EA FC 25 review: ol’ familiar football, even if it does encourage a different style

No matter what, I’ll be there

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Electronic Arts

• Developer: EA Vancouver
• Publisher: EA Sports
• Release: Sept 27th
• On: Windows
• From: Steam
• Price: £60/$70/€60
• Reviewed on: Intel Core-i7-9700K, 16GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 TI, Windows 10

Something feels off. I’ve brought an utterly improbable Champions League title to Aston Villa, built an enviable Ultimate Team and developed a formation that keeps at least outright humiliation at bay in online matches… And yet, my heart isn’t bursting with the joy of joga bonito. This must be how Guardiola feels, popping onto the pitch to celebrate his annual Prem title with the latest batch of ruthlessly efficient, lab-grown wonderkids and pushing down the feeling that this one doesn’t feel quite as special as the first.

That is to say, EA Sports FC25 is a bit like FC24 . Which was quite a lot like FIFAs 21-23, which had a lot in common with the FIFAs our ancient ancestors used to play by the fireside in their primitive tribal dwellings. There are noticeable additions - particularly new tactics controls and a 5v5 Rush mode - and I’m glad they’re here. But as much as they contribute towards a continuously compelling suite of foot-to-ball, they can’t quite dislodge the nagging feeling that this shouldn’t be an annual, full-price release anymore.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Electronic Arts

Here’s something cheery, though: PC performance is a lot better from the off this year. FC 25 feels like it’s spent more time lavishing love and attention to its PC port, and frame rate in particular is the beneficiary. I had an awful time with frame pacing and bizarre mid-match slowdowns in the last game, but on the exact same specs I’ve enjoyed countless Ollie Watkins goals and replays of PvP match slide tackles that should be a police matter rather than one for the refs, all at a consistent locked 60fps.

That’s not a reason to buy the game, of course, but the very first time you load up FC 25 you’re introduced to an element that just might be: Zinedine Zidane, inviting you into his office to tell you that tactics are important.

I did briefly entertain hopes that Zizu’s expensive-looking cameo might announce some Football Manager-grade depth, and that I might arrange Raumdauters and Segundo Volantes to my heart’s content. Inevitably FC25’s take on tactical depth doesn’t run as luxuriously, obsessively deep as Sports Interactive’s, but it does give you some new elements to fiddle with.

Mid-game you’ve now got the option to switch up your style of play with a few D-pad taps, transitioning from a possession-based Tiki-Take style to counterattacking, and so on. Those options live separately to the standard defense-standard-attack strategies, so when you spend a while fiddling with some tactical changes and then actually claw a decent result back, the victory feels all the sweeter because you feel like that big brain of yours masterminded it.

Of course, in online matches where everyone just picks the eleven fastest players on the planet and stepovers their way to goal after mirthless, artless goal, tactical nuances like these are largely lost. But it’s not FC 25’s fault if mcfc_haaland420 isn’t interested in making use of the systems it’s added.

Off the pitch, in Ultimate Team and Manager Career, the newfound tactical fiddling extends to setting player roles. There’s definitely a smug smile to be found when you arrive at the combination of roles that suits both your formation and the individuals in your squad, and the way it plays out on the pitch is both logical and, at times, quite impressive.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Electronic Arts

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Electronic Arts

Last year in FC24, the ‘PlayStyles’ AI mechanic gave players certain tendencies: Grealish loves to cut inside, Rodri holds up the ball, Haaland finishes like a surface-to-air missile, etc etc. FC 25 formalises that, giving you more of a say over how and where those AI tendencies trigger. It’s still nothing close to the complexity of Football Manager and its terrifying heat maps, but it’s good for giving you something else to tinker with once you’ve opened the nine billion packs required to assemble a decent gold squad in Ultimate Team.

Let’s touch on Rush mode too, because FC25’s obviously rather proud of it. Rush’s endearingly quick and simple 5v5 matches crop up across all the longform modes, as a training exercise in Career and as another way to grind for the bajillion currencies and ever-filling bars of Ultimate Team. Oddly enough it’s the antithesis of the tactically minded football that the game’s trying to get you to play elsewhere - just four of you pelting heavy passes at each other, darting in between the lines and trying to engineer that one perfect passing sequence that undoes the defence.

Here’s what’s nice about it: you feel the differences between players much more in a five-a-side setting. In Career mode you get to know your youth prospects in a Rush tournament, test-driving them and considering how and where they might fit into your first team. In Ultimate Team, it’s a welcome chance to feel how lithe and silky Jamal Musiala is, and how much weight and momentum Haaland puts behind his runs.

I’m pleased to see contracts removed from Ultimate Team, which was too menu-heavy for my liking in its recent outings, and seemed to nickel-and-dime you with its resource management. Player evolutions are a bit more involved now to include customisable visual elements to your favourite players’ cards, which… fine. It’ll make some players happy. Much more useful is the ability to store up to 100 untradeable player cards though, so that you can use them for squad building challenges at a later date. This is housekeeping, really. A quick sweep and polish round UT’s endless menus. The experience is largely unchanged, except for the effects of the new tactics and Rush mode’s cameos.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Electronic Arts

My favourite thing about FC25 isn’t the tactics, or the Rush matches, or even the fact it actually runs at a consistent 60fps on my PC for the first time in living memory. It’s the fact that the game’s played slower .

You watch an AI vs AI game of NBA 2K and go say to yourself: that looks like basketball . Then you watch 22 aliens sprinting around at 40mph in modern day FIFA/FC and are reminded that this enjoyable but absurd style of constant counterattacking bears very little resemblance to what happens on a football pitch.

That effect is lessened in FC25. Not so dramatically that anyone’s likely to sharpen a pitchfork or sellotape their caps lock key down in retaliation, but enough that you can employ something other than pace to build an attack. You might even use one of the game’s suggested tactical or personnel changes (not always useful, but the suggested subs are a nice way to bypass a few menus) to engineer a goal. Or build up the play patiently, waiting for a midfielder to make the right run. These were always possibilities before, but they were vastly inferior routes to goal than blasting by with a permanently held right trigger. Now it just feels that there’s an extra quarter-second to look around and spot an opportunity to do something clever.

It’s a bit like Serie A in that way then, is FC25. And while I remain privately furious that the move away from the FIFA licence seems to have left EA without the adequate rights for some of Serie A’s best teams (honestly, you should see the ‘We have AC Milan at home’ travesties in place of the licensed teams), I am pleased to say I’ve had more raw, honest enjoyment with FC25 than I have any of its recent predecessors. Partly because it feels like the PC port got the required amount of love this year, and partly because I feel just slightly more empowered to play a different style of football this year. In my heart of hearts, I know that this inch-by-inch progress doesn’t justify £50 on a ‘new’ game every year. But here I am, playing it anyway and enjoying it like a comfy old favourite jumper that’s just had the elbows repaired.

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EA Sports FC 25

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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