EA Sports FC 25 Review

The headline feature is genuinely interesting on paper. FC IQ replaces vague formation sliders with per player roles and focuses, so a full back can be told to invert and a striker can be told to drop between the lines. In practice the system is inconsistent enough that players routinely ignore their assignment, and the tactical presets it replaced were at least predictable. Rush, the five a side mode with a blue card sin bin, is the most fun new thing here and is also structurally a funnel toward the same Ultimate Team packs.

On the pitch the ball feels heavier and slower without feeling more deliberate, keepers alternate between wall and turnstile, and passing assistance quietly does more work than it should. Career mode gets a live start option that reformats the same spreadsheet. There is no narrative mode of any kind left in the series. Add the least generous card economy yet and a launch riddled with menu bugs and you have a version that regressed while adding features.