EA is looking at FC 26 to be a major turning point for its football games, especially with the tagline ‘The Club is Yours.’ FC 26 is all about taking the feedback from the community of the past two FC games, as well as from the preceding FIFA games, and using that to address gameplay complaints that have persisted over the years. These are things like passing being too rigid, goalkeepers not being intelligent enough, animations not being reflective of reality, and player behaviours not meeting expectations.
A core change in FC 26 is splitting the gameplay into two distinct and different styles, Authentic and Competitive. Authentic has been designed to give a real match day feeling and experience, based on what you would expect to see if you are watching teams in real life, while Competitive could be considered the more arcade style of what you expect from a video game, and that reflects in where they are going to be used. Authentic has been created primarily for single-player modes whereas Competitive is for the online modes including Ultimate Team.
The preview build of FC 26 gave us access to the single player kick off mode featuring both the men’s and women’s UEFA Champions League – Bayern Munchen. Paris St Germain, Liverpool, and Real Madrid for the men, and OL Lyonnes, Bayern Munchen, Real Madrid, and Chelsea for the women. Given the gameplay split, I flipped back and forth between the modes using the Professional difficulty.
Immediately, FC 26’s Authentic setting feels heavy and slow, with player attributes, including size, having a much bigger influence here. Slow players will not sprint for long, while nimble players will have the ability to hop between defenders. But the bigger defenders can easily bully smaller players off the ball too. During my matches, you could absolutely feel when a bigger player was trying to shoulder off a smaller player, but on the flip side you learn how to avoid this situation by wrong-footing bigger players and putting space between them.
As this is supposed to mimic real world football, you shouldn’t expect players to be constantly going end to end. It is quite methodical in where you must place your passes and position your players, and while it is more fluid than previous FC experiences, there is still some of that rigidity. There is a slowness to it that will be appreciated by some, as you probe defences looking for that moment you can break through, or learning precisely when to go in for the tackle and when to bring your keeper out to stop a shot. Mistime these moments and the opposition will punish you.
In the Competitive setting, which will be used for online modes, the restrictions on players are a lot looser. Suddenly, someone like Harry Kane is a natural sprinter and can bully their way into the box, dealing with defenders with ease. This setting is much more fast paced, with the ball pinging from player to player, the action moving incredibly quickly. It will be familiar to most FC players, and it might not be what some were hoping for, because defensive play comes second to offence again.
There is a clear gulf between offence and defence in both modes, though the women’s game seemed better balanced than the men’s at this point. Here are the scores from the 10 matches I played:
Authentic
- Real Madrid 9 – 0 Liverpool
- Liverpool 6 – 0 Real Madrid
- Bayern Munchen 4 – 2 Paris St-Germain
- Chelsea 3 – 2 Bayern Munchen
- OL Lyonnes 8 – 2 Real Madrid
Competitive
- Real Madrid 7 – 0 Liverpool
- Liverpool 8 – 0 Real Madrid
- Bayern Munchen 9 – 0 Paris St-Germain
- Chelsea 10 – 2 Bayern Munchen
- OL Lyonnes 6 – 4 Real Madrid
EA has said it has reworked goalkeeping in FC 26 to be more responsive, but there still is still discrepancy between goalkeeper behaviour and attacker behaviour. While playing, I noticed that when a keeper performs well when their defensive players are near them, but fall apart in one on one situations. In one example, as Salah I cut in from the right-hand side of the box, and Courtois kind of slid past leaving the goal wide open. Goalkeepers do have some more animations compared to previous entries, and it can cause some interesting situations with this early build. In one match Allison punched the ball up into the air and did so a couple more times while still surrounded by players instead of trying to catch it. Quite an incredible flex, when you think about it. Real Allison should take notes!
There has been an increased focus on player individualism so each one is more distinctive, and plays more like their real life counterparts. PlayStyles make a return with players having up to six of these equipped to showcase their skills. Examples of PlayStyles include:
- Finesse Shot+ – Faster finesse shots with max curve and accuracy
- Precision Header – Increased accuracy for headers, Precision Header animations
- Acrobatic – Perform volleys with improved accuracy, acrobatic volley animations
- Aerial Fortress – Higher jmpus and improved aerial defence presence
- Trickster+ – More unique ground and flick Skill moves, quicker strafe dribbling
- Whipped Pass – Accurate, faster crosses with more curve
- Rapid – Higher sprint speed while dribbling, reduced error on knock ons
- First Touch – Reduced trapping error, faster dribbling transitions
In my view, these seem to able to shine better in Authentic gameplay compared to Competitive, as you notice the differences between each player. Of course, these play styles will come into play in both settings and impact the way matches unfold. Archetypes are new addition to further individualise the top players in the game, and there is a setting where these players will act and react like they would in real life too.
From the preview build. FC 26 does show a lot of improvements over FC 24 and FC 25. Gameplay is generally better, and the split between Authentic for single player modes and Competitive for online modes while give a new variety for players that switch between the two. However, there is still work to be done on the defensive side, as it is still really easy to get through the defence and beat keepers one on one.
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