More Build Up Play Than The Long Ball

Sometimes it’s the small changes that make a difference. FC 27 has a headline-grabbing new open-world feature called The Grounds, but it is the tweaks to Ultimate Team that have me returning to the action on and off the pitch. Though the changes are welcome, they create a strong sense of familiarity, for better or worse.

In many ways, FC 27’s gameplay is as fluid and dynamic as it has been, and this year demands an extra element of control when you’re on defense. CPU-assisted defense in Ultimate Team’s Competitive game setting has been nerfed, and manual control of your defenders is better rewarded. No matter where you play, there are also new teammate runs, more player control for corners, and through balls now require better aim, delivering a more authentic and exciting experience.

I haven’t totally mastered these techniques just yet, but I appreciate how they reward player skill. To read your opponent and cut out their pass or slice their defense open with a through ball feels great. I particularly like triggering the new curved runs to keep my forwards onside and put them in better attacking positions.

Nevertheless, the game’s weak points can still pop up. Frantic sequences with lots of player switching can leave you controlling a player you don’t want, and CPU teammates sometimes make dumb moves. At times like this, FC 27 can feel old as much as it feels new.

The Grounds – an instanced, small-sized (for now) open-world mode – also has a “new but old” vibe. Here, your customizable avatar can queue up at locations to play more variations of Rush, other small-side matches, and mini-games, and The Grounds now hosts Clubs play.

Unfortunately, The Grounds is not a destination mode. Its gameplay is not strong or interesting enough, and it’s not as all-encompassing as NBA 2K’s City – it is separate from your Player Career, which limits its ambition. Furthermore, casuals will struggle to find a place for themselves here; it’s where sweats are grinding for FC Season points to get Ultimate Team (UT) rewards.

UT remains the main attraction for the series, and the new Gallery further adds fuel to its fire. Like a Squad Building Challenge (SBC), the Gallery delivers rewards for putting your club’s players into themed sets, and the fun part is getting sets re-graded as you put better cards into them and push for higher set scores and grades. You can even include players you once owned but have since sold. Perhaps in a related development, this year in UT you start with more coins and tradeable items, so that should jumpstart your Gallery. My small gripe with it is it’s presented like a trophy room, but you don’t actually interact with it in that way.

The changes to Manager and Player Career are both more granular and therefore less impactful, although guiding your team or create-a-player to glory is in some ways more intuitive. Training plans are gone, and Manager Career’s Dynamic OVR for players is easy to keep track of as their form, fitness, and morale change during the long seasons. I also like the back-and-forth of negotiations, which are backed by a handy “Tension” meter. My favorite addition is the unexpected events like being offered the chance to sign a player your rival is interested in. Unfortunately, the rivalry system in Player Career is too barebones to create similarly fun moments. It’s just a menu screen showing your stat progress versus another player without any fanfare and is just another way to generate Personality points.

These changes are welcome, but they can be undermined by sometimes shaky CPU determinations running in the background. I’ve seen players ask to be transferred at the first offer that comes in, even though I had no way to block it like in previous years and they weren’t even interested in the team making the offer. All told, EA continues to improve Career bit by bit, and it’s still a mode I enjoy spending time in.

I really liked playing FC 27 at times, even if I wished some things had improved to a greater degree and it was more ambitious. The experience is a familiar one that doesn’t change too much from its predecessor, but one that I’m going to continue to enjoy digging into.