One of the biggest differences between FC 25 and last year’s edition of EA Sports’ soccer sim series is the introduction of Rush. The 4v4 mode, which replaces the stale Volta experience, has been one of the core talking points since FC 25’s reveal and now EA Sports has just revealed loads more information about it. While core concepts such as picking players from your Ultimate Team, blue cards, and altered offside rule were known about already, there are plenty of new details in Rush mode’s new deep dive.
Even if it changed almost nothing compared to FC 24, FC 25 would still end up as one of the year’s biggest and best-selling sports games. However, where a lot of its gameplay ‘innovations’ are just slightly improved or reworked existing features, Rush’s quick, accessible, small-pitch action is genuinely fresh.
While there are no real on-the-ball gameplay changes in Rush, the dimensions and rules of the game have been shifted to create what fans hope is the ultimate casual online mode. As mentioned, many of its most noticeable features have been talked about already – kick offs are Rocket League-style races to the ball, blue cards replace red cards, and penalties are dynamic and let you dribble the ball, similar to what you see in ice hockey.
However, today’s new Rush deep dive trailer and accompanying blog post is full of eyebrow-raising new info. For a start it seems ice hockey isn’t the only sport EA Sports is getting inspiration from, as you’ll be able to pull off a basketball-style buzzer beater if the countdown clock strikes zero while your shot is sailing through the air.
EA Sports has also confirmed that matches will be seven minutes long with no half-times. If a game is tied at the end of the seven minutes, there will be two minutes and 20 seconds of Golden Goal extra time – next-goal-wins, essentially. If it’s still level after those 140 seconds, then it’ll be 1v1 penalty shootouts.
Elsewhere, it’s been confirmed that all free kicks are indirect, so you can’t shoot straight at goal. It’s also been clarified that you can shoot from behind the halfway line, just so long as you’ve gone beyond your own defensive offside line.
When you aren’t on the ball, you can now utilize a ping system which will bring up a quick indicator that tells your teammate where you want the ball to be played. This is particularly good for making runs in behind. If your team scores, there are also some new in-game quick chat features that let you pop up a message with the push of a single button during celebrations.
Off the pitch, there will be some light squad-building objectives to complete in Rush in order to earn extra Rush Points which help you progress through reward tracks. While there won’t be full-blown SBCs or anything like that, certain challenges may ask you to field (or not field) specific types of players. “During squad building, you can choose to tackle optional block requirements, often needing coordination with teammates,” the deep dive reads. “Completing these can earn you extra Rush Points, multipliers, and bonuses per goal or win.”
And finally, Rush’s implementation in Career Mode has been revealed. I was really unsure how EA Sports would do this, or why they’d bother in what is a typically single-player experience. However, I like what they’ve come up with. Rush will act as a playable training session for players in your youth team, which gives you a slightly more interesting way of increasing their overall ratings and developing certain skills versus what we currently have.
I’m super excited to play Rush when the FC 25 release date finally arrives. While there’s a chance it will end up as another flash-in-the-pan that eventually goes the same way as Volta, I think it could equally become a really popular mode. If you’re a reward-hungry Ultimate Team player, it seems it’ll give you a compelling reason to play and strategize with which players you pick. For the Pro Clubs stans, you’ve got a tighter and quicker experience that will let you play with your pals – of course, if your group of mates is bigger than four people, it is a bit limiting.
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