EA Sports FC 25 has brought a lot of new ways to improve the game’s tactical aspect and make it as realistic as possible for the players. This realism rises to a whole new level with the standout feature of the franchise’s latest addition, FC IQ.
Powered by AI and real-world data, this feature can affect every match type in ways players have never seen before. This aspect will allow gamers to control their squad’s tactics and positioning more thoroughly, while the player’s behaviors and movements become more real, replicating similar behaviors of the players in real-life situations.
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FC IQ Explained
FC IQ lets players experiment with their squad’s positioning and look to improve the tactical aspects of the team. Factors like HypermotionV and PlayStyles have been received well within the player base, and are being used to optimize the adaptability of players and enhance their traits. The feature offers a more tactical approach to optimizing your team, better than the system the game used to have.
The feature allows you to work on every individual player and position to tweak their abilities, roles and how they move around on the pitch. That means no two players will be the same, even if they are in the same position. They will be more focused on carrying out the unique role you have assigned them to, and helping the team score goals in favorable situations using the tactics you set up.
FC IQ Foundations
FC IQ has three main aspects or foundations and these aspects determine how a player will perform and what kind of role they will play in a game. These are Player Roles, Team Tactics, and Smart Tactics.
Player Roles
Player Roles allow you to adjust how each player behaves in the game and, based on that, move around the pitch to support the team in specific scenarios, whether their teammates have possession of the ball or not. They will position themselves on the field according to the roles set for them and play based on the enforced tactics play in their position.
Each position has around 3–5 roles, and all together, there are more than 50 individual player roles. Each player has positive or negative reactions to different roles set for them, based on their current stats and playstyle.
All the player roles for each position are listed below:
- Keepers (GK): Goalkeeper, Sweeper Keeper
- Full-Backs (RB-LB): Fullback, Falseback, Wingback, Attacking Wingback
- Centre-Backs (CB): Defender, Stopper, Ball-Playing Defender
- Defensive Midfielders (CDM): Holding, Centre Half, Deep-Lying Playmaker
- Centre Midfielders (CM): Box-to-Box, Holding, Deep-Lying Playmaker, Playmaker, Half-Winger
- Wide Midfielders (RM-LM): Winger, Wide Midfielder, Wide Playmaker, Inside Forward
- Attacking Midfielders (CAM): Playmaker, Shadow Striker, Half-Winger
- Wingers (RW-LW): Winger, Inside Forward, Wide Playmaker
- Strikers (ST): Advance Forward, Poacher, False 9, Target Forward
Every role has its own focus, which allows them to be more defensive, attacking, or focus on a build-up-style play. Players can tweak the smallest and most specific details of every player, making the possibilities limitless. Another feature worth mentioning is familiarity levels, which determine the players’ work rates. When a player is most familiar with a certain role, they may get a + or ++ boost when they are played in that role.
Team Tactics
The newly revamped Team Tactics feature allows players to focus on their team’s formation and playstyle as a squad. The improved visuals make it easier to understand how all the tactics play out in a team. There are also presets for less experienced players from which they can learn and experiment. These presets are taken from real-life clubs, adding another level of familiarity and making it easier to adjust or replicate the tactics of Manchester City or Real Madrid.
After you’ve completed setting up your team, Team Tactics will analyze your squad and give you feedback regarding the strengths and weaknesses of your tactical system. It will give you information on your setup’s positive aspects, potential weaknesses, and formations with or without the ball. While there is practically no tactical system without some cons, it is always recommended to look at the cons of a tactic before heading into the match. This way, you can control your players according to what’s needed and cover the weaknesses effectively.
The new system also introduced a new feature that allows players to create custom tactics and share them among friends using a universal code. If you are struggling to come up with a custom tactic yourself, you can always refer to the best tactical settings and copy their codes and implement those in your own team.
Smart Tactics
Smart Tactics is a real-time feature that offers suggestions on how to play or tweak the squad during a match based on how you’re performing. Players can directly trigger any of the offered suggestions using the prompts that appear on the screen during a match.
Smart Tactics also allows players to see how effective their Player Roles and Team Tactics settings are in every match. Improved visuals and commentary lines offer the option to analyze every encounter, helping players understand the changes easily.
- Released
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September 27, 2024
- Developer(s)
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EA Canada
, EA Romania - OpenCritic Rating
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Strong