With FC 25, EA SPORTS wants to give its soccer franchise a proper polish. This is also accompanied by the introduction of Rush mode, for which VOLTA has to make way. What’s behind the new small pitch experience?
In soccer, there are a number of sayings that sum up the sport. “The ball is round and the game lasts 90 minutes”, for example, is attributed to Germany’s first world champion coach Sepp Herberger, who has a second of the great soccer quotes in his CV: “You must be eleven friends”.
The fact that Herberger’s statements are so timeless is also due to the fact that the essence of soccer has not changed much despite semi-automatic offside recognition and handball discussions. If you look at the most important pitches in the world, there are still eleven players per team competing in two 45-minute rounds of football
VOLTA is a thing of the past
However,
EA SPORTS breaks with these supposed principles once again in FC 25. Having already taken an unsuccessful step onto the small pitch with VOLTA, there will once again be a mode on a narrower pitch and with fewer players in the upcoming offshoot of the soccer simulation: Rush, a five-on-five competition that not only complements VOLTA, which never matched the success of FIFA Street, but replaces it entirely. According to Senior Producer Sam Rivera, EA SPORTS made this decision “following feedback from the community.”
The rules in the VOLTA successor are simple and in parts are reminiscent of the small-sided leagues that have sprung up in recent years: Two teams of four outfield players and a goalkeeper compete against each other in an eight-minute match without changing sides. There is also no kick-off at the beginning; instead, the ball is pushed from the side into the middle of the small pitch and the faster of the two teams lined up in their own half secures the first possession
Time penalties and ice hockey penalties
There are also deviations from traditional soccer in terms of personal punishment. Instead of red or yellow-red cards, blue cards are handed out, which mean a time penalty of one minute. Here, the handling of offenses is also reminiscent of the Infinity League, Kings League and the like, which also seem to have inspired the consequences of fouls in the penalty area.
In Rush, you do not take a penalty, but are awarded a penalty. One player is allowed to run freely towards the goalkeeper with the ball and try to beat him. All other players have to watch and are only allowed to follow up and intervene after a delay. There are also parallels to the MLS of the 1990s or ice hockey, which has also been loosely adapted in terms of the offside rule. This only exists in the opposing third, which is marked by the line from which both teams run towards the ball at the start of the game
Implementation planned in every game mode
Although Rush differs from the familiar gameplay in previous FIFA and FC games, it still has the same foundation and is based on eleven-versus-eleven gameplay and mechanics. According to Rivera, EA SPORTS wants to preserve the “game depth and balance”, but he sees the key difference to VOLTA in two other facets: the sociality and implementation of Rush.
In fact, the widespread introduction is a completely new approach. Where VOLTA stood alongside Career Mode and Ultimate Team, Rush will be integrated into these established components of the game. In Career Mode, youth tournaments will take place every two months or so, which you can compete in with players from your academy in Rush Mode to secure advantages in player development by performing well. “We want to give the existing modes a breath of fresh air and use the fully developed progression systems that our players already know,” says Rivera about this decision, which also affects clubs.
Meanwhile, the social aspect, which is also reflected in new cheers with multiple participants, results from three points: Firstly, it is possible for four individual players to team up and each control one of the outfield players, while the goalkeeper is controlled by the AI and the team captain, equivalent to clubs. “Tailored to friends,” says Rivera.
On the smaller pitch, which according to the Senior Producer is big enough to get creative, but is still significantly smaller than a traditional playing surface, it is also ensured that “everything you do on the pitch is important”. All players are always in the thick of the action and have more possession time. Which leads to the final part of the social aspect: “There are no set positions. I have to coordinate with my friends. Coordination and communication are important. “
Eleven versus eleven gameplay as the basis, more action for everyone involved and a consistent implementation of the new small-sided game in existing modes – with Rush, EA SPORTS is making every effort not only to keep the concept of VOLTA alive, but also to improve it in the long term. Anyone interested will be able to find out for themselves from September 27 whether the developer actually succeeds in this. The Standard Edition of FC 25 will then be released, while the Ultimate Edition will be available to play from September 20.
