EA Sports FC 25 Preview – What a Rush

thesixthaxis.com:

Football fever has been at its peak this summer, as the entertaining league seasons fed into the not quite as exciting Euros and Copa America. As is always the case with an international-filled summer, we’ve only got a short break before the 2024/25 season kicks off, and that means a new EA Sports FC game nears release as well. I had the chance to play some of EA Sports FC 25, which featured the UEFA Champions League Kick Off mode, and the new Rush mode.

The EA FC 25 closed beta had seven teams to choose from men’s and women’s football across both modes. Those were both the men’s and women’s Real Madrid and Chelsea teams, Manchester City men’s team, Liverpool men’s team, Athletico Madrid men’s team, Liverpool men’s team, and the women’s Olympique Lyonnais team. As you would expect, each has their strengths with Real Madrid and Manchester City having the best stats, though every team has its key players.

To make those players stand out, FC 25 sees the return of playstyles from FC 24. These are attributes that enhance specific elements of a player’s skillset, with key players having elite playstyles. For example, Valverde has Rapid+ which gives him a higher sprint speed when dribbling, and reduces the chances of making mistakes when sprinting or performing knock ons. Another player with an elite playstyle is De Bruyne, with his Incisive Pass+, which makes through passes more accurate, gives his swerve passes maximum curve, and precision passes that travel at top speed towards their target.

While the game has been enhanced with a new FC IQ to manage player tactics, EA FC 25’s main on the pitch action feels very similar to its predecessor. Much of the matches condense around the midfield with occasional bursts through the centre and the wings to either get a shot on goal, or fire a cross in. Goals do feel easy to score, with none of my matches played being a 0-0 draw. This was playing the game on Professional difficulty. Getting the ball into the box for and cutting back a