“Hypermotion V”, “Precision Pass” and Co. were the buzzwords used this year to promote the gameplay of EA SPORTS FC 24. Will the announcements be followed by substantial changes?
After the last almost identical seven parts of the FIFA series from EA SPORTS, which has now been decided for the time being, you could have guessed it: The start of a new era ends when you step onto the virtual green. Where menus, visuals and modes have received more or less major innovations, the core of the game, the gameplay, has once again stagnated.
Bugs persist
Also known are some bugs that made it into FC 24 over the separation from FIFA. Various avatars run around i Ultimate Team without hair and with generic faces devoid of any features. Images of the respective flags or choreos are missing on numerous deco items in the mode.
The most questionable comeback honour, however, has one of the most nerve-racking bugs in FIFA history: If you restart the game or just the PlayStation controller, it is possible that your own settings have been reset – even while you are in them. The fact that such a malfunction is still present after one year now confirms: There’s a lot that’s familiar to FIFA 23 players.
Smooth movements for standard cards
The simulation itself feels quite different from its predecessor: The players move more ponderously, the gameplay is therefore a bit more spongy here and there – but also more realistic. This was already apparent in the beta, when EA SPORTS provided cards with the highest ratings in Ultimate Team, which allowed a direct comparison to end-game items in FUT 23.
Exceptions are once again certain superstars with their own body types and movement patterns. Erling Haaland or Kylian Mbappé sometimes glide through defensive lines of less prominent opponents who have to make do with standard animations. What has already caused disproportionate preferential treatment of individual items in recent years is taken to the extreme with “Hypermotion V”. It is to be hoped that EA SPORTS will use the new feature to gradually give more and more professionals individual animations and thus combat the imbalance in the game.
FC 24 maintains status quo
Until then, quick turns and little hooks are reserved for mercurial dribble artists – those with their own movement sequences. Big-bodied edges with generic animations tend to operate with the gracefulness of Ever Given in the Suez Canal. Especially when they pull up against explosive sprinters, they therefore get back into the running duel over the middle distance at the earliest. Once again, therefore, despite new sprint types with more gradations, it is also true: speed is the trump card.
Tempo is a continuing status quo, which this year seems perhaps even a little more sobering than in the course of the past releases. After all, the list of new features had been long in advance. Players should feel nothing less than “the magic of replaying real football”. This is how David Jackson, Vice President of EA SPORTS FC, announced it in the course of the big Reveal event in Amsterdam. However, this only succeeded in parts.
New sugar passes are well received
For example, in the course of the new pass type “Precision Pass”. Controlled manually and optionally also with a cut, with a little practice one or two fine passes can actually be conjured up in the open space. If the pass is successful, it feels similarly rewarding as a successful finish with the semi-supported shooting mechanic “Precision Shooting”. This penalises inaccurate aiming and rewards precise aiming at the corners of the goal with a higher chance of success, which is actually clearly noticeable in the running game.
Keepers can’t help it
However, it is also true that there are always goals that can only be associated with a good finish in the second instance. The inclined FIFA player suspects: It’s all about the goalkeepers. And in FC 24, they are also riding the razor’s edge that separates genius from madness. A moment ago, a great chance by the opponent’s top striker was brilliantly parried, but the next time it’s a harmless attempt in the middle of the box or into a covered short corner that can suddenly lead to a goal being conceded.
The manual movement of the keeper is particularly tricky again this year. Once again, EA SPORTS fails to consistently ensure a sensible choice of parade animations in these cases. At times, therefore, it almost seems as if the keeper is actively refusing to defend by rather still avoiding the shot.
Even when the goalkeeper is able to deflect a ball, however, the danger in FC 24 is not over. In the first game sessions, there were already a few billiard bounces between the goalkeeper, defender and opposing striker that could lead to curious goals against. Scenes that similarly play out on the rest of the pitch. Time and again, for example, intercepted passes bounce wide off the foot or takes go a bit awry.
PlayStyles are effective – thanks to rebound calculation?
Such as in duels. If “Advanced Defending” is activated, this requires good timing, which might be difficult for beginners. In the new control mode of the back line, players can manually decide by pressing two different buttons whether a shoulder bump or a “real” one-on-one manoeuvre is to be carried out. Although the attempts to win the ball are more effective than in FIFA 23, the ball always bounces back to the opponent. Even with supposedly successful timing – which could be a calculation on the part of the developer.
Finally, it succeeds in giving more impact to another innovation: PlayStyles. The successors to the characteristics – or traits – are intended to emphasise individual, iconic playing styles and qualities of professionals. They do this impressively – precisely because the items fall off without PlayStyles.
The + variants of the PlayStyles are especially noticeable in the simulation. For example, if items have the “Interception” play style, intercepted passes are more likely to remain on the player’s own foot. With “Anticipation” or “Edge”, duels are much more successful. The improvement through PlayStyles is literally visible with standards. Cards with the PlayStyle+ “Resting Ball” have a longer display of the trajectory of the ball. This makes it much easier to see where the ball lands during free kicks and corners.
Summary
Where EA SPORTS FC 24 ends up with these changes, meanwhile, is harder to say. As already in FIFA 23, there are good approaches. In principle, a slower pace of play is beneficial to realism, for example. Attractive new mechanics such as “Precision Pass” are also more effective, as more time allows for more precise aiming. In general, the intention to reward more manual control options is laudable.
On the other hand, the spongy gameplay counteracts this approach. Players are almost urged to activate most of the help settings – if the apparently still existing settings bug allows it. In addition, EA SPORTS once again cannot or does not want to finally break away from the basic arcade idea. Thanks to ever better and faster maps, Ultimate Team players in particular are likely to find themselves on familiar terrain in a few weeks. So instead of creating new landscapes, EA SPORTS is ploughing up the same well-trodden path again.
