EA Sports FC 27 Review in Progress: Tactics Shine While The Grounds Stumbles

What Is EA Sports FC 27?

EA Sports FC 27 is the second entry in EA's rebranded football simulation series, following the split from FIFA licensing. Developed by EA Vancouver and EA Romania, it launches across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and last-generation consoles. The game builds on the HyperMotionV animation foundation introduced in FC 24, layering new tactical systems, player roles, and the controversial The Grounds hub atop the established Ultimate Team, Career Mode, and online foundations. Pricing aligns with the standard premium sports tier.

If you buy football games primarily for Ultimate Team or competitive online play, the tactical upgrades alone may justify the upgrade — provided the AI defending holds up under pressure. If you're a Career Mode devotee or offline player, the verdict stays pending until we see how the new systems interact with manager progression, transfer logic, and long-term save integrity. The Grounds, meanwhile, appears optional for most modes but mandatory for certain online social features, which means even menu purists may need to wade through it.

Here's a thinking process:

The expanded Tactics system is easily the best addition, wonderfully complementing the playstyles and roles introduced over the past few years. The new strategy system gives much more control over how teams behave in different phases of play, going beyond basic formations and instructions by explaining the purpose, strengths, and weaknesses of different tactical approaches. This becomes particularly useful when building around individual player attributes.

What makes the system particularly valuable is that it teaches the strategy behind soccer formations without overwhelming players with unnecessary information. EA Sports FC 27 does a good job explaining why different shapes work, which players suit them, and how to adjust them against different opponents, making the tactical aspect for the sport approachable while still leaving experienced players plenty of room to experiment. During testing, a deeper defensive approach worked especially well for Noussair Mazraoui, whose patient style lets him maintain position and disrupt attacks without constantly stepping out of shape, while a short-passing buildup gave him chances to use his technical ability without abandoning that defensive structure.

Flexibility shines when switching formations mid-match. Against Crystal Palace, the opponent left space along the wings, so a shift to 4-2-2-2 let Bruno Fernandes operate between the lines and thread passes to a striker such as Benjamin Sesko, creating opportunities for quick combinations through the middle. When Manchester City controlled the wings more successfully, switching to a 4-2-3-1 wide formation moved Fernandes centrally to dictate play and combine with holding midfielders such as Kobbie Mainoo through quick one-two passes. Separating tactical instructions for possession and defensive phases adds another useful layer, while Player Roles give individual players more specific responsibilities within a formation.

That same flexibility proves useful defensively when protecting a lead. If an opponent repeatedly targets one flank, giving Benjamin Šeško more defensive responsibility lets him drop back and support the right back, providing another way to protect that flank without abandoning the attacking structure. Crossing and corner kicks have also improved noticeably, with both systems producing more convincing positioning battles and giving the player greater control over what happens inside the box. Several successful headers with Harry Maguire from corners stood out because headed goals from set pieces have been vanishingly rare in previous entries.

Here's a thinking process:

The Grounds doesn't need to be an open-world environment to deliver what the playerbase wants out of a more communal online mode. Simple menus devoted to the same function can do the same thing in a more efficient manner. Sure, it works well as an active lobby for matchmaking and makes it easier to find other players and move between activities, but between the framerate drops and unnatural character animations, nothing immersed me in the hub enough to justify its existence.

The issues are compounded by myriad unskippable cutscenes and voice acting that evokes the rough early days of NBA 2K's Neighborhood era. The irony is that The Grounds brings back Alex Hunter from The Journey story mode in FIFA 17 and FIFA 18, once again voiced by Adetomiwa Edun. That enthusiasm disappeared quickly once Hunter began speaking, as his delivery feels noticeably more rigid and detached than it did during his original story. Edun's performance nearly a decade ago was passionate and natural, whereas The Grounds' version of Hunter sounds like he would rather be anywhere else.

Things get even more painful when Kylian Mbappe appears shortly afterward, delivering his lines with such a stiff, mechanical cadence that it was clear he read his lines directly from a script all in one take. The created character thankfully doesn't speak, sparing players from adding more uncomfortable interactions to the mix. While further exploration of the online portion of The Grounds is planned for the coming days, the hub itself has not made a particularly strong first impression. The NBA 2K comparison is unavoidable — MyPark in NBA 2K14, The Neighborhood in NBA 2K18, The City in NBA 2K21 — but EA's implementation lacks the social gravity that made those spaces feel alive rather than performative.

What Doesn't Work: AI Defending Still Lets The Side Down

The biggest issue is that the tactical system can sometimes feel like it is working against the game's own computer-controlled behavior. Pathing and defensive logic can still break down on higher difficulties, allowing a carefully constructed gameplan to be undermined by a CPU defender refusing to challenge for a 50/50 ball or making an inexplicable movement. Passing will still occasionally produce similarly frustrating results when a ball aimed toward an open teammate on the right is instead sent toward a covered player in the middle.

These breakdowns aren't new — they've carried over many of the same issues the series has had for over a decade — but they feel more conspicuous now because the tactical tools finally give players a coherent plan to execute. When the AI ignores that plan, it doesn't feel like football unpredictability; it feels like the game fighting its own systems. This tension will define the experience for anyone playing on World Class or Legendary difficulties, and it remains the single biggest question mark heading into the full review.

Career Mode, Presentation, Online, and Ultimate Team will be explored in the coming days before locking in the full scored review. The tactical foundation is genuinely strong — arguably the best the series has offered — but the surrounding package still carries too many legacy frustrations and misguided new additions to call it a clear step forward. Stay tuned for the final verdict.