FC 26 excels on the pitch; it’s a near league-winning, title-charging blast.
This year, EA Sports made a point of going above and beyond in delivering a unique football experience, distinct from previous entries in the FC/FIFA franchise.
Taking on board player feedback, media criticisms, and in-house suggestions, this has led to an unprecedented overhaul of the football sim. With some features being positive and others less so.
So, did EA Sports deliver? Or have they talked the talk?? (In my opinion, they’ve delivered).
The good stuff is an unrivalled element of authenticity. Licenses, player likeness, kits, sponsors, and commentary teams offer players a very generous amount of real-life likeness unseen in other football sims. As your favourite players exit the tunnels and enter the pitch to the roars of the crowd, the production values are of an incredibly high standard, with stadiums, club anthems, and pre-match visuals providing a genuinely jaw-dropping, realistic experience. If I were to see an FC26 pre-match presentation up the pub on a screen, I’d believe it was a live broadcast game, such is the true-to-life replication.
Ultimately, this is where FC 26 excels. FC 26 offers players two ways of enjoying the beautiful game, with one being “authentic” and the other offering a “competitive” gameplay experience. (Authentic is accessible in offline play only). This brand new approach to FC 26 has been EA Sports’ big reveal this year, and they have strived to offer a realistic football sim experience. (Think back to the old PES days, and you’ll have a rough idea of what route EA Sports is going for here). Slow paced, deft touches, with tactical tweaks impacting how the game plays out.
As for online, playing Ultimate Team, I felt that In-game defending feels more enhanced than last year. AI (at last) appears improved with significantly better responsiveness. On a personal note, I’m more of a showpony. I love dancing through teams using the 5* skills and trickster playstyle. I’m pleased to say the dribbling system remains effective and very satisfying; it’s a fun alternative approach to try and break through defences.
Exploits like the cutbacks and power headers are much less effective. My one criticism of gameplay would be that the long ball option doesn’t come off anywhere near as frequently as it should. Grounded passes with build-up play, holding possession with quick one/two touches, seem considerably more productive. I found this a little frustrating, as game plans can change, particularly if looking for a quick counter, hoof it up the pitch tactic to claw a goal back. Yet, it seems rather pointless as 95% of the time, I found the opposition’s defender would always get to the ball before the attacker.
Sadly, it’s some of the smaller, fine margins that hurt the product, such as the pay-to-win model in Ultimate Team and a very ugly user interface. I don’t blame EA Sports for monetising the mode; it brings in huge revenue, so it’s understandable. At the same time, when you’ve got folk forking out £60+ on the game, you’ll always get some saying they shouldn’t have to spend more money (opening packs to acquire a great team) to get the best experience out of the game.
In trying to freshen the Ultimate team mode, EA has gone back to the past for inspiration. The return of exclusive silver tournaments, events, and even silver icons offers an interesting spin on a mode riddled with some overpowered gold meta cards that can give a bad player a clear advantage over someone less fortunate to own such a team.
Unfortunately, menus are all over the place; it feels like a grind just to find the latest campaign objectives and live events. There’s way too much junk all crammed into the mode (some of it needlessly) in attempts to keep it fresh and players engaged.
Another negative to Ultimate Team is the game hacks from the PC network of gamers. For this reason, I’d recommend players have crossplay OFF until patched. Online draft & the live events, such as the gauntlet challenge, are riddled with PC gamers hacking into the server and freezing opponents’ teams to claim an easy win.
If there’s a way EA Sports can offer an “Authentic mode” option for Ultimate Team next year, then it would be most welcome. As Ultimate Team is by some margin the mode with the most depth and live updates for those of us looking to dip in regularly throughout the year.
Lastly, I’d also like to add that Ultimate Team does NOT have the two gameplay options. This mode is competitive play only. Competitive in UT feels different from last year; gameplay is considerably smoother, animations look improved (gone are the robotic, flat-out weird running animations from previous years), and the game handles more fluidly and cleanly.
Visually, it looks as eye-pleasing as it always has. Player models are sharp, showcasing some impressive 4k graphical details with some lifelike facial expressions, strands of hair (such as Cucurella’s mop of locks) sway everywhere as he charges up the left wing, and little blades of grass jump into life as players scurry across the turf, evidently showcasing the impressive detail EA’s Frostbite engine can achieve.
As for game modes, FC 26 bangs in screamers after screamers. With a plethora of offerings, gamers are spoilt for choice with offline and online offerings. Nine modes include:
- Kick off
- Ultimate Team
- Manager Career
- Player Career
- Clubs
- Seasons
- Co-op Seasons
- Online Frindlies
- Tournaments
(Sadly, no Volta)
That’s not even taking into account features such as Rush, UEFA Champions League, and CONMEBOL Libertadores available in these modes. (Fully licensed, I’d like to add.)
Manager and Player career modes provide players with an offline experience. Pick a manager/player to utilise, or start afresh with your own customised preference. This sees players’ own journey into the world of football commence.
In early editions, these modes would go years with little to no updates. Taking on board player feedback, EA Sports has at least tried hard to inject some life and longevity into the modes.
Some tweaks include a more realistic, dynamic weather system, a deeper league simulation structure, fresh animations and cutscenes, a new decision-making system that includes hiring and sacking staff, and season-based challenges.
This sees in-game events and unforeseen situations occur that throw up scenarios for gamers to get through. Injury crisis, clubs in financial ruin, poor time-keeping (this affects match performance), to career-ending injuries. An emphasis on building the youth is vital to combat such scenarios, partaking in the youth tournaments, objectives, and delivering on youth development plans.
All contribute to putting the manager mode in a better place today than the stale, tired format it was just a few years ago.
It’s not perfect; transfer negotiations can be infuriating when clubs block off further communications for a player without actually naming a price. Leaving you to take up some guessing work. Whilst not quite LMA manager level of depth, it’s a decent alternative to those wanting to avoid the lottery of Ultimate Team.
Furthermore, some other features include the returning Archetypes and goalkeeper evolutions.
Archetypes provide FC 26 players with a progression system that rewards players with a deep and unique avatar. By earning Archetype exp to boost attribute points, this in turn improves their specific skills to compliment their playstyle to achieve the goal of icon status. There are 13 different classes to archetype with this feature only available in clubs and player career.
FC 26 feels like a step in the right direction; it gets more right on the pitch than FC 25, so, more of the same next year, please EA (with added polish, tweaks from feedback, oh, and please add in a few trance bangers to the EA Soundtrack)!.
Many thanks to Premier Comms for the Xbox Series X review copy. FC 26 is out now for PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series S & X, Nintendo Switch family.
