EA FC 24 review: Forget about FIFA, this is even better

radiotimes.com:

When it was first announced that EA Sports was parting ways with FIFA (the governing body of world football will no longer feature in EA's games or their box art), fans of EA's long-running gaming franchise may have been a bit worried.

But now that the rebranded relaunch of the soccer simulator series has arrived, bearing the clunky title EA Sports FC 24, it's time to forget about the FIFA branding and get back to the good old-fashioned fun of leading your favourite footie players and teams to glory both online and off.

We're pleased to report that FC 24, as most people seem to be calling it, is just as good as the beloved FIFA games of yore.

In fact, we'd argue that this new entry even better than the most recent instalments in the franchise. The best one in a good few years, at least.

One of the most exciting changes is the addition of female players to the beloved Ultimate Team mode, the beating heart of the game, where players gradually assemble their dream fantasy squads over the course of the season.

Now, for example, you can have Chloe Kelly on the right wing, pinging balls into the middle for Erling Haaland to smash in.

As well as being a welcome step forward in terms of inclusivity, the addition of women's players to FUT (or UT, as it is now called in some logos) has made the 'meta' a lot deeper.

Hundreds of new players are now available to choose from, making the whole mode feel very fresh and different compared to last year. The fact that all the menus have been revamped also adds to that sense of rebirth and rejuvenation.

In terms of gameplay on the pitch itself, there are, as usual, a handful of new features that help the realism levels inch a bit further forward.

Enhancements in the player-scanning