EA Sports FC 24 review

EA Sports FC 24 has consolidated all the things fans love about the game and makes plenty of excellent improvements to the game meaning its well worth a purchase this year.

Ultimate Team reigns supreme

Ultimate Team is main reason why fans of the game come back year after year, the card collecting side of EAFC sees fans of the game spending eye watering amounts of money hoping to pick up the rarest of cards to create the best team possible. Over the years EA have had an extra layer of complexity to the game mode with new types of cards, this year see the introduction of evolution cards.

It’s here where you can create a progression path for players already in your Club. Develop your favourites into club legends by completing objectives that improve their individual skills, PlayStyles, overall ratings, and even how their Player Items look. The objectives are fairly simple so if you have eligible players (and for more powerful evolutions, enough coins) it’s a great way to boost some of your favourite players.

For the first time, the Women’s game is now in ultimate team opening up even more possibilities to build unique Ultimate Team squads, Beth Mead and Martin Ødegaard in the same squad? Yes please.

PlayStyles introduce a brand new dynamic to Ultimate Team that goes beyond overall ratings, allowing yo to build your squad based on how good players are and how they actually play on the pitch. Finding players with multiple play styles are fantastic for your team and are worth keeping an eye out for.

One thing I’ve been most impressed with is the quality of life improvements, you can now claim prizes from objectives more easily, however I still think it could be added automatically rather than having to claim every time. The UI has had a big boost with a quick menu on the left trigger getting you where you want to be even quicker.

For new players it still feels like a difficult mode to conquer and as always it feels like you have to spend a lot to get anything in the top tier of players, it does feel a bit unfair when you see lots of content creators pulling out amazing packs all the time, I certainly think EA should provide more transparency when it comes to what you are likely to get.

Hardcore fans will still take part Squad Rivals but if you are up for the ultra competitive side of the game, Squad Battles is the place to be, play 32 matches against the computer each week to earn rewards depending on your results.

King of Presentation

Yet again FC24 pushes the presentation of the game further than ever before, from the crowds singing all the teams songs (particularly pleased hear North London Forever when Arsenal play) to the little behind the scenes before and after kick off, managers giving their team talks, players talking in the tunnel and even fans getting their refreshments all add to the immersive nature of the game. Ref cam is excellent, giving you a GoPro style view of the referee dealing with players before booking them, or spraying the line spray before a direct free kick.

Although I have now turned it off, the Intelligent Broadcast Augmented Reality is excellent. It analyses the game as it’s played, overlaying the pitch with the insights including match stats, win probability, shot charts, and more.

There are more commentary options now with the Introduction of Guy Mowbray and Sue Smith who both do a great job.

The introduction of HyperMotionV translates the rhythm and fluidity of real-world football into The World’s Game using volumetric data of more than 180 top-tier matches from competitions like the UEFA Men’s and Women’s Champions League, Premier League and LALIGA. You can really notice the improvements too, player movement is much improved, I haven’ seen any of those awful body glitches yet and have been impressed with the way players react when the ball doesn’t quite where you planned it to.

The way the ball moves around the pitch feels right and with that makes the game feel more realistic than ever, every now and then I’ve scored goals that feel real, I scored a last minute strike that came off a players shoulder and loop over the keeper leaving them looking helpless.

Plenty of content, for all types of fans

Away from Ultimate Team FC 24 still has all the regular modes, Manager mode has had plenty of improvements, with more detailed training, you can set plans on both an individual and team level to keep everyone fit and sharp, plus personalise pre-match warm-ups to boost your squad’s performance with one-time PlayStyle boosts for upcoming fixtures. This year you can even manage from the sidelines during a game which is a neat touch.

Player Career has similar changes, you can play in player cam mode, and also work closely with your agent by identifying which team you want to play for and they will recommend things you can do to achieve your dream. Volta Football is back, you can show off your skills in mini games, or jump onto social play with friends a more casual setting.

A fresh Season in Clubs sees your created teams take part in a League Phase, progressing from the lowest division to the highest, earning points and pushing for promotion. Each Season culminates in a brand new Playoff Phase where Clubs have a fixed number of matches to climb their League leaderboard and earn additional end-of-season rewards in the form of Fans, reputation, and unique Clubs League trophies. The higher your Club finishes in both the League Phase and Playoff Phase, the better rewards you’ll earn at the conclusion of each Season. This is another mode that I imagine is great fun if you can get a squad of you together.

FC 24 isn’t perfect, there are still bugs and glitches, players trying to take throw ins and merging in to camera operators is really annoying but its good to see the team committing to regular patching to ensure things are rectified.