Review: EA Sports FC 26 (PS5)

One might say EA Sports FC 26 is a title of two segments.

For numerous years, there’s been a tug-of-war between distinct varieties of virtual football enthusiasts: some favor a more realistic depiction of the beautiful game, whereas others yearn for a quicker, arcade-inclined experience.

EA Sports’ answer? Genuine and Competitive presets that indeed modify the gameplay.

The publisher seems to have acknowledged that the demographic for the former is your conventional offline player, who likes to dig into their Manager mode by cultivating young talent and scouting undiscovered South American gems.

Conversely, the latter is tailored for the dedicated players who inhabit Ultimate Team, unpacking packs and expressing their frustrations at the screen when they just miss out on promotion in Rivals mode.

You may opt for the Competitive preset offline if you wish, but you cannot utilize Authentic online. It might make sense to eventually incorporate an option for the latter in online gaming, but there’s no indication of that occurring at launch.

Before you commence, we recognize offline and online gameplay has always been calibrated separately in this series, but Authentic and Competitive do truly feel dramatically distinct here – even to the most casual observer.

The tempo of the game is significantly quicker in Competitive, and athletes are much more agile and capable of extraordinary feats.

In Authentic, the ball progresses at a slower pace, and you need to exert more effort to create scoring chances because the gameplay has been finely tuned based on real-life metrics. Unless, for instance, Harry Kane is on the receiving end of your crosses, those headers are no longer guaranteed to find the net.

We appreciate the Authentic preset as it adds an element of unpredictability to the experience. Occasionally in football, you must contend with less-than-ideal conditions, such as a muddy pitch or strong winds. These factors are all simulated here, potentially requiring you to adapt your strategy.

If you’re the type of gamer who enjoys experimenting, then this year’s title will compel you into that mindset more than any previous edition. We chose a random South Korean club in the K-League for our adventure, and we’ve had a tremendous amount of enjoyment trying to optimize a mediocre squad.

Beyond the new presets, the developer has also revamped goalkeeper positioning to minimize frustrating mistakes and rebounds. Naturally, it will take months of gameplay to determine whether EA Sports has successfully achieved its goal, but so far, we haven’t found ourselves yelling at the screen, which is a promising start.

The Career mode remains largely recognizable aside from these alterations; however, the introduction of unexpected off-the-pitch drama provides a few new variables to navigate. We’re uncertain if we can be bothered with enigmatic social media updates and players showing up late for training, yet these are all challenges real-world managers face, so we suppose it adds to the authenticity.

We think the most contentious modification this year is the implementation of a Season Pass, which in a title already overflowing with microtransactions seemed unavoidable.

However, we’re not fond of the fact that certain Icons and Heroes, which can be integrated into Career mode, are now confined behind the Premium Pass here – particularly when it costs money and currently necessitates engagement with Ultimate Team for significant advancement.

This is all part of a series increasingly exploring new avenues for monetization, and it feels unpleasant like NBA 2K26. It’s obvious that the standard gacha and loot box elements resurface in Ultimate Team, and you’re already aware of your feelings about that.

Regarding Ultimate Team, a major new addition this year is Live Events, designed to prompt you to contemplate the squads you utilize. We anticipate this will introduce a level of creativity throughout the season, rather than relying on the gradual power escalation that occurs annually. Again, however, we will only truly ascertain how effective this will be once it’s rolled out throughout the year.

Gauntlets also share a similar purpose of encouraging you to delve deep into your card collection, as you’ll be tasked with playing up to five different matches, each time with a distinct squad. This indeed lends more significance to your team building, and in principle, we genuinely appreciate the idea.

Apart from these prominent changes, there’s a wealth of details that advance EA Sports FC 26 in various aspects, though these may resonate more with loyalists who’ve exhaustively played the preceding title.

New Archetypes introduce further refinement to Player Career and Clubs, for instance; frankly, the latter is a mode we personally seldom engage with, but we understand that fans will value this enhancement.

Moreover, the presentation continues to be exceptional across the board. While we still believe the commentary has a long way to go, the excitement surrounding each match day immerses you in the experience; the sole critique we have about the release is that we feel the Ultimate Team menus have regressed this year.

Conclusion

By thoroughly segmenting the gameplay between two markedly different presets, EA Sports FC 26 strives to cater to everyone. The more calculated Authentic toggle will entice offline Career mode enthusiasts, who aim to toil for those hard-fought 1-0 victories. Meanwhile, the swifter Competitive option is crafted for online players, who seek to overwhelm their adversaries by flooding them with goals. Both presets are enjoyable in their unique ways, and when combined with numerous new features and enhancements, you obtain a versatile football game that is likely to satisfy everyone – well, except for those who simply can’t accept the franchise’s excessive monetization reliance.