EA SPORTS FC 25 is EA Canada's annual football simulation, the second entry under the FC branding after the FIFA licence split. At its core it is the same match engine loop you have played for years: pick a squad, run formations, score goals. What is new this cycle is FC IQ, a tactical layer that lets you assign specific roles and positional responsibilities to individual players rather than just slapping a 4-3-3 on them and hoping. On paper that is a meaningful shift for anyone who has ever wanted their defensive midfielder to actually stay defensive. In practice the depth is there if you go looking for it, but the default AI will paper over the cracks enough that casual players may never notice the difference. The headline addition for multiplayer is 5v5 Rush, a small-sided mode that drops you and friends into faster, more chaotic matches. It strips back some of the simulation weight and leans into pick-up-and-play chaos, which is genuinely fun for an hour or two in a group session. It is the kind of mode that works well as a palate cleanser between Ultimate Team grinds or Career Mode sessions, not a replacement for either. Split-screen and online co-op are both supported, and cross-platform multiplayer is present, which removes a real barrier for mixed-console friend groups. Here is where I have to be straight with you: the 53% positive rating on Steam across over 100,000 reviews is a number worth sitting with. It is not a mystery why. Ultimate Team remains the monetisation engine that drives the entire product, and the in-app purchases are not subtle. If you are the kind of player who wants to build a competitive FUT squad without spending real money you are signing up for a significant grind. Career Mode and the Rush format are more insulated from that economy, and if those are your primary destinations the purchase is much easier to justify. But you should go in knowing which game you are actually buying. From a simulation standpoint, FC 25 does the football basics well. Passing weight, first touch, set-piece positioning and goalkeeper behaviour are all polished to the level you expect from a big-budget annual release. The FC IQ role system adds a legitimate decision-making layer for tactics-oriented players who want to fine-tune pressing triggers and width instructions. It is not a full management sim, but it is the closest EA has pushed the on-pitch tactical control in years. For anyone who wants deep strategy, this scratches an itch that pure football management games cannot, because you are also physically playing the matches. This is a DLC pre-order bonus SKU, which means what you are actually evaluating here is bonus content bundled with the base game purchase. That context matters: the value is entirely dependent on whether the base game's modes align with how you play. If you are a Rush-and-Career player who avoids FUT, the core game underneath this bonus is a solid football sim with a reasonable tactics update. If Ultimate Team is why you are here, the mixed reviews reflect a community that is tired of the same engagement loop dressed in new kit. Diego, Scout Team