EA FC 26 review – overhauled gameplay makes FC 26 the game we've always wanted

EA Sports has talked the talk about EA FC 26 over the last few months, and the new game walks the walk. It delivers on all counts, with big improvements to gameplay making FC 26 the best football game currently available.

According to EA Sports, listening to community feedback was their number one priority for improving EA FC 26. It was a big claim to make after the new lows experienced during EA FC 25, but I can confidently say that feedback has been taken on board and more, with FC 26 feeling like the glory days again.

There was a lot of pressure on EA for FC 26. FC 25 was one of the worst-received games that EA has ever released; the gameplay was poor, there was a copious number of errors and glitches in the game, but worst of all, players got bored. A boring game is the worst type of game, but a lot of it came down to the FC community feeling unheard by EA. Year after year, changes were requested, and none of these changes were ever listened to.

So, when EA released its reveal trailerfor FC 26, it got players excited. There were promises made that EA has listened to community feedback, with EA actually calling itself out for its poor gameplay mechanics. Big changes to passing, dribbling, defending, and goalkeeping were the biggest promises made, and instantly, when jumping into FC 26, you can feel those changes, with gameplay feeling the smoothest it has in years.

The overhauled gameplay alongside an improved Career Mode and Ultimate Team is the perfect recipe, and EA is treating us all to a slice.

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The beautiful game, beautifully done

To put it short, gameplay in FC 26 is fantastic. For FC 26, EA has split gameplay into two different modes: competitive gameplay and authentic gameplay. Competitive is the gameplay used in Ultimate Team and other online game modes, and as soon as you play your first game, you instantly notice the improvements made.

Firstly, the game is so much faster. The fast-paced gameplay makes the overall experience way more enjoyable, but it’s the improved mechanics that make this fast-paced style work. Left stick dribbling is by far the most efficient way to run with the ball. No more clunky dribbling and no more need to hold down R1 every time you hold the ball; dribbling is so much smoother in FC 26.

Saying this, it does actually feel harder to beat defenders in one-on-one situations, but this is more down to the fact that pace boosts have been nerfed and are non-existent in FC 26, even with the Quick Step and Rapid playstyles.

Passing has massively improved, especially first-time passes. A new one-frame passing mechanic means that if you press pass just one frame before the ball arrives at your player's feet, the pass will still be made. This was part of EA’s promise to improve responsiveness, and I felt absolutely no input delay during my first few days on the game

I found that when passing, dribbling, or just while looking for options around the box, shielding the ball is extremely important in FC 26. Strong players like Viktor Gyokeres felt impossible to defend at times, simply because of his ability to shrug defenders off the ball.

With the pace of the game much faster, players naturally feel faster, and from my early experiences on the game, pace did feel important in certain areas of the pitch. Slow defenders will be caught out by fast attackers, especially when turning or when trying to recover from a challenge.

Low-driven shots have also been nerfed, to an extent. Replacing timed finishing, you can attempt low-driven shots by double-tapping the shoot button, and regular low-driven shots with players who didn't have the PlayStyle felt quite useless in comparison to FC 25. But I think that’s a good thing; they were too overpowered last year.

Players with the Low Driven Shot PlayStyle or PlayStyle Plus still scored more than not though, with shooting PlayStyles feeling strong once again. Finesse shots feel great, especially if you have any iteration of the finesse shot playstyle, while the new low-driven finesse shots felt good in one-versus-one situations.

EA claimed that manual defending would be the way forward for FC 26, but every game I played felt quite similar to FC 25 defensively. Most of my opponents would hover around the defence with a midfielder and leave the AI to defend, which seemed pretty effective. Also, if you pull a defender out of position, it always leaves you exposed, so expect another year of AI defending.

One big bonus with defending, though, is no more tacklebacks. A big FC 25 issue was making tackles and the ball staying with the attacker, but now, if you make a challenge 95% of the time, the ball will remain with you. Tackling in general does feel harder due to the pace of the game, but I think this is mainly because we're still getting used to a big change. Give it a few weeks, and defending should start to feel easier.

Also, goalkeepers are fantastic, I’d even go as far as saying the best improvement made for FC 26. New animations look really smooth, and more often than not, my goalkeeper would make some incredible saves to keep me in games. I actually used a 76-rated goalkeeper in all my games, and I can’t remember him being at fault or questionable for any goals, so I can only imagine how good the likes of Alisson and Thibaut Courtois could be.

The ultimate Ultimate Team

Ultimate Team uses competitive gameplay, so gameplay-wise, it’s a big improvement on FC 26. The biggest difference with FC 26 Ultimate Team is that the power curve has been slowed down incredibly. There are no big packs available to earn from the get-go, so unless you’re piling on FC Points, there’s no way to get loads of packs in the first few days of playing the game.

During my time on the game, I mainly played Rivals, and the new Rivals setup seems great. New additions are set to come, such as Bounties, but the return of relegation and winning hot streaks make Rivals' progression very fun.

There are lots of Objectives available with small pack rewards, but I enjoy this; to me, the best part of the game is the early stages, where everyone is using gold cards, and with how the power curve is looking, this could be the case for a longer period than usual. The new pack animation was also quite nice, though the pack weight feels extremely low.

Career Mode finds its form

Dare I say that Career Mode has the best new game mode in FC 26? The first mode on FC 26 that I tried out was Manager Live, a new way to play Manager Career Mode. When you enter the game, there’s a host of different Manager Live challenges for you to take on, with all of these challenges having different restrictions and conditions.

From Road to Glory to challenges based around the likes of Jude Bellingham, there are some intriguing Manager Live challenges included. The challenge I went for was the point deduction challenge, where you start the season with -20 points. The restrictions saw my team banned from the first two transfer windows, and my objective was to stay in the league or get sacked. It adds a whole new competitiveness to Career Mode, something which has been lacking for a long time.

One thing I will say about Career Mode is that I did not enjoy the authentic gameplay at all. The gameplay was way too slow, extremely stiff and sluggish, and honestly, to me, it felt like a more boring version of FC 25 gameplay. I got bored quickly while playing the games, but this is a personal preference. If you prefer slower, more realistic gameplay, which I know a lot of people do, then you may love this, but I prefer it faster, like in Ultimate Team, so try it out for yourself.

Another new Career Mode addition I enjoyed was Deeper Simulation, where you can select up to five other leagues to be simulated as deep as yours, giving you more detailed tables and stats. The new Manager Market was a cool new feature as well, where you can monitor other managers' tactics, job security and your hiring likelihood.

But the addition I loved the most was the new Unexpected Events feature. From long-term injuries to homesick players, it throws new challenges your way as a manager to see how well you can cope. Unfortunately, press conferences are as dull and stupid as before, but who actually watches these the whole way through anyway?

A new era for Clubs

Another game mode that's had a huge revamp is Clubs. EA has said goodbye to the old skill tree, with Archetypes the new way forward. Honestly, it’s a little confusing at first. You need to select your Archetype card, with each of these based on an FC 26 Icon. I went for the Magician Archetype, which is based on Ronaldinho, and I chose this because you get given two PlayStyles from the get-go - Finesse Shot and Technical.

Now, you use Archetype Points (AP) to upgrade your attributes and PlayStyles, rather than Skill Points. Each upgrade is only small, so after spending my first 100 AP, which you start with, I was only 73-rated. In my first game, I scored, got an assist, and got a rating of 8.6. This only gave me 19 AP, which would only give me minor upgrades.

Like Ultimate Team, it seems the power curve in Clubs is also way slower, so it will require more of a grind to get to those top levels and unlock more playstyles. Customisation is still as good as ever. There are lots of club customisation options on offer for your kits and badge, while there are endless possibilities for customising your pro's appearance.

Gameplay-wise, Clubs was fun in my first few games. An update to stamina means you don't run out of energy. Of course, you will tire if you are constantly sprinting, but you’ll always have 100% fitness, so in the late stages of the game, you still feel fresh.

Rush also felt fun. I think I actually enjoyed using the new in-game messages more than anything else, though. There were four chat options in FC 25; there are now 16 in FC 26, so if you ever play me on Rush, expect me to be spamming these.

Final thoughts

All in all, I think I can happily say that FC 26 is, by far, the best football game EA has released in a very long time. EA has listened to what changes the community want, and these updates have been implemented brilliantly, with the new competitive gameplay smooth, quick, and fun.

You can have all the bells and whistles, but gameplay is what matters most. FC 26 has once again got the bells and whistles, but this time, the gameplay is on par to create the best football gaming experience out there.

EA FC 26 review: 5/5