A lot has been made about EA dropping the “FIFA” licence and going with their own named version of the game. There was always going to be a concern that the franchise’s ability to sell was tied to the name and that there would be a serious drop off as a result. To combat this, fans were hoping that EA would go all out with the first of their EA Sports FC titles to release. Rumours of improved engines, advanced hypermotion tech, more stats, a revamped Ultimate Team and Career mode and a plethora of options were teased. Does EA Sports FC 24 hit with a bang?

EA Sports FC 24 has more content than any previous game in EA’s history. Volta, Seasons and career mode return with an updated option of Manager Mode for career mode, a host of new training scenarios, and of course the standard kick off modes. Volta continues to be a lot of fun but best served in short bursts of play. Since its introduction into the series it has faded a bit more each year and continues to do so having very little in terms of innovation or adding anything new. It’s a pity because it’s a fun mode and a lot was made of it when it returned, but it’s all a bit dull now.



Career mode has seen a rather large change over the past few years as EA realised there is a large player base that plays this mode, and while it’s not as lucrative for EA as FUT, it still has a big following. The additional aesthetics to career mode are well received, even if they are hardly revolutionary. There is a lot more focus on the nuances of a career within football, but it’s all surface stuff rather than anything with great depth. Still, it’s good to see EA pay attention to the mode and continue to improve it, even if there are still some wildly baffling things that go on during it like players being sold to unlikely clubs and a host of other unrealistic happenings. Manager mode for Career has a bit more tactical nouse to it, but again nothing that makes it largely different to the previous years.

The additional aesthetics to career mode are well received, even if they are hardly revolutionary.

Football Ultimate Team (FUT) is once again the main focus for EA as their juggernaut moneyspinner has undergone a degree of changes in the last few years which has left much of the playing population quite frustrated. There has been a constant move to untradeable rewards making it more difficult to earn FUT coins which are used to build teams. It means that anyone willing to put actual money into the game will have a large advantage over those that do not. In recent years, not putting money in has not been such a problem as there have been numerous ways to make coins if you are willing to invest the time. This year, however, with even more rewards moving to untradeable versions, it feels more difficult than ever to play the game without having to dip into the ridiculous microtransactions.



As someone who refuses to buy into the microtransactions, it is probably the most frustrating version of FUT to date. Yes, there are a lot of ways to earn rewards through playing the game, but it does require a lot of time invested and with it being fully dependent on how good your pack luck is, there is no guarantee that your time will be suitably rewarded. It’s a pity because EA had the opportunity to steer the game elsewhere with its fresh new branding.

Microtransactions aside, FUT has at least improved. Squad Battles - the offline FUT mode - has moved to 4 minute halves which means a lot less time required there to get some of the better rewards. Division Rivals, which is the standard online mode, is largely the same, though the rewards higher up are much better to stop people from wanting to stay in lower leagues and get easier wins (although this probably will not change).

This year, however, with even more rewards moving to untradeable versions, it feels more difficult than ever to play the game without having to dip into the ridiculous microtransactions.

FUT Champs, the weekly top tier online competition remains largely unchanged but for the rewards for those that finish higher up, again not quite enough to make the time investment worthwhile. Draft mode, which was once the most enjoyable of all, remains the same and while it’s a good place to play with players you’ll likely never afford, the rewards have been nerfed so much that you barely get anything good out of playing it.



While the format didn’t quite get the evolution many had hoped for, the surrounding aspects of FUT certainly did. For the first time, Evolution Cards have been brought into the game. This creates a specific upgrade path for players based on playing with them. It does give a real sense of purpose for player cards that would otherwise simply never be used in FUT and adds a fun dynamic to team setups. Chemistry is also updated to make it easier to link players, while position change cards are now a thing of the past and makes it much easier to pop players into place based on the positions they would be able to play in real life. It does add a lot more freedom in terms of how teams set up.

Playstyles have also been added which gives players unique abilities and skills and adds to the pool of usable players within FUT. The playstyles have a good aesthetic effect in other modes, but in FUT it changes the way you play and makes players who were too slow or too clunky in previous games, fully usable in EA Sports FC 24. EA have clearly wanted to make a go of adding to the player base, as they have added in almost 20,000 players from the Women’s Leagues and while it’s about time the players made it into FUT, it’s added a somewhat odd dynamic to the mode whereby player stats feel even more hollow than before.



The gameplay in EA Sports FC 24 is probably where I am most disappointed. Harbouring hopes of a largely improved engine, if not a complete overhaul, considering the new title, we have been left with a game that feels very much the same as the previous year. There are some subtle improvements to player movement and AI but the same frustrating bugs and glitches remain and at times feels even more prominent than before.

Harbouring hopes of a largely improved engine, if not a complete overhaul, considering the new title, we have been left with a game that feels very much the same as the previous year.

EA has never been able to shrug that feeling of players on skates in their games, and it still has that same feeling especially when trying to defend. The hypermotion tech does add a lot of realism to the play for your own team, but does not have the same strong effect on some of the AI which sometimes goes on its own adventure leaving players frustrated. There is even a current glitch online where doing a certain trick gets the ball stuck to a players body part where you can’t be tackled and players are just running into the goals. It will no doubt be patched, but this kind of thing should not be happening.



When it comes to the visuals and audio, there is nothing that I can pick out as being too different. The player likenesses are as good as ever, as are the stadiums and the little bits that take place in the introduction of a match, or post match. The commentary is the same and the set of music tracks in the menus is as good as always, but not really adding anything new to the game.

As a game that had the opportunity to start afresh given its first title change for almost 30 years, it’s hard not to feel a bit let down by EA Sports FC 24. There was the potential to really make something explosive so that fans didn’t bat an eyelid at the name change and the hope that EA would give back to all its loyal fans. EA Sports FC 24 is still high quality and addictive, and with the competitor largely out of the race it’s the best football sim available, but it could have been a whole lot more still. Maybe next year it will be?

*PS5 Review code provided by Electronic Arts