FIFA 21

FIFA 21 has something for everyone, from casual gamers to passionate soccer fans. Sure, FIFA games can sometimes feel repetitive, and there are some things that need to be addressed, but when you play you can tell that the developers are keyed-in on the same things that make real soccer fans passionate. Make no mistake: this is the best soccer video game ever made. The beautiful game has truly never been so beautiful.

FIFA 21 says goodbye to Xbox One with the best game (in playable terms) of the saga. The amount of game modes overwhelms and it will reach different types of public.

Despite the problems related to the pandemic, EA Sports manages to deliver a full version of its popular football game, with improved gameplay and many new elements among FUT, Career mode and Volta Football.

FIFA 21 keeps evolving the franchise's formula, with meaningful improvements in the Career mode and in FUT and VOLTA modes multiplayer, and refined gameplay. It needs a presentation and technical refresh, though, which we hope will come with the next-gen edition of the game.

FIFA 21 is back with small changes and good ideas but with the need to make the leap to the next generation of consoles.

FIFA 21 isn’t going to blow anyone’s mind, but it improves upon last year’s game in almost every area, with an enhanced Career Mode proving to be the highlight. Even if it doesn’t offer much that’s new, it’s the best football game we’ve had in years, and a fitting send off to a generation of FIFA games on Xbox One.

It’s testament to the newly implemented features that FIFA 21 is worthy of your cash and, if certain aspects are patched, then this will be the best FIFA instalment in years.

FIFA 21 doesn’t have any ground-breaking new modes or revolutionary gameplay innovations, but it doesn’t need them to impress. The plentiful tweaks to gameplay and AI, along with worthwhile new features spread across all primary modes, accumulate to make FIFA 21 a must-have for football fans. And if they’re planning on picking up a next-gen console in the near-future, there’s possibly even more for them to look forward to.

FIFA 21 is very much an incremental upgrade to last year's outing, but what has changed here makes for a much faster, more fluid and fun game of footie than we've seen from the series since perhaps as far back as 2017. New tweaks to off-the-balls runs and passing are welcome, headers are viable options once again and keepers have been nerfed to the point that all-manner of long-range efforts, vicious volleys and fancy finished shots are back in vogue. Volta still feels like a bit of an afterthought - with its new Debut story mode as cheesy as you might have been expecting - but a slick new simulation option in Career mode, alongside that smart player customisation system and customisable stadiums and co-op Rivals and Squad Battles in Ultimate Team, mean there's just about enough here for diehard fans to justify splashing out once again. This is, for all its faults and foibles, a comprehensive and undeniably fun swansong for EA's behemoth on this current generation of consoles.

FIFA 21’s numerous small improvements make it the best in the series by default, but compared to recent entries in the series it’s easily the least revolutionary, with no major new modes or features to speak of.

FIFA 21 is a conformist game and is something obvious and has to be punished, because it's not the first year that this happened. It's understandable because the next gen is just around the corner, but even the slight changes made don't make this game any better than FIFA 20. FIFA 21 is more arcadey than before and doesn't have enough to be such a great success.

It took an entire generation, but I am delighted to see Career mode finally have its moment in the spotlight in FIFA 21. The changes to Career are all for the better, even if some still feel rudimentary, and it breathes new life into a staple that has felt somewhat ignored. The rest of the package comes across as both the culmination of a generation and a cross-gen game.

FIFA 21 hasn't re-written the wheel but it is fun, fast attacking football and hopefully EA have big plans to shake up the franchise next year for its true next-gen console experience.

Like many of the sports games I’ve reviewed this year, FIFA 21 is a very small step forward for the franchise. The on-pitch action has never been better and although I think career mode could use a lot more love and attention, the moment-to-moment gameplay is still as compelling as ever. It’s just a very difficult game to recommend if you have FIFA 20 and that’s really what it comes down to. If you have last year’s game, you really don’t need to go to FIFA 21 but if you missed it for whatever reason, then this is a great game to jump back into.

Without losing all of its qualities, FIFA is once again struggling to correct its gameplay flaws and will have to wait at least for a substantial update, or more likely a new opus to hope to convince us on this point.

Fifa 20 continues its dominance, albeit in the absence of real competition. The new tricks give us more entertaining offense play and the career mode is more dynamic than ever. Volta has also been updated to the point of almost becoming a separate game. Despite this we do notice that EA cannot go further than this on today's consoles, and we look forward to a new entry for the Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X.

You simply aren’t missing out on all that much by sticking with FIFA 20.