Every year, EA Sports FC games (or FIFA, as they were known until not that long ago) tout one or two central features that are held up as game-changing additions, and more often than not, they don’t land as expected, failing to make any meaningful or significant improvements to the gameplay beyond shallow, surface-level tweaks. For the first time in a while, however, it feels like some of the changes that EA Sports FC 25 has made are genuine upgrades in ways that feel very tangible very quickly. Of course, being the sort of iterative annual sports franchise that this is, this is still very much an incremental upgrade – it’s almost foolish to expect anything else from the genre at this point – but FC 25 does feel like one of the better iterations of this formula in the last few years.

In particular, this year’s game feels like a welcome reprieve for those who like to spend the bulk of their time in Career Mode, a mode that’s been a series staple for as long as anyone can remember, and yet has still received little more than superficial and meaningless upgrades most years, leading to consistent decline and stagnancy. This year, however, Career Mode does benefit from some key improvements.

"Being the sort of iterative annual sports franchise that this is, this is still very much an incremental upgrade, but FC 25 does feel like one of the better iterations of this formula in the last few years."

For me, chief among them has been the overhaul of how youth scouting and development are handled. In FC 25’s Manager Career Mode, there’s a greater emphasis placed on youth development than in previous years. Scouting and recruitment are done largely as they used to be done in prior years’ games, but the way you develop talent now feels much more active, giving you much greater control over how academy players are developing and also offering much more tangible results. Not only do your development and coaching plans make an actual difference to young talent, as they grow older, you can also see visual changes in their appearance and physical attributes.

There’s also Rush, which is a brand-new introduction in this year’s game. A 5v5 experience that alters some of the on-pitch rules of the game to offer a faster, more open-ended, and more end-to-end version of an actual 11v11 match. Of course, those who’ve played any of the last handful of FC (or FIFA) entries will instantly see Rush as a somewhat altered version of VOLTA- though there are a few key differences at play here. Rush is, for instance, integrated into each larger mode, rather than only being its own separate thing.

In Career Mode, for instance, Rush enters the picture with youth development, because every once in a while, you get to play 5v5 Rush matches with your most promising academy players. Not only does it serve as a welcome change of pace from the regular game-to-game grind of association football, it also feeds into the youth development loop. Setting up teams for the future is something that EA’s yearly football series has never really allowed players to do with as much robustness as something like Football Manager, and though we’re still nowhere close to that level of control and nuance, FC 25 is definitely a step in the right direction.

Another key change in this year’s game that definitely works out is the introduction of player roles- which is something that fans of the aforementioned Football Manager series will be perfectly familiar with. Player roles work exactly as you’d expect, allowing you to tweak what a player is supposed to be doing on the pitch beyond just the broad scope of the position they’re playing in. Do you want your fullback a traditional, defensive player who likes to remain wide and makes overlaps, or would you prefer a more Guardiola-esque system where your fullback is inverting into the midfield? Is your midfielder an all-action box-to-box type, or would you prefer they remain forward and focus on creating chances? Do you want your striker to be a fast and furious target man or is it better for your style of play if they drop into the midfield and help link up the play?

"This year, Career Mode does benefit from some key improvements."

Past year’s games have sort of allowed players to set these instructions through combinations of specific tactical options, but with the introduction of player roles in FC 25, all of that becomes much more immediate and much more convenient- while, more importantly, you can also unmistakably see how the choices you make impact your system and the things that your players do on the pitch. The many different player roles available across all positions combine with the more flexible tactical options and settings provided in FC 25 to give players much finer control over how their team plays on the pitch. You can, for instance, now also set specific instructions for how your team is shaped and positioned both in and out of possession, which the more tactical-minded managers out there will surely appreciate.

Of course, not all aspects of the experience have seen similar improvements. For instance, press interactions and the entire player morale system as a whole remain as ineffectual and shallow as ever. Yes, press interactions now come with entirely new sets of possible responses, and yes, they are much more strongly related to actual games, players, and their performances- but ultimately, it’s the same old system wearing a new suit, which means it has all of the same flaws. Very rarely does any of it feel like it matters, which makes it one of the more easily ignorable parts of the game.

Transfer and contract negotiations, too, are a bit unpredictable at times, as they have been in past years, while I’m also not sure I’m completely sold on the new UI. Having an entirely new look and layouts for pretty much all of the menus is definitely a nice change of pace – especially for someone who spends as much time in the menus-heavy Career Mode as I do – but the UI does feel a bit clunky at times. For instance, changing your team tactics, lineups, and formations feels somewhat unintuitive at first- though I do realize that a lot of that will go away as I get more used to the new UI (or so I hope, at least).

From a visuals and presentation standpoint, meanwhile, there’s plenty to be impressed by. EA Sports FC 25 does bring over a lot of the technical rough edges of its predecessors, from commentary bugs to the occasional animation glitch and more, but by and large, the game looks and sounds great. There’s an expanded roster of pre- and post-match cutscenes, player models and faces look great for the most part, stadiums and pitches look spectacularly detailed, the crowds and their chants sound excellent- it’s a solid experience, if not a breathtaking one.

"The many different player roles available across all positions combine with the more flexible tactical options and settings provided in FC 25 to give players much finer control over how their team plays on the pitch."

More often than not in recent years, I’ve come away disappointed from the big headlining changes and improvements that FC and FIFA games have touted, because more often than not, they end up being buzzwords for changes that are superficial at best. This year, however, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the legitimate and tangible improvements to be found in the game. For starters, the Career Mode enthusiast in me is ecstatic at the mode finally getting some long overdue attention, while key changes made to the on-pitch action – with things such as player roles, for instance – improve the gameplay experience for the better as well, especially for those who like to play around with their teams’ tactics. For multiple reasons, EA Sports FC 25 is definitely one of the series’ better outings in recent years.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.