EA Sports FC 24 Review – IT’S DEFINITELY NOT FIFA!

EA Sports FC 24 is the next iteration in the FIFA series. Actually, are we allowed to say that? Now that EA have ditched the FIFA branding, and have created their own football club… or at least that is what the game’s title implies, it’s time to see if this is truly a new era of gaming for football fans worldwide.

The new mechanics in EA Sports FC 24

Now I won’t spend too long going over the gameplay itself. After all, it is EA’s yearly football title that we are talking about here… You already know what to expect. But there are a couple of new mechanics, which, for better or worse, are present in FC 24. Firstly, the agile dribble that was present in last year’s game has received a speed boost this time round. It is now more of an agile sprint, which is honestly quite a nice touch! This allows you to keep your momentum whilst having tighter control of the ball. 

Next is the manual pass and manual lob pass. I can’t say that I have found these features to be super useful so far, as often when I have tried to use them , I would have the ball stripped from me quicker than it takes Neymar to drop to the ground… So, yeah I haven’t made up my mind about this one yet, but hey… if you like it, it’s here…

Free kicks have also seen a decent upgrade this time round. To be honest, with last year’s game, trying to score a free kick was really painful, so improvements were necessary. So in FC 24, instead of trying to gauge the exact trajectory of the ball and measure the exact power, in fear of the ball being sprayed wide, now free kicks will generally hit the target meaning you won’t be shooting your set pieces all over the place. The catch here is that you will need to use timed finishing if you want to score consistently from these set pieces. But hey, if you can’t be bothered with that, you will at least score more frequently than in FIFA 23. 

The game modes in EA Sports FC 24

Manager Career

Manager mode has always been my favourite part of any FIFA game. However, there is no denying that especially in recent years, it has been handed the short straw by EA. There have definitely been some improvements this time round. However, it still seems as though the devs don’t really seem to care too much about it! Sure there are these new tactics, involving hiring coaches, and adjusting training sessions for players to focus on either preserving energy or increasing sharpness, butthat is about it. As much as these features could have been interesting, it seems like the bare minimum was done here! For the most part, they just add a few extra menus to interact with! Also, I know many of us have been pining for online co-op for manager career, and I am here to tell you that once again, EA has not listened…

Player Career

Now let’s move onto the player career. EA spent a lot of time talking about how they have revolutionised this mode.  Now you have the opportunity to try and impress the clubs that you want to play for and have far more opportunities to move around! So no longer will you be stuck at a dead end club that refuses to sell you. When you pick a club that you desire to go to, you get a set of objectives that you must complete to have the opportunity to be offered a contract. Depending on the club you choose, these objectives may change or increase in difficulty. This was a decent addition to FC 24, but there hasn’t been much of a change outside of this. It is just a slightly better version of last year’s player career. 

Ultimate Team

I’m not going to spend too much time talking about Ultimate Team, because I must admit that I am far from a veteran in this game mode. However, unsurprisingly it makes a return in FC 24, and honestly, it is good fun. There are a few more features geared toward new players to help them get to grips with the game mode. You can definitely see that Ultimate Team is still where EA’s heart lies, even if it is mostly for the $$$…. But hey, if your a fan of Ultimate Team, there’s more of it to enjoy

Some interesting design choices…

FC 24 has really gone above and beyond to rebrand itself and no longer look like the FIFA Series. There are much more fancy stat graphics during matches as well as a few moments where you actually get a first person perspective on the pitch. Weirdly these moments are often from the referees perspective as they go over to give a card to a player. You’ll get to witness players pushing each other aside,  as they try to get in the ref’s face as a punishment is dished out for bad play. Honestly, I don’t know how I feel about this. Especially because players can look a little bit too derpy in these moments. 

Now I know that quite a few people, myself included, were concerned about branding and licensing for FC 24. Especially after FIFA picked up their ball and ran off crying when EA didn’t want to resign with them for an outrageous fee. The good news is , EA still has most of the licensing that it did in the previous entry. Even the UEFA Champions League is still here, and honestly, that is the one that I was most concerned would get dropped. 

Decision

EA Sports FC 24 is exactly what you would expect from EA’s yearly footballing simulator. As usual, the controls are a bit tighter, a few new mechanics have been introduced and squads are updated. The quality of life improvements and the few updates to career modes may very well be worth your while. But, just don’t be expecting anything too crazy from EA’s new Football Club.

By Samuel Incze – Reviewed on PC

Good

EA Sports FC 24 is exactly what you would expect from EA’s yearly footballing simulator. There are a few new mechanics to enjoy, with some of them being more useful than others. Player career has seen a slight upgrade with the new contract objectives. However, outside of this there aren’t any substantial changes and Ultimate Team is still great fun, for those that enjoy that side of FC. This is yet another solid entry in EA’s yearly football sim, and proves that EA don’t need FIFA’s license to draw players in.

This game was reviewed using a download code provided by EA. The Beta Network uses affiliate partnerships, however, this does not influence reviews or any other content published. The Beta Network may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links that are on the website.

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