EA Sports FC 27 Review: The Grounds and Ultimate Team

EA Sports FC 27's release brings The Grounds hub and Ultimate Team changes. The expanded Tactics system and Player Roles provide meaningful strategic depth by allowing nuanced control over team behavior and individual player responsibilities.

The Grounds open-world hub features Alex Hunter with voice acting by Adetomiwa Edun but suffers from stiff delivery, framerate drops, and unskippable cutscenes. This new space revives Hunter, a character from earlier FIFA story modes. Kylian Mbappe also appears, delivering lines with a mechanical cadence. The overall presentation, including unskippable scenes, has been compared unfavorably to a much older sports title. Progression here is tied to coins and XP that can be purchased with real money.

Ultimate Team sees progression tied to monetization and new systems

Progression in both The Grounds and Ultimate Team relies on purchasable currencies. Ultimate Team itself introduces several systemic shifts. Players can now choose between different upgrade paths at key stages. A new three-PlayStyle+ limit aims to prevent special cards from becoming obsolete too quickly.

Matches yield more coins and higher baseline Season Points. However, base discard values for lower-tier cards were adjusted, reducing their value and eliminating the popular Bronze Pack Method trading strategy. Squad Building Challenges (SBCs) now use a points-based system.

This new SBC structure requires a target number of points, filled with cards from a player's deck. It also allows for multiselecting players by holding a button for quicker completion.

On-pitch improvements in passing, tactics, and defending reshape gameplay

Gameplay sees meaningful changes. The expanded Tactics system improves strategic movement, passing, and crossing. Player Roles assign specific responsibilities to individuals within a formation. Tactical instructions can now be separated for possession and defensive phases.

Revamped passing focuses on manual controls for grounded and lobbed passes, enabling curved runs. Crossing and corners produce more convincing positioning battles and greater player control in the box. Defending now rewards manual input more heavily. AI defending is less effective if relied upon.

Manual player positioning increases the chance of stopping through balls. Jockeying is faster when controlling a player directly. Containing is more accurate when not spamming buttons. This makes counter-attacks more manageable and punishes opponents who rely on automatic containing. Matches consequently feature less defensive camping.

Career Mode adds depth with negotiations and rivalries but retains technical shortcomings

Career Mode introduces staged negotiations with installments, performance bonuses, and bidding wars. Rival clubs can now hijack deals. Player development is dynamically affected by form, fitness, and morale. New depth comes from rivalries, origin stories, starting scenarios, and icon players like Gareth Bale.

Unexpected events add narrative through financial penalties, dressing-room conflicts, and training-ground incidents. Press conferences carry greater consequences for morale. CPU clubs now manage finances and recruitment around their tactical needs. Despite these additions, menus remain slow and animations are recycled each season. Progression is still tied to the investment system introduced in the previous year's game.

Reviewer notes multiplayer instability and tactical experimentation in matches

Online play was unstable at launch. The reviewer experienced frequent disconnections and server lag. Adetomiwa Edun said of Alex Hunter: "That enthusiasm disappeared quickly once Hunter began speaking, as his delivery feels noticeably more rigid and detached than it did during his original story." The reviewer also noted, "I got kicked from or had to leave more games than I can count in my first full week with FC 27." One bizarre incident saw an opponent's goalkeeper float up the pitch with the ball during a goal kick.

In matches, tactical adjustments proved key. A deeper defensive approach suited Noussair Mazraoui's patient style. Short-passing buildups let him use technical ability without abandoning structure. Formations were switched to exploit specific opponents: a 4-2-2-2 against Crystal Palace to use wing space and free Bruno Fernandes, and a 4-2-3-1 wide against Manchester City to counter wing control. Forward Benjamin Šeško can be deployed as an inside forward or in a wider role, and can be given defensive duties to protect a lead.

Attacking AI and passing can feel sluggish until PlayStyles activate. Manual goalkeeper movement in Ultimate Team is less responsive than in earlier test builds. Manual defending can be exploited by pace-heavy attackers if a player switch is mistimed. The game feels more zippy than its predecessor, even with a starter team. The reviewer used a 4-2-1-3 formation in EA Sports FC 27.