Stagnation, bugs, unplayable online modes and real money – that’s VOLTA 24 summed up in a few words. What does the mode in FC 24 do? A commentary first impression by Holm Kräusche.
If you want to know what’s wrong with FC 24 as a whole, start VOLTA. After my test, I have to advise against playing the mode: There is so much wrong here that any fun falls by the wayside. In comparison to FIFA 23, nothing noticeable has been further developed.
“How EA lets a mode go to waste” was my headline last year. We could have simply titled this article VOLTA 24, the contents of the test at that time are almost identical – if you are interested in what VOLTA is about, just click on the link. But just writing that would not do in the light of the mode presented:
The level of frustration and errors VOLTA hits you with are unparalleled in FC 24, and the state of the mode would lead to a blatant devaluation of the title if VOLTA were considered a relevant part of the overall package.
What is VOLTA actually?
VOLTA was the reintroduction of FIFA Street in its first version. Fast, fun, on the street with tricks and walls in micro teams. A wonderful idea. EA even gave 2019 a story. The AI we attested university sports level, but at least that was something. There were things to do, games to play, fun to be had.
In FC 24, the question is: why should I even start the mode? Presumably I’m actually a clubs player and want to level up my avatar. Once again, there are only dull games strung together against AI opponents, hooky frustrating arcade games or the unplayable version of virtual street football against real opponents.
Your own Pro can be styled extensively and equipped with fancy and partly branded clothes. Almost 130 shoes from brand manufacturers are available from the start. Significantly, they are all grass shoes with studs, which are notoriously unsuitable for concrete. In the shop, countless other items are available, expensive for in-game currency or, you guessed it, for FC Points, which you can also buy for real money at the same place.
However, this seems to have been a (further) mistake; with the full release, the 130 shoes have disappeared and made way for indoor kickers.
But what is VOLTA today? An auxiliary construct for club players, a profit alibi and otherwise irrelevant.
Control and AI
When you enter the mode in good spirits, fight your way through the pro-creation and start playing, the old problems appear. Arbitrary AI colleagues, no uniform kits, artefacts from the first VOLTA and complete lack of plan: What am I actually doing here? Display errors and “Generic_Teamname1234” for computer opponents on top. Here too, however, the very worst seems to have been partially fixed for the full release.
When you start the first game against the AI, it becomes clear: the controls are too imprecise, skill moves are either overpowered or pointless and the AI colleagues and opponents are stupid. If you don’t defend everything yourself, the computer opponent will score goals because your own teammates run away or tear gaps. Very rarely, the magic of the mode flashes when a pass is played over the boards… … That’s also it.
In the pointless stringing together of matches, teams of different sizes compete on different pitches. At least this provides variety and thanks to the new FC 24 graphics, it also looks pretty smart. Goals are staged with effects and glorious replays. Again, how good VOLTA once was or could be shines through.
Overview
The great graphics, however, hinder the overview. Since everything takes place in a much smaller space, the perspectives are quite different from the rest of FC. Everything is huge. Once again, the whole team has to be equipped with tops of the same colour on its own in order to be able to distinguish your own from the opposing kickers at all. At least in FC 24 all players can now be given the same clothes. In the predecessor, a different colour top had to be purchased for each player.
However, this does not make for a good overview. In front of colourful courts with six to ten players and a lot of hustle and bustle on the court, it becomes exhausting. All the more so if you are only playing yourself, as there is always something to look at out of the corner of your eye: your own avatar or your colleagues. If there is a break in the game, the pro warps off somewhere and there is hardly any time to find him again before the game continues.
Once again, there is no free-moving camera in instant replay. For a mode that in theory draws a lot from style, cool goals and skill moves: an undoing.
The gameplay is okay, as in the rest of FC 24, but frustrates quickly. Balls that were clearly in the goal are not counted. In addition, it is possible to block your own colleagues as the opposing goalkeeper. Not very true to life.
Online game
The biggest frustration factor is again playing with and against real people. Unlike in the predecessor, I didn’t just have to deal with egomaniacs who never fit. Obviously there are points for just completing the games, which leads to apathetic fellow players standing around.
The highest scores and rewards, however, are for the most skill moves. Good idea? Watching other players perform 200 ball rolls for four minutes without ever receiving a pass – EA SPORTS probably didn’t think of that in two years. The mode is absolutely unplayable.
Conclusion
Let’s keep it short: If you need a reason to find FC 24 bad and see all the problems cumulatively in one spot, start VOLTA. On a scale of 10, I give 0 points. 2 for the beautiful graphics as well as the general ideas and -2 for the absolutely pointless implementation of real money. EA SPORTS misses the basic point of games in VOLTA: fun, engagement, growth, pastime. Instead, the mode steams together on advertising in the form of items.