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EA Sports FC 24 is now official. After months of speculation, the spiritual successor to FIFA 23 has been unveiled and, well, it looks a lot like FIFA.
That’s not really a surprise considering its heritage and the only main reason it’s not called FIFA 24 is down to a financial dispute between Electronic Arts and the Fédération Internationale de Football Association. However, while the action on the pitch is familiar, it also looks like it could be a major leap forward off it.
Women in EA Sports FC 24 Ultimate Team
Part of this is thanks to the greatly increased presence of women’s leagues and players this time around. While EA has dabbled with women’s football over the last few years – including full Women’s World Cup representation being added to FIFA 23 – the lines between the men’s and women’s games are to be blurred, even erased.
That’s in Ultimate Team anyway, as female players will join their male counterparts in the most popular game mode for the first time. You will be able to pack women’s league players alongside men’s. And there will be women in the SBCs and events.
Plus, women icons and heroes will be available from the off, and you’ll be able to mix and match your teams as much as you fancy.
In reality, it’ll likely not affect the gameplay much beyond the visuals, but it does increase the player pool for Ultimate Team, so there will be a lot more variety.
Chemistry remains
Previous leaks had suggested that, with the inclusion of extra players and leagues, chemistry in FCUT (we presume it’ll be nicknamed) was to be scrapped entirely. But that’s not the case.
Chemistry will remain and work just as it does in FIFA 23. However, female players will naturally have better chemistry with players from the same women’s league. For mixed teams though, team affiliation and country will still apply – so Chelsea Women’s Sam Kerr will have good chemistry with Raheem Sterling, say.
Evolutions for cards
One really neat new feature to be added is the ability to upgrade players in Ultimate Team as the seasons progress. So a low-ranked favourite player won’t have to be chucked into an SBC after just a few weeks – you will be able to “level up” him or her to improve their skill and keep them current.
We don’t wholly know how this will work yet, but it’s a new feature that could be very much welcome – especially by those who have spent a fortune of in-game points to get a certain card only to, previously, see it become worthless in no time at all.
Gameplay
To be honest, the action on the pitch looks very similar to previous FIFA games. The new Hypermotion V technology promises to affect player motion and the fluidity of the game, but it’s essentially the same kind of thing – EA isn’t about to reinvent the wheel here.
We do get Play Styles though, which are powered by Opta stats and give players similar skills to their real-life counterparts. This is more than the attributes in FIFA games, as it will enable a player to more easily pull of a particular type of move, flick or shot. We’re yet to see it fully in action though.
EA Sports FC Sapien
Finally, the graphics also look pretty similar to before – after all, the game continues to use the Frostbite Engine. They have been thoroughly tweaked, though, with a new technology called EA Sports FC Sapien to improve body models and details on players. They move more accurately, for example.
GPU cloth is another new tech which ensures that kits flow and cling to a player realistically. And, the match day cutscenes and events are better rendered this time around too.
So, to answer the question of whether there’s enough about EA Sports FC 24 to make it feel like a real evolutionary step forward, we’d have to say that it’s looking better off the pitch than on. But then, we’re yet to play it.
That’ll come soon enough. For now though, we can safely say that there’s enough buzz about EA Sports FC 24 and the franchise going forward to suggest that FIFA needed EA Sports far more than vice versa. We can easily see this selling in bucketloads still – and that the FIFA name may soon be a mere memory.
EA Sports FC 24 release date and pre-order details
EA Sports FC 24 will be available from 29 September 2023 on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.
EA Sports FC 24
The standard edition of EA Sports FC 24 is available to pre-order for multiple platforms.
£69.99 (pre-order)There will be two versions, the standard one and an Ultimate Edition.
This Ultimate Edition will contain a load of extras, including a men’s or women’s Champions League hero player for Ultimate Team. It’ll also unlock the game for early access from 22 September – although it does step up in price to £99.99.
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