EA Sports FC presents their first football game following their departure with FIFA. EA Sports FC 24 has finally arrived for Ultimate Edition purchasers and it’s full of brand new features and gameplay elements. While still sticking true to the FIFA mold, EA FC 24 manages to revamp the interface and overall feel of the game. As a result, the game truly does feel like it was meant for next gen. That being said, let’s dive into the details! This is our review of EA Sports FC 24.
Ultimate Edition players who pre-ordered the game are now in early access, spanning over a period of one week. The game’s full launch is set on the release date of September 29.
Both the EA Sports FC 24 Ultimate and Standard Edition are available on PlayStation, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch.
Gameplay – New Features & Animations
By using new Hypermotion V technology which collection Volumetric data, they are able to introduce playstyles mimicking real-world, individual players and their movements. They’ve gathered loads of footage of full teams playing matches in top competitions, gathering information regarding professional-level football.
Attacking
Pace matters more than ever, truly feeling its impact on the pitch. Of course, it’s not crazily overpowered or anything, but you can tell the difference between using Maguire and Mbappe or Erling Haaland. Goalscoring is great with new animations that guarantee you pull off those illustrious shots. Many of our favorite traits return including Power Header and Finesse Shot.
In terms of passing, its really silky smooth, allowing for some beautiful tiki taka play. Of course, as we play more and more, we’ll discover more things that we like or hate about the meta. Regardless, as it stands, it seems pretty solid overall. Attacking feels rewarding and satisfying, focusing more on the build-up instead of the finish.
Haaland new bicycle kick animation.
Accelerate 2.0 returns but this time it’s been enhanced, giving new run-styles to different players. Speaking of different players, using women in the same team as men works fairly well, often not being able to tell the difference. The unique body types, shapes, and sizes, add to the spontaneous nature of the gameplay, keeping things fresh and fun.
Defending
Tackles and interceptions have been elevated to a whole new level. Defending now feels like you’re in control as you are able to pull off a number of unique animations to stop those overpowered wingers and attackers. Your defenders now are no longer brain-dead zombies, having improved some of their off the ball AI positioning. Of course, it still isn’t perfect, but it definitely is a step in the right direction.
Kinetic Shielding is a new way to defending, adding more depth to what you can do as a defender. The stronger the player, the more they can shield the ball effectively. This encourages you to actively seek out physical defenders, instead of trying to get the fastest one that’ll catch up to the opponent’s Vinicius Jr.
Other New Features
Precision Pass, Effort Dribble and Controlled Sprint are some of the newly introduced features, revamping certain gameplay elements. Passing, dribbling, and sprinting, all are more layered now, giving you more things to think about whilst you play. Not only that, but by fully-fleshing out these mechanics, you are able to have more control over how your controlled players move and react on the pitch.
Graphics and Performance – Not Perfect, But Smooth
At first glance, the graphics were questionable when it came to the initial reveal trailer. However, in-game the visuals look vibrant and clean, allowing for smooth immersion. Speaking of smooth, menu navigation is extremely swift and responsive, fixing FIFA 23′s issue of slow and sluggish menus.
Sam Kerr backflip celebration.
AI Hands via Stretch Sense gloves were able to capture new-found details regarding hand-motions and movements. This makes animations feel all the more smooth, adding to how well the game seems to run. Relating back to the graphics, it seems inconsistent. For star players such as Sam Kerr, Mbappe, Haaland, and Messi, the graphics look great. However, when it comes to the not-so-well-known stars, you can tell they rushed it. Nevertheless, we spend most of our time from a birds eye view anyway, so ugly close-ups aren’t really a major issue.
Career Mode – Good As Always
Manager Career
FC 24’s career mode has always been consistently great, especially manager career. This year, they’ve introduced what they call ‘Total Management System.’ This includes brand new features to elevate your career mode playthrough such as;
- Tactical Vision – Implement your own preferred playstyle into the identity of the club you manage. These tactics include: Standard, Wing Play, Tiki-Taka, Counter-Attack, Gegenpressing, Kick & Rush, and Park the Bus.
- Tactical Vision Scouting – Scout players that fit best in your preferred tactic style, building a squad that fits your ways. For example, if you like to play Tiki-Taka, tactical vision scouting will help you hunt down those with high short-passing and vision.
- Coaches – Players will be divided into groups based on their position and a coach will be assigned to each sector. Players get a boost depending on the coach’s Player Development and Tactical Knowledge skills. You get to choose the coach of course, with quality ratings indicated via stars. As your coach progresses with the team and win matches, he will be able to gain XP and boost your players further.
- Pre-Match Preparations – Pre-match reports are provided to you, giving you predicted line-ups and useful knowledge regarding your opposition. You’ll then be able to initiate Match Ready Training sessions that provide temporary playstyles for specific players just for that match. This way, you’ll be able to play the way real managers would by exploiting weaknesses.
- Dynamic Moments – This includes scenes such as the Ballon d’or, Manager of the Year and Player of the Season, bus parades, and more!
Player Career
Those were just the new additions to manager mode. In terms of player career, these are the latest changes:
- Player Agents – Agents that help you carve the correct path for you as you progress your career. If you want to eventually reach your dream club, you can tell your agent about it and they will target it for you.
- Playstyles – As mentioned before, new playstyles enhance the way you play the game, making it a unique and personal experience.
- Customization – Many more new customization options ranging from tattoos all the way down to goggles.
- Dynamic Moments – This includes scenes such as the Ballon d’or, Manager of the Year and Player of the Season, bus parades, and more!
Pro Clubs – Let’s Hit the Pitch
Without a doubt the most enjoyable game mode, Pro Clubs is an absolute blast when you and your friends are just messing around. EA has always done a solid job in providing a fun experience for players. This year, they’ve added some new features in an attempt to make the game mode more dynamic and alive. Check it out:
- Clubs League – New seasons refresh every 6 weeks and relegation has been removed. Each season has its own rewards, giving you and your friends something more to fight for other than just glory.
- Fans & Reputation – As your clubs grows, the fanbase does as well. As a result, you gain access to bigger stadiums, with the option to display all of your trophies pitchside.
- Crossplay – Finally play with your friends regardless of console. HOWEVER, note that this feature only works for consoles of the same generation. Meaning that PS5, PC, and Xbox Series can play together but they cannot play with PS4 and Xbox One.
Pro Clubs deep-dive series by EA.
As a result of these changes, we’re really excited to hop in some more pro clubs games and level up. With interesting new playstyles introduced into the game, it’ll add some new-found depth into this game mode. Exciting stuff!
Ultimate Team – Redesigned But Still Familiar
Ah yes, everyone’s favorite-no, everyone’s hated-well, it’s more complicated than that. Every player who has ever played Ultimate Team has this complex love/hate relationship with the mode. It’s the main reason why we buy the game every year, but around a few months in, we put it down and claim that enough is enough! Of course, that is not the case because as we plan to boycott the game, we buy the following title anyway. We’re all stuck in a loop, destined to play Ultimate Team forever. Therefore, we might as well take a look at what’s new.
Evolutions
First of all, we’ve got Evolutions. A brand new Ultimate Team feature that allows you to upgrade players based on a specific criteria. This helps makes your Ultimate Team more personal, allowing you to choose a player of your liking. You can increase players’ ratings, giving them stats boosts depending on the Evolution path. On top of that, you can increase their weak foot and skill moves! A great feature that gives you something to do always.
For more information regarding this feature, make sure to check out our article: Top 5 Players for Evolutions.
Layout
A negative that is down to personal preference is the new card layout. We find it to be a bit clunky and crowded as they fit the badge, flag, and league near the bottom. The left side of the card where we were used to seeing these now looks empty and weird. We do not know why they swapped the chemistry style and player information around, but it definitely feels like a downgrade from previous designs. The layout and menus have changed a bit also. This change however is a welcome one because it cleans things up a bit. Regardless, it will take some time to get used to so new players might find it a bit unnecessary.
Other Features
The acceleration types discussed above in the gameplay section also have huge impact on Ultimate Team. This is because each player now has their unique style of play similar to the Lengthy/Controlled features we saw last year. Speaking of huge impact, women have arrived! We welcome a huge pool of female football players that add to the total players you can pack, buy, or sell in Ultimate Team. A great inclusion that keeps things refreshing and new.
Squad Building Challenges are back and they’re relatively the same. In fact, apart from what we’ve just discussed, Ultimate Team remains fairly similar to what it usually is. This is part of the reason why we cannot rate this game any higher, due to its lack of innovation. At the end of the day, the current mold still works so it’s okay. The main concern is with ‘scripted gameplay’ which is an infamous myth that states that Ultimate Team gameplay can be biased towards your opponents sometimes. Regardless, that’s more of a gameplay scripting issue and less to do with Ultimate Team itself.
Volta – The Forgotten Game Mode
Despite being underplayed, Volta is actually a pretty decent game mode to check out when you’re bored. This year, they’ve introduced new special abilities that you can equip depending on your play style. These include:
- Boomer Shot – Shooting Boost
- Overdrive – Speed Boost
- Enforcer – Physical / Defending Boost
- Take Flight – Aerial / Flair Shooting Boost
Volta logo.
Most features remain the same with arcade being its most interesting game mode. Crossplay and customization work basically exactly the same as in Pro Clubs. With many people preferring to play Clubs and UT, this mode simply ends up being forgotten. It’s going to take a few more changes and additions before we can dip our toes into Volta regularly and consider it one of our favorite modes.
Soundtrack – Sounds of the World’s Game
EA have always delivered when it comes to soundtracks, giving us hits like Kids, Love Me Again, and Heat Waves. This year, we’ve got Kendrick, Baby Keem, Jack Harlow, and more, all ready to entertain us as we play. Crafting SBCs or waiting for your friends to hop on can prove to be a hassle at times. Therefore, having some solid tunes in the background is definitely a plus.
To listen to the official soundtrack, check out the tracklist here.
Final Verdict – FIFA No More But It Never Really Left
The FIFA games might be no more, but fans of the franchise won’t feel alienated as EA Sports FC 24 manages to perfectly capture the personality of FIFA. So far, it’s looking promising and depending on how Ultimate Team pans out, could be better than its predecessor. Overall, fans who are expecting a traditional FIFA experience won’t be disappointed as its still the same old, same old, just with some new added touches. The new features are nothing but improvements, trying to make the most out of our next gen consoles.
All of this can be summed up by simply saying that not a lot has changed, but hey, it works. For more EA Sports FC 24 related content, check out our relevant articles on KeenGamer.
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- Haaland celebration.
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- Pro clubs preview.
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- Ultimate Edition of EA Sports FC 24.
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- Vinicius Jr. walkout animation and layout in UT.
EA Sports FC 24 was reviewed on PS5 during Ultimate Edition early access.
Alan Swaby
Simply, not good enough! (10 hour trial)
Is that it? …or is the trial a watered down version of the game?
I think the game should be free as it is at least 90% the same as FIFA 23 … NOT BUYING
Even if it was free… I would think twice before installing this lazy arsed tat!
The game play is better, goalkeepers are more realistic and I have not seen defenders do ridiculous bycycle kicks to clear the ball, yet!
The ball goes out of play more now, it doesn’t miraculously swerve back on to the pitch defying the laws of physics just to help the AI cheat, as before.
I like the ref cam… I do not like all the bells and whistles that make no sound (players in corridors, pretend interviews and uninteresting cut scenes)
Create a club still has pathetic crest designs that seem to have been designed by people who have never seen an actual football crest. There is only a tiny selection of kits to choose from, no fourth kit and no sponsors. You cannot have the same kit design for home and away and you have to have the same colour numbers on the shorts as you have on the shirt… which is ridiculous.
The MLS logo on my shirt sleeve takes up the full sleeve which, I’m sure, is wrong.
It’s more obvious than ever that the game is aimed at children under the age of 30… I want to play a football game not see my player installing a stereo system in his apartment or going shopping for a swimming pool… or getting tattoos on his arms.
The soundtrack was the first thing to go… if this is what people call music these days!