Has EAFC24 Underwhelmed Because It Isn’t Realistic Enough?

January 3, 2024

Opinion

EA’s partnership split was finalised last year, and the EAFC24 game was launched in September of this year. The game is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series. It’s the inaugural game in the EA Sports FC series by EA.

The EA and FIFA Partnership Split

After thirty years of producing stellar games, the partnership ended amid disagreements over licensing fees, although there may have been other reasons in the mix why the partnership came to an ‘acrimonious’ end. Whatever the reasons, in the end, EA walked away looking for its games elsewhere, while FIFA will continue to release games produced by other developers. Here are a few things to remember:

EA lost the FIFA licence, but they got to keep the official licences for the kit, teams, and leagues.
The EA games will be FIFA games without the FIFA licence and branding.
When the split happened, EA secured deals with La Liga, the UEFA Champions League, and many significant men’s and women’s clubs.

The EAFC24 Game

EAFC24 is the same as FIFA 24 without the branding of FIFA, which is not surprising considering it’s the same developer. The name is very long, and we hope that EA will find a way to make it more catchy. The graphics are impeccable, something EA and online slots game developers have in common.

The players are more life-like than before (compared to previous FIFA games). There are more details to see, like the defenders’ grimaces and the players’ emotional reactions. However, Erling Haaland is a bit too big and ganglier in the game than in real life making him seem unrealistic.

EA has honed in on the emotive side with this FC24 game, and you can see players push each other on the field. You also get to see their facial expressions when they are contesting a call made by the referee.

EA has improved the agile dribble with a speed upgrade, and it’s more like a sprint dribble now. There are additions that most players will appreciate, like the manual pass and the manual lob pass.

The Game Modes

Manager Career: EA has kept the manager mode a firm player favourite. You can hire coaches and adjust training schedules,
Player Career: You can try to impress the clubs you want to and not be stuck in a dead-end club. There are goals you need to reach to be offered a contract to the desired club. This is an impressive addition.
Ultimate Team: the best upgrade has to be the addition of female players to this mode.

What Didn’t Work

Defending is a problem for the EA developers; they have sacrificed the defence in place of goals scored.
Attacking has also become problematic. It’s not that we expected it to be easy, but it should be this difficult to maneuver. A tip to make attacking easier is to play ‘long ball’ and ‘direct passing,’ which frees up direct runners for the counterattack.
When the game was launched, there were issues around freezing, crashing, and bugs. Since the recent updates and patches, most of those issues have been fixed.
This EAFC24 feels like a replica of the FIFA23 game.

While the developers tried hard to enhance the gaming experience through the different modes and introduction of promotions like Winter Wildcards, the game’s overall feel is too familiar. While most have commended EA on the combined men and women in the Ultimate Team, some feel it is unrealistic since it would never happen in real life.

The game wasn’t perfect, but it is worth giving a try; maybe people were sceptical about it because of the end of the partnership with FIFA. Many were also wondering what the FIFA24 game would be like and how it would compare to the EAFC24 game. The UK sales were down compared to FIFA23, which was to be expected, but 6.8 million took part in EA Sports FC 24’s early access, which was 25% more than the FIFA23 early access. The game has fluidity and engaging gameplay that can give you real FOMO when you miss a game.