EA Sports FC 26
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for EA Sports FC 26
For the majority, however, a new FC game all comes down to Ultimate Team – and this year it's going to prove more divisive than ever. Not, for once, because of its pack-opening mechanic, but those tweaks to gameplay speed, and fatigue, and any hope of smart, sound defensive play. The community has spoken, and EA has answered with all the pace and tricks and goals demanded of it. The move is, in one swoop, both understandable and deflating. Online, FC 26 is categorically not a game for the footballing purist – but how many of them are actually left?
EA's Switch 2 football debut is a night-and-day difference from its half-hearted Switch one, setting a great precedent for the future of the series. EA Sports FC 26 delivers a fully-featured version of the game, and while it only runs at 30fps and has a gated-off Ultimate Team mode which doesn't tap into the series' larger crossplay community, it still plays a fantastic game of football and offers more game modes than you'll ever know what to do with.
Without the shadow of multiplayer balancing looming over things, you have gameplay that is likely to stay the same until FC 27 inevitably comes along. I've been having a blast with the current implementation, and was quick to uninstall FC 25 after a single match. If you like to play it slow, pass around, and fist-pump after tight wins, this is the football game for you.
By truly dividing the gameplay between two very distinct presets, EA Sports FC 26 is trying to appeal to everybody. The more methodical Authentic toggle will attract offline Career mode tinkerers, who want to work hard for those scrappy 1-0 wins. Meanwhile, the snappier Competitive option is built for online sweats, who want to force their opponents into submission by burying them in goals. Both feel good in their own ways, and when paired with several new features and refinements, you get a flexible game of football that should please everyone – well, aside from those who simply can't jive with the franchise's over-reliance on monetisation.
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 SPORTS FC 26 marks a step forward from its predecessor. Balanced in gameplay dynamics and built around a fluid structure that's genuinely fun, it also brings several changes to the Ultimate Team and Career modes (both Player and Manager), consistently hitting the mark. The hope is that this holds true throughout the year-fingers crossed that any future patches won't bring the kind of disruptive changes we've seen in the past.
Review in Italian | Read full review
And while on-pitch gameplay feels sharper than ever, the surrounding modes remain too familiar to past iterations, weighed down further by aggressive monetization through FUT’s premium season pass. EA Sports FC 26 takes meaningful steps forward on the pitch, but it still needs bolder changes off it to truly move the series ahead.
One year after an episode that attracted a great deal of criticism, EA FC is back with a new version that serves as an apology and a gesture of reconciliation with the players. The result is a more beautiful and immersive game designed to please everyone and frustrate as few players as possible. While the changes made are not revolutionary, they are necessary and provide a much better overall understanding of the game. If it deserves to be judged on its merits, EA FC 26 certainly deserves to be played this year.
Review in French | Read full review
Industry Coverage
"EA, Do Not Change The Gameplay": EA Sports FC 26 Players Are Very Worried About Future Patches
EA FC 26's new defending system has divided the community, and some are desperately hoping EA doesn't change it in future patches.
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As Expected, EA Sports FC 26's Early Access Launches To Mixed Reviews With The Words "Scam" And "Joke" Being Thrown Around
The usual complaints have cropped up following the advanced access launch of EA Sports FC 26.
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