EA Sports FC 26

So here we are. The biggest sports game of them all, rounding off what has been a pretty decent year for sports games. But how does EA Sports FC 26, the third game in the series since the name change (and divorce) from FIFA, actually fare in this genre, which has been fairly stagnant for many years?

From the very first trailer, it seemed that the developers had taken the criticism from previous games in the series to heart. With quotes from players such as "Fix tackles!!!!!" and "Way too many bounce backs," the response was "Not anymore." Or on things that players can never agree on: "make gameplay faster," was a comment in the reveal trailer. "No, make it more realistic" was another. "Why not both?" replied EA. So, at least outwardly, it seemed that a sports game developer had finally listened to the players. But was it just playing to the gallery? For the most part, no. Both of the above issues have been addressed, and overall, this is a better football game than what we saw last year.

Regarding the aforementioned game speed, we know that there will always be two camps. Those who want faster, more arcade-like football, and those who want slower, more realistic football. In EA Sports FC 25, the focus was on making it as realistic as possible, which I personally like, but which many online players (AKA Ultimate Team players) did not like. It was too slow, it was often a defence simulator, and so on. That's why EA Sports has tried to find a compromise this year.

Online, it's now the faster version that applies, where players fly around and the ball can travel at speeds like it's been shot out of a cannon. Offline, you have the option of playing at this fast speed or playing "realistically", i.e. slower, and the difference is really noticeable. Going from an Ultimate Team match directly to an offline match is like going from watching Premier League players pumped up with super serum to watching a National League match on a muddy field after a heavy downpour.

As for the so-called "bounce backs", which were a big problem in last year's game, I am happy to report that these have also been fixed. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's when a defender intercepts the ball, but for some reason it still bounces back to the attacker, who is thus past the defender. How they've solved this in FC 26 is by basically making the attacking player stumble. When the tackle comes, the attacker continues past the ball while the defender takes it in the other direction, and the attacker is put out of position long enough that they can't win the ball back immediately. I can't remember seeing anything like that pinball effect at all so far, or at least only very rarely.

Speaking of balls that don't bounce where they should, the goalkeepers have improved. The developers have apparently received a lot of feedback on how the goalkeepers performed last year (and even earlier, I assume) and have looked at their positioning, and especially how they parry balls. There have been many times when the balls go straight back to the opponents, but now they are much better at saving the ball, parrying it away from dangerous areas. Ultimately, less like André Onana in real life, that is... Fewer annoying goalkeeper interventions, in other words. But that doesn't mean the goalkeepers are superheroes, as shots still go in as they should. The difference is that their wrists are no longer made of concrete, where the ball bounces straight back to the shooter. And speaking of goalkeepers, it's now also possible to play that position in Rush mode in Clubs.

A lot of talk about defensive play, you might think. Is it really as difficult to score goals as it is for Aston Villa in this year's Premier League? No, fortunately there have been changes in the attacking play as well. There has been a big focus on improving passing, with things like more responsive passes, especially one-touch passes, and new animations make the passes feel better and more precise. Perhaps the biggest difference when it comes to shooting is that "timed finishing" has been removed. It was basically a meter where the shot had a better chance of going in if you ended up in the right zone. This has to do with long shots, especially so-called trivelas (with the outside of the foot), becoming far too effective of a way to score goals last year. I could go on and on about all the things that have changed in terms of gameplay, but to sum it up, it's a clear improvement from last year.

However, I am quite sure that there will be some tactics that will be overused because they are much better than others. As in EA Sports FC 24, where some players just ran up the side-line, played a diagonal pass backwards, and into the open goal, in some matches, I didn't even need central midfielders because the opponent never used the middle of the pitch. It was very annoying. But it's always difficult to say at the beginning of the season what this will be like, so I can't give an assessment on that yet. If you ask me in a month, I'm sure I'll have an answer.

It's not just on the pitch that they've taken criticism on board. Small things have been implemented, like making Rush mode five minutes long instead of seven (something that was changed partway through last year's game when players thought the matches were too long), a new high-contrast mode for players with impaired vision (and generally more accessibility options for those who need it) has been added, and better visibility of which challenges are close to completion when you start an Ultimate Team match provide a better experience. And those are the three words I would use to describe FC 26: a better experience.

This also applies to Manager mode. These aren't huge changes, but they are changes that make the game better. You can now choose to start from the beginning of a season or take on various specific challenges. These include things like surviving relegation after starting the season with a 20-point deduction, or winning the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal with Bayern Munich, while ensuring that Jamal Musiala plays at least 25 matches. I can see that this will extend the lifespan of this particular game mode, and as I understand it, new challenges will also be added during the course of the season.

Other changes include clubs now adapting their playing style and tactics to new coaches and various things happening during the season, such as a player getting homesick or someone getting injured during the international break. In various sports games, I often recommend just playing last year's version if you want to play Franchise Modes, but this time I think it's worth trying the latest version.

Unfortunately, the Player Career doesn't see as many new features as the Manager Career. Here, I would say that you might as well continue playing FC 25 if all you do is play solo career. Sure, new player Archetypes have been added, so at least that's something. You will be able to unlock, develop, and refine 13 distinct player Archetypes that make your player special, where some are better suited if you like to be a defender and others if you are a real dribbling wizard. Other than that, there are only two other additions, which don't offer any major improvements. These are redesigned training exercises and two new backstories (up to five in total) for your player that determine your strengths and weaknesses. I would have liked to see a little more love here, especially since the relatively small NHL series got a revamped Career Mode.

Over in Clubs, where you and a bunch of friends (or enemies) start a club and play against other clubs online, there have been some changes, but not too many. As mentioned earlier, you can play as a goalkeeper in Rush mode, and here is where I just have to interject to say that I love Rush: It's five-on-five (with one goalkeeper) on a smaller pitch, and everything just goes faster, with penalty boxes instead of red cards, offside in the final third instead of the centre line, and so on. Of course, it's best to play with friends, as there are some folk who make me want to tear my hair out when they refuse to pass or think they're Ronaldinho... But anyway, back to Clubs. You can now be a member of three different clubs at the same time, and the aforementioned Archetypes are also present here. However, the opportunity to join live events, which are only available for a short period of time, means that there is more to do than just play typical league matches.

However, it's clear that Ultimate Team is the flagship feature, once again. This being the card collecting mode that many people have very strong opinions about. The biggest change is a reworking of the so-called "power curve". Last year, it was very quick to get better players, and there was a new campaign every week, and soon everyone was running around with monster squads, even before New Year's Eve. This year, the idea is to slow things down. It will take a long time before we start sniffing around those players with a total rating of 99, and the idea is that it should feel like a development throughout the year, instead of gold cards feeling too weak already in the second week. I am a supporter of this, but I know that others want to play with 99 Ronaldo and 99 Pelé from the first minute.

Live events are here, just like in Clubs, to provide novelty throughout the year. There will be different themes and other things to play with in these events, which provides a good opportunity to play with different players and not just collect the starting eleven over-and-over again. In addition, Tournaments, which were introduced partway through last year's game, are back and will appear at regular intervals. If you enjoy competitive play, there are changes to the big, important Champions mode (formerly Weekend League), where playoffs to enter the competition have been removed, and instead you will automatically qualify if you reach a certain number of points in Rivals. If you are outside the highest Rivals divisions, there is an alternative to Champions called Challengers, which is the same as Champions, but for lower-ranked players and with poorer rewards.

EA Sports FC 26 is, in short, a better game than what we have seen in recent years. There are major improvements on the pitch and minor improvements here and there in various game modes, however there are still things that detract from the experience, such as buggy menus that froze my game several times (the first time after three minutes of play when I changed a team line-up) and a poorly updated Player Career. While the EA Sports FC series (and FIFA) always averages good ratings, the question is why it doesn't ever achieve anything truly exceptional. It's the largest sports game series in the world, and if you think of other major game series, be that; Final Fantasy, Mario, The Witcher, or Grand Theft Auto, these are almost expected to have near-perfect ratings. So, why is this not the case with EA Sports FC?