Tossin the ol’ pigskin with Dad never gets old.
EA Sports, it’s in the game. But, actually, is it? EA Sports has developed quite the yearly reputation. Every year we get a new Soccer, Hockey, and Football video game. Every year, these games see criticisms like “here’s the full price roster update again” or “it’s just the same gameplay with one new feature” and the critique goes on. It might be true that something needs to be done about yearly releases. In a growing age of remakes and sequels, there must be some way to get players back in the game. Enter College Football 25, the first College Football game since NCAA 14 which released 10 years ago. While it’s not a remake, it’s definitely a sequel that comes with a lot of nostalgia and definitely breaks the mould of EA’s yearly release schedule for this year. After tossing the ol’ pigskin with Dad, in 10 years, I’ve actually become a Dad. A lot has changed since I last played a College Football game, but has the game stayed the same? Or has it graduated after 10 years of education? Let’s run it into the endzone.
As of the time of writing, the game is not (yet) available to play via the cloud. But, we are hoping it arrives on PlayStation 5 Cloud Gaming and Xbox Cloud Gaming in the future.
Gridiron Gameplay
College Football 25 has a plethora of ways to play. At the end of the day, it all comes down to the football. After spending a lot of time with Madden 24 last year, I was looking for comparisons here to see if EA is just reusing the same old gameplay with College Jerseys and funny mascots. I’m relieved to say it feels different. College Football 25 is a much faster game. Every playbook is here! Passing, running the ball, and everything in the actual game of football playing feels fast and pleasantly comfortable. Players don’t feel as heavy in the game, and it almost gives an arcade vibe. There’s a sense of delight created with a perfect juke and well timed speedburst execution to pass the defense when running down field. Speaking of defence, there’s been a few additions and changes it seems. There’s many button prompts and enough variety to keep players on their cleats when defending. That being said, the camera can be quite annoying. When your player is highlighted too far to the left or right, it becomes a game of fixing the camera to see your player and actually defend in your zone. I never really know where to look when defending. Some changes in a future update would be welcomed here. If you’re looking to jump in to a fun game of College Ball with your friends on the couch, it will be fast and fun overall.
Most players that remember NCAA games of the past won’t be purchasing College Football 25 for the “play now” mode though. A triumphant return of Road to Glory and Dyanasty modes are here along with the Ultimate Team and Road to College Playoffs. While Ultimate Team and College Playoffs are pretty self explanatory when it comes to Football titles, Dynasty and Road to Glory are special modes that many players are excited to take for a ball spin.
Dual Threat Dynasty
Diving into Dynasty Mode players are tasked with creating a character. Dynasty had me choose the team I wanted to take administrative control of by showing me various stats. There were so many choices, and choosing a team to take control over seemingly had many consequences. If picking a team with an established Dynasty, you’ll have to keep up with the consistent wins and momentum. Picking a struggling team may expect you to win less, but not measuring up to menial goals with a weak team will likely have you lose your coaching job. After this players choose an archetype in Recruiter, Motivator, or Tactician. I liked the idea of building a roster and the idea of building a roster reminded me of my day job as a Drama Teacher. This is a deep mode and playing with my team had me rethink the game entirely. Having a week wide receiver corp, or finding out my edge rushing wasn’t as clean made me go into the recruitment section and start charming different players into joining my budding team. This mode does an excellent job breathing new life into the core game of Football. Having the ability to simply play the offensive snaps helped me focus more on the offensive coordinator role and learn the playbook better to figure out how to minimize the home field advantage pulse bar pressure.
Follow the [Insert Team Colours Here] Brick Glory Road
This is the right time to say that I appreciated trying so many different teams out during College Football 25. This may be a bit personal, but I am not a die hard College Football fan, so I don’t have a team. I like the Crimson Tide, I follow Notre Dame a little, and who hasn’t talked about Michigan in the last year? In all modes, I found myself trying different teams for different reasons. Enter Road to Glory mode which has players take a created player through the ranks. You can start from the very bottom, or go all the way to the top. The expectations change depending on what mode players choose to hike themselves into. But this isn’t just QB Simulator. Players can choose to play the game from multiple perspectives. Creating a Wide Receiver or Cornerback has the gameplay shift significantly. I chose a QB mainly to up my passing game in regular play before the servers explode on full release day. If players are looking for a unique gameplay experience though, choosing to play as a WR is a good bet to change the flow of gameplay. Instead of throwing, you are tasked to catch. It was a different simulation entirely and was a really fun experience.
Practicing essentially uses the mini games to play primarily as the position you chose. There are options to actually do it, and options to simulate this experience. As usual, bonuses and higher levels of experience are given when actually taking the time to play. Actual gameplay was tight and had many different ways of approaching routes. This was fresh, and I really can’t say I had a preference on how to play. As a budding wide receiver I found myself blocking a lot during games. This increased my awareness when went back into normal game modes. Road to Glory is a great mode to zone in on your favorite positions in football, or a schooling on the positions that players may be weaker at using in normal gameplay. It is also possible to transfer created players to Madden 25 once they graduate College. While only one player can be exported at a time right now, this is a neat feature that will be exciting to follow once Madden 25 launches in August. While that is exciting, the part that makes Road to Glory really sing is all of the details of being a College Football player. Mailing sure you study, practice, and pay attention to what kind of NIL deals you sign further customizes your experience and changes the game on and off the field. The custom messages and commentary was a nice piece of immersion.
The Switch Stick and Online
As stated, there are multiple roles to play in College Football 25. The Ultimate Team mode, and online gameplay isn’t much different than Madden titles. The servers were flooded but when I did play online, it was smooth! I hopped in on Thursday afternoon and waited less than 10 seconds. Servers are packed and online! I played a bit of Road to the College Football Playoffs and lost 26-27. It was a fun experience and I realized there is so much more I have to learn. One huge change that I think is completely worth the addition is the Switch Stick. On defense, you can now switch over to the closest player to make more control of your defense. Often, I felt the AI was good enough at running plays, but there were a few moments the player I was playing got me with a speed burst or quick switch and it definitely made the gameplay more interesting. Overall defense feels much more exciting now thanks to this incredible addition.
Punting Presentation
Booting up the game, the vibrant Campus Clash Theme Song composed by Kris Bowers welcomes players back with punching instrumentals. The song does what EA Sports soundtracks have been known to do, and hypes the player up for a good time. I’ve played many EA Sports games over the years, but nothing else has really gotten my heart pumping like this introduction. The theatrics don’t stop there though, after signing in to my EA Account, the game let’s players jump right in with very clean and straight forward menus. I have found presentation to be lacking in past offerings from EA, especially the over complicated square navigation, etc. This simple menu brought me back to the good old days of sports gaming. Everything players expect to be in a Football game is here, from Play Now, to Ultimate Team and Campaign modes. Getting started is a breeze, and if you haven’t played a sports game in a long time, College Football 25 will not overwhelm you out of the gate. It’s a simple visual presentation that doesn’t feel lazy or too sparse.
The sound is what puts College Football 25 above it’s Madden counterpart. All sounds feel authentic, and many of the commentaries, music, and transitions are authentic. Hearing the marching band drums, cheers from the crowd, and the crescendo of noise during home field pulse moments is jarring in the best way. I found it hard to focus, and even noticed my designated players routes would be shaken up to show that if I was going to pass to them, I should know it may not go well. This added an exceptional big risk, big reward aspect. 3rd and longs actually felt like a true longshot here and were a testament to my own skills.
Overall, after putting 10 hours and counting into College Football 25, it’s safe to say is is absolutely worth the 10 year wait. Every team is here, along with their mascots, and traditions. The gameplay feels full of life, but also captures the speed of College Ball with the arcade-like fast paced gameplay. The overall presentation and design of College Football 25 feels high quality, and worthy of the full price tag it comes with. Anytime a detail was a little off, I remembered the sheer scope of this game. There are so many teams, stadiums, mascots, traditions, intros… and they are all here in full glory. I cannot wait to run it back onto the field once I post this review.
College Football 25
Summary
EA Sports College Football 25 is a triumphant return for the series. The variety of gameplay, immersive details, and overall speed of the College Game will make fans of the sport come back for more throughout the season. Every team is here, and brings unique locales and traditions with them. The soundtrack gets a little old after a while, but the blaring horns definitely signal exciting fun to be had. While the full price of a video game is getting steep, the fun factor is there and EA Sports said it best: it really is all in the game.
As always, remember to follow us on our social media (e.g. Threads, X (Twitter), YouTube and Facebook) to keep up with the latest news. Note, we may receive referral benefits from purchases made from some product and service links. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
