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FIFA 24 is never happening but as EA Sports FC 24 tries to fill the gap just how different are EA\u2019s two football franchises?<\/p>\n
You\u2019d struggle to find a game whose launch was preceded by more speculation and angst than EA Sports FC 24. Since 1993, EA\u2019s FIFA-branded football games have consistently been amongst the most popular video games in the world. But since EA has now abandoned the FIFA licence, we\u2019ll all have to get used to the bland, unimaginative FC brand with which it is now saddled. Somehow, the phrase \u2018Fancy a quick blast on FC?\u2019 doesn\u2019t feel nearly so appealing \u2013 like referring to Twitter as X.<\/p>\n
However, that particular stumbling block shouldn\u2019t take too long to hurdle. That\u2019s because, while FC 24 may sound<\/em> different to FIFA 24, it doesn\u2019t feel<\/em> like some gratuitously radical new departure. Yes, EA has used the change in brand to refresh parts of the game which, frankly, needed it \u2013 such as the increasingly cumbersome main menu \u2013 and has added a few new elements like PlayStyles, as well as tinkering with the game\u2019s underlying technology.<\/p>\n But all those parts have been blended into a reassuringly familiar mix, and in many areas FC 24 so outshines FIFA 23 that one suspects that EA may have indulged in some deliberate sandbagging, as the FIFA brand reached the end of its shelf life.<\/p>\n One FC 24 conspiracy theory that has been doing the rounds is that its gameplay has been slowed down to the level of sedateness that once characterised Konami\u2019s PES games. That simply isn\u2019t true. Sure, FC 24\u2019s matches proceed at a less frenetic pace than that of FIFA games released at the turn of the millennium, but that was also true of recent iterations. The football you play in FC 24 is truer to real-life, high level football than ever, which has to be a good thing.<\/p>\n If you crave the sort of unrealistically fast football that once characterised FIFA games, you can still find it in FC 24\u2019s five-a-side mode, Volta. It tries to strike some sort of balance between FIFA and Super Mario Strikers and turns out to be a fun, if exhausting, way to play. However, it fails to shake the suspicion that its main reason for existing is to persuade you to lash out even more money on lootboxes containing virtual clothes for your footballer to wear. All its street<\/em> elements \u2013 bar the music, which is consistently excellent throughout FC 24 \u2013 have more than a whiff of dad-dancing.<\/p>\n EA\u2019s tweaks to elements like ball physics and player animation are less immediately obvious than the presentational changes it has made to the game, such as such showing scenes from virtual dressing rooms pre-game and at half time (which add an impressive note of extra realism). But you do feel them as soon as you get on the pitch.<\/p>\n That\u2019s because, even compared to FIFA 23, FC 24 feels smoother and more accurate where it matters. Your teams maintain the positions you\u2019ve instructed them to and the old FIFA trait, in which centre backs went galloping down the pitch just as opposing strikers bore down on them, has been well and truly banished. Passes go exactly where you want them to and FC 24\u2019s through-passing, in particular, has much more precision than any FIFA game.<\/p>\n The systems for jockeying with opposition players, as high balls come down, and applying a power-touch when you seek to gain a first-touch advantage both now feel intuitive, whereas previously they had a slightly hit-or-miss feel. Overall, FC 24\u2019s gameplay is excellent: super-smooth, very slick and, most importantly, pinpoint accurate.<\/p>\n