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EA FC 26 is arguably the world's finest football game, and let me explain why it's a great time to invest in a copy. Being past the halfway point in the season is an exciting time. Aside from the obvious stuff like watching clubs jockey for titles, European places, and avoiding the drop, you can buy shirts and merch at a fraction of the regular price.
If you haven't shelled out already, it's a great time to invest in a copy of EA FC 26 for less than half its original £69.99 price upon release, well, on console anyway. The PC version hasn't had its price slashed so significantly for some reason. There are plenty of deals about, but the cheapest price for boxed copies of FC 26 is on Amazon. See below for the current prices for each console.
Our colleagues at GamesRadar+ and TechRadar were impressed with this year's effort from EA Sports. TechRadar scored it 4.5 out of 5, while GamesRadar+ gave it 4 out of 5.
While EA has been accused of rolling out lazy FIFA updates in the past, since parting ways with the official FIFA license in 2023, the videogame brand has definitely upped the gameplay ante for each of its three EA FC incarnations.
EA FC 26 improves upon the previous version in a number of key ways. Players now have two gameplay options – Authentic and Competitive.
Authentic is a more realistic mode where the play is slower, weather and fatigue are factors, and using the right tactics is vital to break down the opposition, just like real football. Competitive is faster-paced and player actions are more dynamic; this is ideal for online play, though you can change the gameplay settings to suit you best, offline or on.
You can now create more goals from crosses – something that was relatively hard to do in EA FC 25. Keepers are improved, as is tackling realism. There are new player roles such as 'inverted wingback' and 'boxcrasher'. A seemingly small, but important tweak is the addition of an on-screen bar below your player's name that denotes their favoured foot and skill rating. A handy reminder of their strengths and weaknesses.
Of course, Ultimate Team is still a huge draw, as is the fast-paced action of the 5 vs 5 Rush. Players now also have the ability to choose their combo of commentators, which helps keep the audio fresh.
For more on the game, see our guides to EA Sports FC 26 ratings, and EA Sports FC 26 wonderkids.
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