EA Sports continues to be the most prolific annual sports game developer with series such as Madden, NHL, and most certainly FIFA. Things are changing this year though, at least on the surface, as EA Sports has cut ties with the FIFA organization entirely. Rather than scrap the series and start from scratch, it has instead been rebranded this year using the existing foundation laid out by recent entries under the new name EA Sports FC 24.

More Than Just a Name Change

People hearing that the FIFA series has been rebranded as FC may make them think it’s just the same game as last year’s being re-released. While that is the case in some areas, as is almost always the case with annual sports releases, EA Sports FC 24 has evolved on the pitch as well in multiple ways.

EA Sports introduced the HyperMotion motion capture system two years ago in FIFA 22, which was then improved upon with HyperMotion2 last year. Now, the system has evolved even further in FC 24 with the use of HyperMotionV. The V in the name stands for the volumetric data that was collected from more than 180 top-tier matches across leagues like the UEFA Men’s and Women’s League and the Premier League. The data received from these matches influences the way that players move in each match, including over 1,200 signature run styles.

FC 24 takes things to the next level by combining the HyperMotionV motion capture with the new SAPIEN character technology that also debuted in this year’s Madden. This system goes all the way down to the skeleton of the player and looks at their motions to allow the character models to perform with more fluidity than ever through all areas of their body. This includes more realistic motion as players slide to create separation and then move upfield to score a goal and celebrate.

One of the most exciting new additions to the game is the new PlayStyles that utilize real-world player data from the sports analytics company Opta, thus creating a more authentic version of players than ever before. PlayStyles are broken down into 34 signature abilities across categories like Scoring and Ball Control. The best of the best players in the world also have enhanced versions of the core PlayStyles that are known as PlayStyles+. Considering the Madden and NHL series has had X-Factors in the past, it felt right for this series to finally get something comparable.

Players also feel like they have more control than ever thanks to a number of new gameplay mechanics. I could feel the impact of the new Precision Passing immediately, as it allowed me to shape the path of my passes with expert precision.

This pairs perfectly with the new Effort Dribble Touch, which allows you to set up your next move ahead of time. FC 24 also introduces Controlled Sprint as a way to move faster than normal, but not quite as much as a full-on sprint. This allows you to maintain better control of the ball by keeping it closer to the player’s body as you move around the pitch. Learning how to effectively use the game’s new gameplay mechanics helped to elevate my offensive game, making them excellent additions to the series.

Familiar Territory

Player Career puts you in control of a single player as they go through their career from the very start or choose an existing player and pick up where they already are in their career, just as has been the case in the last few entries. After creating your player and picking your team, the journey for your player begins. At the start, you’re going to have to work hard to increase your Manager Rating to move from a bench player to a member of the starting line-up. This can be done by completing objectives within each match or taking part in training sessions in between matches. You are not able to just continually ride the bench though, as the manager will eventually send you off on loan or put you up for transfer as a result of your low rating. You also have some say in your future by negotiating with other Clubs as well, so you can play both sides to see which makes you happiest.

Your player can build towards one of three personality types off the pitch, which are Virtuoso, Maverick, or Heartbeat. This is shaped by the decisions you make, shopping choices you make, and investments. The shopping in the game includes options like buying a better mattress or booking a course of dance classes, which reward you with different points towards the three categories, as well as sometimes giving other player boosts.

Training sessions are available before each match, with you even able to create and easily load pre-set favorite training sessions in the future. These sessions are vital to not only earning XP and Skill Points but also to improving your Manager Rating. Skills Points are required to upgrade your player across different categories such as Shooting, Dribbling, and Defending. Each of these has multiple attributes within them that you unlock to help improve different stats on your player.

Player Career allows you to choose the style in which you want to play, whether that is only playing as your created player/chosen existing player or controlling the entire team. I personally liked to mix it up here, because sometimes it was fun to only have to play one position while others it could get frustrating when the rest of your team was letting you down and I wanted to take matters into my own hands.

The biggest problem with Player Career is that the majority of the off-the-pitch activities just feel more ancillary than anything else. I eventually reached a point where I just wanted to skip past most of them and get straight to the matches, which has been a problem that has plagued this series for the last few years. This series has had some really good variations of the Player Career in the past, but something just feels missing and really did not change even with the newer additions this year.

Manager Career received a bit of an upgrade with the new Total Management System that comes into play before your players ever even hit the pitch. The first element of this is known as Tactical Vision, where you as the manager get to pick between seven different real-world philosophies such as Counter Attack and Tiki-Taka. My personal go-to was the Tiki-Taka, but it’s well worth trying the different styles out.

Ultimate Team is typically one of the most popular, yet controversial game modes in the series and that is likely to be no different with EA Sports FC 24. As always, the goal of Ultimate Team is to literally build the ultimate team of players that you collect and can use for only set periods of time. Like in real life, you have to re-sign players to use them in more games like most game modes of this type. I’m still much more partial to MLB The Show’s Diamond Dynasty, which allows you to continually use all of your cards without restrictions, but this is just something that has been part of Ultimate Team forever and likely will not be changing anytime soon. The microtransaction element is still ever present as well, but you just have to know it comes with the territory by this point.

One of the coolest new features in FC 24’s Ultimate Team that was never in the series under the FIFA name is the introduction of intergender rosters. This allows you to mix your team with both male and female players at the same time when the mode was previously exclusive to male players. While there is likely a vocal minority that will cause an uproar about something like this, this is a great next step in the series that adds a lot more variety to your rosters.

FUT also adds what are known as Evolutions into the mix, which allows you to upgrade your base-level cards over time to get better stats. This is a fantastic addition, as now you can take some of your favorite players who may not quite have the stats to warrant being a starter on your team and work to build them up to the starter level. That is not all though, as you can also customize your cards to give them specific skill moves or make other changes to tailor them to how you want your team to be set up. Cards can go through several Evolutions, allowing you to create unique cards to use as part of what can truly be your Ultimate Team.

The street football-based mode Volta is also back again this year, though it is the least notable of the bunch compared to last year’s game. Volta is always a lot of fun and still is in FC 24, but it would have been nice to see the mode be given more attention and care in this iteration besides getting added to the list of modes available for crossplay.

Verdict

Rather than a full-on reinvention of the FIFA series alongside the name change, EA Sports FC 24 is exactly what we would have expected from FIFA 24 if it had maintained the old naming structure. That is far from a bad thing though, as this annual franchise had already created a solid product that the developers were able to add onto. While a number of the game modes still feel pretty stagnant, such as the underwhelming Player Career and lack of upgrades for Volta the addition, of the HypermotionV and SAPIEN technologies, new gameplay mechanics, and even the ability to have intergender matches in Ultimate Team for the first time ever make EA Sports FC 24 well worth playing for fans of the franchise.

Score: 8/10

Pros:

• Familiar experience that players can jump right into
• Gameplay upgrades make motion feel more realistic than ever
• Introduction of Evolutions and female player in Ultimate Team

Cons:

• Side activities in Player Career feel hollow and unnecessary most of the time
• Minimal if any noticeable upgrades to a few select game modes
• Microtransactions in Ultimate Team are still awful