EA Sports FC 24 Review
27.09.2023 - 01:53
/ ign.com
What’s in a name? When EA announced it would change the title of its premiere soccer series from FIFA to EA Sports FC24, we all wondered: is this also the year it finally takes a real step forward, out of the microtransaction-focused darkness and into the light of its full potential? Well, the answer is a resounding… kind of. There are breadcrumbs of greatness in EA Sports FC 24, with many new mechanics like Evolutions and Tactical Visions showing the series can evolve into something better. Yet, for every exciting improvement added in, there's still far too many of the same things, like poor AI, that have frustrated me for years.
For the first few hours of EA Sports FC 24, everything feels familiar gameplay-wise, for better and for worse. HyperMotion V and the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller feedback return make matches realistic, with precise ball and player physics, noticeable field wear and tear, and goal post-shaking haptics. It's hard to deny that there's a lot of attention to detail going into recreating a realistic soccer atmosphere.
New overlays showcase useful statistics like shot volume and player fatigue mid-game, with numerous background interview segments laced throughout matchday's pre, mid, and post-game segments as well. While they don’t feature any actual interactions with players and interviewers, it’s one of the many noticeable bits of detail that add to the atmosphere. If you foul someone to set up a free kick, you’ll even get a neat little first-person setup from the ref’s perspective, just like you’d see during a live broadcast. At the same time, team walkouts and ceremonial songs have sadly been cut, replaced by a few different shots of either fans or players getting ready for game day. It's a shame that I can take a League Two side like Wrexham all the way to the Premier League and still not get to hear their glorious anthem or see them walk out during their debut on the grandest stage of them all.
Unfortunately, the artificial intelligence part of the Hypermotion V technology that has been so heavily advertised doesn't live up to the hype. While Kinetic Shielding makes for some exciting battles, players still fall all over each other in unnatural ways. Advanced machine learning, which is pretty much a fancy way of saying constantly improving AI, is also hit-or-miss. Your goalkeepers will sometimes stand sideways and let an easy shot in or punch a ball that could have been caught, AI teammates make terrible attacking or defensive decisions that would have Harry Maguire blushing, and you'll likely find yourself yelling about an incorrect passing input more than once a match despite knowing you angled a perfect through ball with your sticks.
It’s frustrating that these