvements lead to the same thing: maximizing our playing time and promoting that we get more and better rewards for playing. Which should translate into more playing time and, of course, more sharing of games with friends and strangers.
At iGamesNews | 50 years of football in video games: the evolution of Soccer from Magnavox Odyssey to EA Sports FC 24
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