The release of EA Sports FC 24, the first entry in EA’s follow-up to the Fifa franchise, is slated for September 29th 2023. Plenty has already been touted as potential shake-ups for the release of the game, but one of the biggest talking points from EA so far has been the revamped matchday experience for each match played in the game.
Any football fan will tell you that the buzz around a matchday is almost as important as the action we witness on the pitch. Everything from pre-match pints, the buzz in the concourses to the little rituals every fan brings with them to the stadium, it’s understandable why EA have poured so much energy into trying to make FC 24 the most authentic-feeling sports simulator to date. And, the early signs look pretty exciting for any gamers thinking of picking up the game. Join us here at Gamelevate as we run you through FC 24’s tasty-looking matchday features!
Cutscenes And Player Improvements
The leap into the ninth generation of consoles gave Fifa one of its most noticeable facelifts for some time. The PS5 and Xbox Series X/S successfully made players actually look like their real-life counterparts, with EA now able to capture everything from subtle facial features to distinguishing characters such as tattoos.
EA have been keen to stress that their match-capturing system will only expand on this as the FC series rolls out. FC 24 will be the first with this, attempting to individualise players in terms of how they move and feel on the pitch in a much more authentic way than the games preceding it. Think of how unique a player like Erling Haaland is in his movement and stature to get an idea of this.
Cutscenes have always been a lesser-appreciated part of the Fifa gameplay experience, and we totally understand why. When you’re grinding through hours and hours of matches, the same clips of players walking out of the tunnel or protesting a red card can get a bit boring. However, in FC 24, it might just be worth holding back on the cutscene skips, at least for your first few matches.
There will be a slew of new cutscenes introduced in the game designed to provide a fresher-feeling matchday experience. New angles such as the hotly-discussed Ref Cam are being introduced, but the most radical overhaul has been reserved for the reactions of players to the events that go on the pitch. From the immediate celebrations of a goal being scored to a controversial sending-off, each reaction is set to be different and potentially designed to mirror real-world football players’ demeanours, making for a far more authentic-feeling experience.
Overlays
If you’re a long-time football fan from North America, Germany or Spain (or literally anywhere outside the English Premier League), you will know that overlays during a broadcast of a match is becoming one of the new trends. During breaks in play such as throw-ins, a broadcaster will often fill the screen with data relating to everything from the possession stats of a team to how much running an individual player has done.
To be fair, Fifa had already begun to incorporate this in their matchday experience with the xG measurement introduced in Fifa 23. Thankfully for all the stats gurus out there, this looks set to be expanded on in FC 24. Everything from shot trackers to player fatigue levels will be included in the average matchday experience, giving players added context to what they’re witnessing on the pitch. It’ll be interesting to see how the game’s competitive scene is impacted by the availability of more stats for both the pro players competing and the legions of fans watching on.
Will The Matchday Experience Be Any Good?
Every year, EA release a new football simulator, and every year the memes come flooding in of nothing changing except the kits. And, off the bat, we should stress that you shouldn’t go into EA Sports FC 24 expecting anything other than ‘another Fifa game’. And, in many ways, this makes sense. It’s the launch of a new franchise for EA, and they will be keen to avoid losing any of their customer base with a title that feels way off the formula they’re comfortable with.
With that being said, there are a number of features coming to FC 24’s matchday experience that should help the game stand out as the most authentic experience produced to date. It’s something that will only be done justice by playing and feeling for yourself, but features like the improved player behaviours may go a long way as the series goes on. Will it be enough to stop us from mashing the ‘skip cutscene’ button? Definitely not. Will it make us feel better for surrendering another £50 to EA? Certainly hope so.
