Last year, College Football 25 launched with a level of hype in the gaming community most sports games aren’t used to wide receiving. It had been years since players got a new rendition of the popular franchise from EA Sports. Last years title was a fresh take on the game of American Football featuring fast paced football games, a stellar dynasty mode, and an immersive create a player mode in its ‘Road to Glory’ mode. Was it just nostalgia taking over players minds last year, or does College Football 26 have another touchdown in the endzone in its sophomore year of the revamped classic?
Getting Into Field Goal Range
To put it quite simply, College Football 26 feels like College Football 25— but the developers reviewed the tapes from last season and came back stronger. Everything is here, again. From the playbooks of the greatest College coaches and coordinators to the mascots and traditions of Ole Miss or your favourite team. Everything just feels bigger and better. For the sake of comparison, I went back to College Football 25 and as a whole, it’s a very similar game… which at first made me grumble a bit. After playing countless hours, it’s more than just a roster update.
Tight End Traditions
More traditions are in the game—this year. As a player, I am not a hardcore College Football guy; but I found every single game so charming to not just play, but observe. Seeing tortillas everywhere, light shows, electric energy of the mascots like Big Al, and more. The attention to detail this year is outstanding and it even brought me into the energy. College Football fans are wild, and I could feel the rumble of the stadium on my couch.
Playing the game felt like every moment mattered especially thanks to the Varied Quarterback Play and advanced AI defence. Everything feels a bit more real, just like the authentic pageantry on display at Game Day. In College Football 25, it almost felt a bit too easy to make incredible plays. This time, it’s very clear you’re on the clock and the CPU will be responsive to every shuffle in the pocket. When getting out of offence, the defensive play is better than ever. In past games like Madden, I can’t stand playing defence as it always felt like I wasn’t in control. In College Football 26, they’ve tightened up play even further with block steering and stunt twists. Taking the time to get this was cumbersome, it’s almost like learning an entire new game. Once I had it, I felt like it was the sword to winning games.
Presentation Playbook
Scheming and planning take a lot of learning, too. There’s so many unique playbooks to explore. I picked the Alabama Crimson Tide to start with as I felt I learned them the most last year. But there’s big changes afoot over there. I was pleasantly surprised that no team really felt the same to move the chains with. Especially teams with dual QBs.
It’s not just the playbooks to get excited about though, in Road to Glory the school experience has been overhauled and while it’s still that very cookie cutter “read this dialogue and answer questions” the details felt more specific and important. If I answered confidently, and made promises I would totally get the start in my first game. If I didn’t live up to what I said though, it wouldn’t go so well. At the end of the day, it felt less like I was just playing a sport game and more like I was going on a journey with my pro character. It’s all in the details.
Detailed Dynasty
Dynasty Mode is largely unchanged here. That being said, the Trophy Room is the biggest thing that got the magic touch along with some coaching level cap changes and again, details in College records of lore. While it’s disappointing to say not much has changed, there wasn’t much to fix here last year. College Football 25 was a well oiled machine of a game, overall.
Unfortunately, there’s a pattern going on in this review. College Football 26 gets tackled into the same corner as most sports games are stuck in. It’s a really great update to a really great game that costs full price. No matter how many times I smiled during my time with this fantastic sports title, I felt a small part of me wince at the fact that this game costs the same as a brand new experience. While this sounds quite negative, I have to say that College Football 26 is without a doubt the best sport simulation game I’ve ever played. Customization is so deep, the atmosphere is unbeatable, the details in Dynasty, and even play now is just incredibly fun. The biggest thing going against EA Sports’ sophomore title is that it really should have just been an update to last years game, value wise.
College Celebrations?
Setting everything up at the line of scrimmage, it’s clear that College Football 26 is an excellent title. It does everything it promised to do, iterated on an already great game and tightened up the player experience. The immersive pageantry, a greater variety of playbooks, better AI, and even less unfair interceptions vastly improves quality of life. College Football 26 feels like a premium title, and in comparison to last years entry, the changes are definitely noticeable. At the end of the drive though, it has a ‘brand new triple a game price point’ in a climate where it’s more and more expensive for players to pick up a controller.
College Football 26 Review
Summary
College Football 26 is one of the best sports simulation titles available at the time of this review. The immersion is incredible on and off the field, and the details all feel meticulously taken care of by the developers. The problem is it’s mostly a great iteration of last years title, at a premium full cost. The best advice at this point is to wait until it’s fully playable in the cloud or goes onsale for a DLC worthy price point.
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