Football fans, it’s that time of the year, and we can all rejoice because Electronic Arts has released their latest football title, EA Sports FC 25. I’ve been eagerly waiting for this title since attending the media event earlier in the year on behalf of MKAU Gaming, and now I’ve had a chance to play it, I can comfortably say that EA has not disappointed.

I think I’ve finally found my favourite game mode, Rush, which emphasises fast-paced, small-sided gameplay. It’s insane, and I loved every minute of it. Rules and in-game mechanics are the same as in a standard 11v11 game, but there are only 5 players per team. It’s best played with a group of friends, or if you have a group playing with voice comms, because if you are playing with people who don’t want to play as a team, games are going to be a whole lot harder. A lot of my time was spent playing Rush, and as I mentioned before, I joined some games where people didn’t want to be a team, and we ended up getting slapped around, but playing with a group who communicates and works together, you’ll dominate the opponents every time.

After attending the media event, the main thing I was looking forward to was the addition of FC IQ, and with the foundations of 11v11 matches being overhauled, it changed how the entire game feels. After spending a whole lot of time collecting real-world data from some of the best players and greatest teams, and using this data in conjunction with HyperMotion V and PlayStyles, the game has never looked or felt better, bringing a whole new level of authenticity.

AI-controlled teams seem to actually play football now, spending less time just running around the field while kicking the ball. This has also been used to refine the Youth Academy, as well as the management system behind it, and everything meshes so well. As I’ve played a few sporting titles this year, I know that a lot of them talk about how good their new systems are, and how much more authentic the games feel, but this seems to be taken to a whole new level in EA SportsFC 25. It actually felt like football.

During the media event, it was announced that we would be getting icons, and at the mention of David Beckham, I was sold. I’ve never been one for creating my own players, so being able to select a legendary icon, or a player from the current roster player, is great, and while it’s a bit out of place, I had David Beckham playing for the Newcastle Jets in the A-League, but that’s fine. I could do that.

The career mode also gives you the option of participating as a Manager, giving you the chance to manage a sports team through their season, but as I have said before, I can’t do this to save my life. Post-launch, a new feature called “Start Points” is being introduced, which should make the die-hard fans a little happier, as it updates the game to be in line with how the current season is tracking, so if a player leaves a team in the league, this will be represented in-game as well.

Football Ultimate Teams is back, and due to its popularity amongst the community, I don’t see it ever going away, but there have been some great new updates to the mode that reignite it a little. You can now experiment with managers and player roles, and we also get a newly designed stadium, greatly adding to the atmosphere of the game. It’s the same Football Ultimate Teams we have all grown to love over the years are still there, but with the addition of FC IQ, they feel more refined and polished. Hopefully, this is the year where I can create a team with all of the players I want, creating my dream team. I usually get a couple, but it’d be nice to have them all.

I’ve found my new calling in Clubs, and being able to hook into RUSH has me hooked, but this review is not about me, it’s about new features of the game. Clubhouse, a new addition to Clubs, is a personalised social place that makes the game feel a little more inviting and social, and it looks amazing. EA has also brought relegation back to Clubs League Play, where I discovered that I need some friends who are better at the game so I can win some games.

For the content creators out there, with the new EA Sports Highlighter, you can capture exciting moments and instant replays, fix them up to look more unique and share them around. Making it even better is that it’s super simple to navigate, so if you’re looking to extract some iconic clips and post them to your socials, or even if you just want to view them yourself, the replay editor works great. Even as someone who doesn’t really look too far into these kinds of features, it was really easy to use, and even more importantly, it was lots of fun, especially the player’s POV camera – it looked super realistic.

I’ll put my hand on my chest and say this was the most enjoyable and most immersive experience that I’ve had with any football title to date, and this largely comes down to FC IQ. It influenced everything from how a character moved, right down to how the ball was reacting, so showing off some ball skills such as the bicycle kick looked amazingly real – the weird clipping you sometimes see for this kind of this just didn’t exist.

Much like previous titles, the controls haven’t really changed, and you can remap them or use the premade layouts if you wish, but they feel a little more responsive to your inputs with how the character movements have been updated. The same can be said for audio, but there isn’t much that needs updating here as the game sounded incredible in the last season anyway. The biggest standout has to be the commentators and the crowd, both of which sound incredibly and offer a level of immersion that makes you feel like you are out on the pitch surrounded by legends.

I love jumping into these titles each year, and I’ve been able to watch the games evolve over time. They’re continuously improving on everything, from how the pitch is affected by things like slide tackles to how you’re character looks, or how their uniforms change throughout the match, getting covered in mud from dirty tricks such as slide tackles. I know they say it every year, but EA Sports FC 25 is the best release yet, by a long shot.

Written by: Hayden Nelson