For decades, Electronic Arts has provided the quintessential football experience for gamers. EA Sports FC 25 might represent the peak of the series, but that could spark a potential stalemate or worse, a decline moving forward.

EA introduced its HyperMotion technology in FIFA 22, providing the most realistic animations and behaviours for its footballers. In EA Sports FC 25, it has been implemented on over 1,800 players and it’s never been more impressive. When combined with the feeling of being more in control than ever, on and off the pitch, it’s a winning formula for success.

Check out the EA Sports FC 25 trailer below!

What’s more, this is all accompanied by ‘FC IQ’, an AI that will adapt in real-time with regards to formations and tactics against the CPU, so no two games will be the same, especially when playing against different teams.

You now also have more options when it comes to changing tactics on the fly thanks to an improved user interface that can be accessed via the D-pad. For example, depending on what presets you have, you can switch from defensive or attacking tactics in an instant.

More subs can be accessed in real-time too. Previously, if you wanted to make a sub without pausing, you could only make one change at a time based on what the game was recommending. Most of the time, it wouldn't be the best option. Now, by flicking the analogue stick, you can choose from three recommendations and there are further suggestions via the D-pad. It might not always get it right, but it's nice to have added options nonetheless.

EA Sports

What I will say about changing tactics on the fly is that it can be a little distracting. For example, if you’re playing against another player online, that glance at the D-pad to make sure you’ve made the correct choice can be enough for an opponent to take advantage. Still, you’re not forced to use the D-pad.

A first for this series is being able to choose a higher resolution or framerate. Unless I want to take a snazzy screenshot, I’ll more often than not favour framerate. Due to the fast-paced nature of EA Sports FC 25, there’s no way I’d consider a higher resolution at the expense of a smooth framerate. Again, it’s still nice to have that option.

While remaining largely the same but offering enough modes and match types that could even please a Chelsea owner's bottomless wallet, there are some new additions to popular modes, in particular Career mode. Legendary players such as David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and more can be signed to your club. You can invest and develop your youth players more than ever by playing Rush mode tournaments (more on Rush later).

EA Sports

New ‘Player Roles’ exist alongside ‘Play Styles’, offering an extra layer of tactical depth across all modes. Unlike ‘Play Styles’ which are essentially on-the-ball abilities, ‘Player Roles’ are behaviours off the ball, such as dropping back into a deeper position to allow a player to move further up the pitch or a winger backtracking when a full-back advances to attack. ‘Player Roles’ add so much tactical depth that you now have two formations, one each for off and on the ball.

Rush, EA’s new five-a-side mode that replaces Volta, is very fast-paced and when playing this match online, you only select one player. The CPU controls the goalkeeper which means the remaining four are human-controlled and there are no fixed positions. So it’s up to you and your teammates to work together accordingly.

Rush can be a lot of fun, especially with its short-burst formula. That’s as long as you don’t have a human teammate that’s insistent on hogging the ball and always goes for glory or worse still, one that quits when things aren't going well. Rush is everywhere and plays a part in the free season pass-like progression system that unlocks items across all main modes of EA Sports FC 25.

Ultimate Team encourages players to build a dream team to compete against others online. Not much has changed and you will be tempted to spend real-world money in the small hope of unpacking a worthwhile player. To EA’s credit, being able to acquire special players for free has improved in recent years, as long as you participate in the Squad Building Challenges and objectives. In these early days of EA Sports FC 25, the rewards are far less generous than what they will likely be later in the cycle, so bear that in mind.

EA Sports

Ultimate Team is one of my favourite modes. That being said, as much as I enjoy this mode, I am sick of losing progression points playing against the CPU in Squad Battles when the EA servers disconnect. I get that you should not get rewards for quitting against another player, which happens to me a lot. However, when it's the EA servers that have disconnected when playing against the CPU, you should not lose your rewards and this needs to be fixed ASAP, especially as it's a problem from previous games.

EA Sports FC 25 is Electronic Arts’ best football game to date. The game has clearly progressed, and it’s now got to the stage where there is little room for improvement which could become an issue. That may seem like an odd criticism, but if EA wants to make additional improvements in next year's inevitable release, it’s going to have to pull something really special out of the hat. Something that even Lionel Messi would be proud of, but that’s a potential concern for another day. For now, the football action on the pitch doesn't get much better than EA Sports FC 25.

Pros: Seamless football action, loads of fun modes, looks gorgeous

Cons: Disconnecting from EA serves is infuriating, D-pad tactics are a bit fiddly

For fans of: Football

Score: 8/10: Excellent

EA Sports FC 25 is out now on PC, PlayStation (PS5 version reviewed), Xbox and Nintendo Switch. A review code was provided by the publisher. Find a complete guide to GAMINGbible's review scores here.