EA SPORTS FC 24 - Ultimate Team Review

[Andy_White_07 67]

Hey everyone, 

 

I have decided to write my very first gaming review and would love any feedback/thoughts. I have played Fifa religiously since I was a kid so have a lot of love and hate for this game and decided it would be the best game for me to give my thoughts on. 

 

"EA Sports FC 24 has been out now for just over 3 months and with TOTY promo now in packs, I thought it would be an ideal time to review whether spending £70 on this game back in September 2023 has been worth it. This review will focus solely on the Ultimate Team mode within the game, which is one of the most played modes on any game.

As always, EA implemented some new changes into the game, with the introduction of evolutions, player traits and woman footballers. All of these changes, especially within the ultimate team game mode, have had a positive impact in my opinion. As someone who usually gets bored of the game within the first few months, I find myself coming back to complete objectives, evolve some of my favourite players from the football world and to compete in FUT Champions to build my team even further.

 

Player traits have added an additional benefit to specific players, allowing users to control them and play with them in the same way in which they play in their real-life football matches. This has created a uniqueness within the game and opened options for different styles of play that users implement into their game plan. It also adds further value to the players that are considered ‘world class’ or ‘top tier’ such as players like Salah, Pele or Hansen.

 

Another completely new introduction to FC 24, which comes with their growing popularity within the football industry is woman footballers. At first, as is the case with most change, the introduction of woman footballers along with men footballers wasn’t met with much optimism. However, as the game has gone on and EA have released promos, the popularity of some of the woman footballer cards have increased. Players such as Bonmati and Putellas of Barcelona, Diani of Lyon, and icon cards such as Hamm, Abily or Sawa have been a mainstay within teams that users have created.

 

The downside for me, is that with the additional players now in the game, you have a higher chance to receive what users refer to as ‘fodder’ cards from your rewards which are cards you are mostly likely to submit into Squad Builder Challenges (SBCs) or sell to increase your coins within the game. EA have used this as a perfect opportunity to add higher priced packs to its store with some of the most expensive packs costing you around £40 per pack but with the guarantee you’ll receive a certain amount of high rated cards back from the pack. This has allowed users to build a far superior team earlier on in the game compared to the previous games, putting those that don’t purchase packs with real money in a difficult situation when it comes to competing at the highest level. EA have tried to combat this to allow users that do not wish to spend any money on the game by adding a lot more in-game content and rewards/packs that you can earn by completing objectives or by just playing the game. EA are often releasing new cup objectives or objectives that tie into the game modes you’ll already be playing such as Rivals, FUT Champs or Squad Battles so it doesn’t necessarily add any extra stress onto your gaming hours.

 

Another positive change for EA has been the addition of evolutions. This feature allows you to take a player and insert them into an evolution where you are required to complete objectives with the player to earn them an upgrade to their overall stats. With new evolutions being added over the course of the game, this should allow you to keep upgrading some of your favourite players within your team so they remain within the power curve of the game. For example, my 75 rated Garnacho has been upgraded to 88 through some of evolutions that have been released so far. I do have a few concerns with evolutions and I’m hoping it is something EA improve on going forward. My first concern is that some of the evolutions that EA release has a coin or FP price attached to them meaning you either need to spend real money or put some of the coins you have earned in the game towards upgrading one of your players. This isn’t so bad if the player you are choosing to evolve and upgrade would cost a similar amount or even more if they were released as a special card in a promo.

 

However, if you are someone that supports a lower league club and have found yourself wanting to upgrade some of the bronze or silver rated players of that team, then to pay between the £50,000 - £100,000 to upgrade those players can be very costly. It would be ideal if the amount it costs to place the players in these evolutions changed and increased/deceased in relation to the players rating. For example, an 84 rated card would cost £75,000 to be evolved and a 74 rated card would cost £10,000 to evolve. This would allow those users hoping to turn a bronze team into a team of superstars more flexibility when completing the necessary objectives for those players or provide them with the extra funds to evolve them in the first place.

 

Gameplay/connection has always been a big issue for me on EA Sports FC 24 and the previous set of Fifa games they released. I find myself trying to play at certain points of the day or weekend just to ensure I am getting the best connection possible to allow me to enjoy the game. If you compare playing the game on a Friday at 6pm when everyone logs in to see the new promo that EA have just released to a Sunday where most people have already finished their FUT Champion games, you’ll notice a much steadier and smoother connection and consistency with the gameplay on the Sunday. EA need to try and find a solution to ensure that the gameplay and connection is steady no matter what time or day you want to play. Some people, due to other commitments don’t have a choice on when they can play and if I was them, I would definitely want to play the game at it’s best.

 

With gameplay being mentioned, it might be best to mention the improved AI. Every year EA are trying to make the game more realistic to real-life scenarios and with each update I feel as if they make the game a lot less fun and a lot harder to score goals, especially with how good the AI defending is. With some of the more top tier defenders, it almost feels as if you don’t need to control them for them to defend effectively against your opponent. It is important EA find a balance between a good AI but still requiring users to have some defensive control for the more effective defending techniques. At times it can almost feel as if you are playing against the computer on the highest difficulty setting, which isn’t enjoyable, not for me at least.

 

Overall, I think EA have made some positive changes this year to the game which has spiced things up a little, giving you a lot more creativity around the team that you build and more flexibility with the style of play you want to implement. With some improvements to the gameplay, AI and connection, I believe EA will continue to have one of the best football games in the gaming community for years to come. I look forward to seeing how they expand on some of the new features such as evolutions as the game progresses throughout the year.

 

What do you like/dislike about EA SPORTS FC 24? What rating would you give it? 

 

My personal rating – 6.9/10 "

 

I hope everyone enjoys reading, I'm curious to see what you all think and whether you agree/disagree with certain points. 

 

Andy

 

[WelchyTV 362]

Nice review mate. 
 

Would agree with majority of points, my biggest issue with Ultimate Team is that you have to play religiously to be able to keep up and have a team that can compete, or you have to be willing to spend a lot of real money, or both!! 
 

As someone who likes to play a large variety of games, I don’t have the time to keep up with everyone else, and I’m definitely not giving EA any more money than the £70 I paid for the game. 
 

Other than that, I still enjoy the Career modes, clubs and normal online seasons. 
 

Interested in why you gave it a 6.9, and not just a 7?! 

[J4MES OX4D 9,798]

I still loosely follow UT although I haven't played a FIFA game in a long time plus have a few close friends that still play it religiously. From what I've seen, the mode is just so corrupt and bloated these days plus the gameplay is a cross between the pace of ice hockey and the scores seen in basketball. It's a shocking representation of football. They may as well just remove the actual playing matches altogether and just have pack openings with matches being simmed. 

 

EA have done the business though - they know how to drive retention and average player spend so to hell with the actual quality of the game. Sports titles are in such a shambolic place now that I don't even bother with any of them. 

[Andy_White_07 67]

12 minutes ago, WelchyTV said:

Nice review mate. 
 

Would agree with majority of points, my biggest issue with Ultimate Team is that you have to play religiously to be able to keep up and have a team that can compete, or you have to be willing to spend a lot of real money, or both!! 
 

As someone who likes to play a large variety of games, I don’t have the time to keep up with everyone else, and I’m definitely not giving EA any more money than the £70 I paid for the game. 
 

Other than that, I still enjoy the Career modes, clubs and normal online seasons. 
 

Interested in why you gave it a 6.9, and not just a 7?! 

You make a good point and if this was any other previous Fifa game I’d agree. But EA have added a lot more content via objectives this year or even just daily login SBCs, which means you don’t have to play as much to keep up. This is a picture of my team on my RTG which I’ve only played 3-4 weeks and don’t really touch during the week. 
 

As for the rating, I felt it needed to be below a 7 as too many bugs have carried over through various games and the gameplay issue. 

[Andy_White_07 67]

10 minutes ago, J4MES OX4D said:

I still loosely follow UT although I haven't played a FIFA game in a long time plus have a few close friends that still play it religiously. From what I've seen, the mode is just so corrupt and bloated these days plus the gameplay is a cross between the pace of ice hockey and the scores seen in basketball. It's a shocking representation of football. They may as well just remove the actual playing matches altogether and just have pack openings with matches being simmed. 

 

EA have done the business though - they know how to drive retention and average player spend so to hell with the actual quality of the game. Sports titles are in such a shambolic place now that I don't even bother with any of them. 

The gameplay has always been a big issue for EA. When the connection is running smoothly, you feel as if you can play the way you want to play but when it isn’t running smoothly, you can’t do anything. 
 

I usually find playing at certain times during the day/evening you have a smoother connection on their servers but you shouldn’t have to restrict yourself. 
 

I do enjoy opening packs and the thrill of getting a world class player is great and I do think with this Fifa and even the last one, they have improved on allowing those who can’t afford to spend loads of money on packs, the opportunity to build up rewards in game and complete SBCs for top tier players like Best and Zidane. 
 

Even when I’m not enjoying the game I find myself going back to it but I’m a big football fan in real life so as soon as I watch a game I want to play and with no other company offering a decent alternative, it is hard to avoid Fifa. 

[Spacedeck 915]

Nice review mate.  I've opted not to get EA FC just yet!  I don't have much interest in UT.  Biggest thing that gets me about EA games, it feels like who can do the fanciest tricks the most often, even watching pros on Twitch, feels less like football and more like showboating.

 

With that, and me being a very bad player in the first place, I decided to go full manual in football games probably around the time of FIFA 16.  The satisfaction feeling you get from scoring a wondergoal because you had to actually put the effort in to aiming your through balls, passes and shots is what makes football games.  Manual, while rewarding, never gets any attention from EA and leaves certain types of passes broken.

 

So my football fix is currently SP Football Life 2024, which is a standalone mod of PES 2021.

[J4MES OX4D 9,798]

36 minutes ago, Spacedeck said:

Nice review mate.  I've opted not to get EA FC just yet!  I don't have much interest in UT.  Biggest thing that gets me about EA games, it feels like who can do the fanciest tricks the most often, even watching pros on Twitch, feels less like football and more like showboating.

That's my biggest issue with the gameplay these days. FIFA was so much more authentic back in the 08-12 era with far more realistic ball physics and less animations. Since they moved to frostbite, the animations are so wonky and they've spent way too much time on fancy moves that look ridiculous and can be spammed to hell. The ball often has no realistic weight and often simply travels in straight lines with a consistent speed. I watched a major e-sport match a while back and they were just pulling off the most silly moves plus every pass was in a straight line and being darted around like an ice hockey puck. The final score was 8-6 or something. 

 

There was nothing wrong with FIFA a decade ago and it used to be a lot of fun trying to break down an opponent from a tactical standpoint. EA seem to think children will get bored if they actually try and create a simulator. Apparently 14 goals a game, skill spam and endless rewards based on spend and play is the best way forward and whilst that's true for their income, it's made the games so much worse. 

[Andy_White_07 67]

1 hour ago, Spacedeck said:

Nice review mate.  I've opted not to get EA FC just yet!  I don't have much interest in UT.  Biggest thing that gets me about EA games, it feels like who can do the fanciest tricks the most often, even watching pros on Twitch, feels less like football and more like showboating.

 

With that, and me being a very bad player in the first place, I decided to go full manual in football games probably around the time of FIFA 16.  The satisfaction feeling you get from scoring a wondergoal because you had to actually put the effort in to aiming your through balls, passes and shots is what makes football games.  Manual, while rewarding, never gets any attention from EA and leaves certain types of passes broken.

 

So my football fix is currently SP Football Life 2024, which is a standalone mod of PES 2021.

 

Thank you. It usually goes on sale pretty quickly after release so paying full price for a game that drops down in price almost within 1-2 months is probably silly but I still do it haha.

 

I don't mind the skills/tricks so much in Fifa, it is something I've always done back in the old Fifa's many years ago. The problem with it in the most recent Fifa's they have released, is that users find themselves having to do skills or broken mechanics to try and beat opponents that just sit back with 5 defenders and allow the AI to do all the defending for them. I would be happy if it was just all manual, as that is definitely when I had the most fun on the game, back in the Fifa 11 days. 

 

The SBMM can also be frustrating, I am in the elite division on UT so when I want to play friendlies and just chill to complete some objectives, I find myself playing the most skillful (polite word for sweats) people. Then you have Fut Champions which is meant to be it's most competitive gamemode, which doesn't have SBMM so I definitely enjoy playing that. 

[Andy_White_07 67]

1 hour ago, J4MES OX4D said:

That's my biggest issue with the gameplay these days. FIFA was so much more authentic back in the 08-12 era with far more realistic ball physics and less animations. Since they moved to frostbite, the animations are so wonky and they've spent way too much time on fancy moves that look ridiculous and can be spammed to hell. The ball often has no realistic weight and often simply travels in straight lines with a consistent speed. I watched a major e-sport match a while back and they were just pulling off the most silly moves plus every pass was in a straight line and being darted around like an ice hockey puck. The final score was 8-6 or something. 

 

There was nothing wrong with FIFA a decade ago and it used to be a lot of fun trying to break down an opponent from a tactical standpoint. EA seem to think children will get bored if they actually try and create a simulator. Apparently 14 goals a game, skill spam and endless rewards based on spend and play is the best way forward and whilst that's true for their income, it's made the games so much worse. 

 

I agree the animations can be a bit all over the place and some of them are bugged as hell which isn't fun if it leads to you conceding a goal. I definitely enjoyed Fifa a lot more from Fifa 09 - Fifa 13. I think the improved AI and EA's need to make it as realistic as possible to real life has definitely made the game less enjoyable with all the tactics you can setup now. 

 

They definitely do know how to make money and I can imagine they have made a lot more this year with the amount of high priced packs they have been releasing. 

 

However, minus the gameplay and connection issues, I still find myself enjoying playing it and building up rewards, evolving my low rated United players. In fact, this is the Fifa I have played some of my best on, picking up 16-18 wins out of 20 games on FUT Champs, when I was averaging 11-14 wins and the occasional 16 wins last year. I think that has come down to staying focus and calm through all the BS though haha. 

 

 

[Lurchzy 1,470]

 

My favourite player, Micky van de Ven got a Pundit Picks SBC this week — which was an absolute no-brainer for me to complete.

 

I’m not massively into UT, but I have enjoyed playing it this season. Never go too hard into getting any Hero’s or Icons either. I just enjoy building a good squad with players I like.

[WelchyTV 362]

10 hours ago, Lurchzy said:

 

My favourite player, Micky van de Ven got a Pundit Picks SBC this week — which was an absolute no-brainer for me to complete.

 

I’m not massively into UT, but I have enjoyed playing it this season. Never go too hard into getting any Hero’s or Icons either. I just enjoy building a good squad with players I like.

As an Arsenal fan, I can’t say I agree with your taste 🤣 but glad you’re enjoying FUT! 
 

Question, do you play online or the offline modes? One of the main reasons I don’t enjoy FUT is that I don’t have the time or patience to play enough to be able to keep up with the best teams, so I tend to play the offline modes but get bored of them pretty quickly.