There’s a bit of a disparity between the “medium” and “hard” difficulty jump, but that emulates the difference between a casual FC 24 player who likes to EA FC 24 Coins “turn and burn” and the hardcore EA Sports FC player who needs every button on the controller to execute crisp passes, flashy moves, and solid strikes. For the difficulty alone, it has to be said that FC 24 won’t appeal to everyone, but will be satisfying for players hoping for refined and technical gameplay.

Online play is typical fare — nothing too impressive — but breaks up the monotony of predictable AI opponents. Ultimate Team, much like Madden’s version, is a clever idea, but one that works only for those who really commit to it — and most won’t. Probably the most exciting ancillary experience in FC 24 is the EA Sports Football Club which charts player progress across the entire game, serves-up different Madden Moments Live-esque scenarios to recreate, and even allows players to earn experience and level up.

There’s so much going on in FC 24’s world that even one misstep in a poorly realized mode is made up for by the many varied ways a player can experience a game or a season. Playing as a real pro, playing as a virtual pro, or playing as a whole team breeds so much variety it’s hard to imagine a die-hard EA Sports FC fan playing anything else during the next 365 days. It’s those people that the game was made for — the people that will notice the little flourishes and improvements — and it’s those gamers that get to reap the rewards in this solid game.

FC 24 is, without a doubt, one of the standout sports titles from this year. With a clear decision to improve the gameplay on the field, by taking a look under the hood, EA Canada makes this iteration much more enticing than last year’s. You might not realize all the new moving parts that have been put into the game, but you’ll sure have fun playing around with them. What are your thoughts on FC 24 so far? How does it rank in the lexicon of EA Sports FC games for you?

Much like FC 24’s physics engine has now outpaced Madden’s so will the soccer franchise usher in the era of the PlayStation Move with its next iteration, FC 24. But, unlike many gamers’ preconceived notions of the move, FC 24’s support for the peripheral will not be classified in the “gimmick” category.

Instead EA Sports are actually taking a long hard look at the peripheral — learning from other’s missteps — and trying to develop something that preserves the twitch-based gameplay we love in EA Sports FC. This isn’t going to be a one-on-one affair, like you’d find in Wii Sports, this is going to be the traditional 11 vs. 11 soccer matches EA Sports does so well, only with a motion-controlled twist.

While I’m sure EA Sports FC fans' brains, aside from spouting red steam, are running through possible applications for the Move, I wouldn’t get too worked up over the buy EA FC 24 Coins issue until EA Sports starts discussing it in full. Move support has been promised for plenty of titles before, like during Sony’s NBA 2K12 presentation at E3. but then has been placed on the back burner.