EA Sports College Football 25: A Triumphant Return to the Gridiron

EA has triumphantly returned to the college football scene with EA Sports College Football 25, marking the first installment in the series since 2013. While the game arrives without the NCAA name, due to the organization's diminished control over college sports, it steps into a landscape reshaped by the transfer portal and conference realignments. The big question for returning fans is: What elements from NCAA Football 14 have made their comeback? The answer is that all of the big modes have returned.

Core Gameplay and Modes

College Football 25 brings back familiar modes such as Road to Glory, Dynasty, and Ultimate Team. Road to Glory offers a classic career mode experience, enhanced by a detailed player creator. Dynasty mode allows players to build a college football empire, while Ultimate Team provides a card-collecting, team-building challenge for multiplayer enthusiasts. A season mode allows players to guide a team to the College Football Playoffs through a series of games, without extensive management requirements.

Road to Glory: A Career Mode Reimagined

Road to Glory brings back the classic style of career mode from most of the “recent” editions of the series with a much better player creator that has many more options. What doesn’t return is the need to play through a handful of boring high school games to determine how good your player is going into the recruiting. Instead, players can choose from archetypes ranging from instant superstars to journeymen who must earn their place. One player's experience involved a journeyman quarterback at Northwestern, battling from the bottom of the depth chart to earn a starting role in the second season. Weekly practice minigames help players improve their skills, while a weekly agenda manages the player's time with academic, influencer, and football-related activities. Storytelling in Road to Glory is delivered through phone texts, offering reminders for studying and occasional social opportunities that affect energy levels.

Dynasty Mode: Building a College Football Empire

In Dynasty Mode, players create their own coach and take control of any team, navigating recruiting, player development, and conference realignments. The mode includes innovative features such as hiring coordinators to enhance player and team performance. Recruiting has been revamped and improved, presenting a complex system where players invest points to influence recruits' opinions. The transfer portal allows teams to add talent and address weaknesses. Users also get coins for performing well, which can help improve as a coach. As a former football coach for 15 years, one reviewer "geeked out" on the different playbooks available, noting the team-specific playbooks for each team. Every team has the same basic plays, but they all have a variety of different plays, too. Oregon runs the true spread system. Ole Miss has a ton of the common spread concepts. Liberty runs a unique option system.

Ultimate Team: A Multiplayer Challenge

The Ultimate Team mode allows players to build their dream teams through card collecting and online competition. While the gameplay in Ultimate Team Mode is just as good as in the single player modes, and it’s extremely easy to find opponents to play with online, the tutorials are hidden within the mode, posing a challenge for newcomers.

Gameplay Mechanics and Presentation

College Football 25 aims to deliver authentic college football gameplay with revamped mechanics and impressive presentation. The game is exclusive to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, allowing for enhanced graphics and detailed environments.

On-Field Action

The gameplay itself is a lot of fun in spite of the simulation’s desire to undermine that at every turn. Passing has a smoother learning curve, providing that wide-open feel college football is known for. It’s easier to throw deep balls, and you’re less likely to see defenders leaping 50 feet to intercept passes, giving you more room to make plays. The running game definitely feels more strategic. There’s finally a balance between realistic running and avoiding overpowered moves like the juke that plagued previous football games like Madden. On defense, the tackling system is far more skill-based this time around. Gone are the days when you could easily rely on hit sticks for big plays. Instead, you need to time your tackles carefully and aim for more conservative stops.

However, some players have noted issues with the AI and simulation, particularly with coach decisions during crucial moments. One reviewer recounted a frustrating experience where the AI coach took over in the final seconds of a game, leading to a loss. The game's simulation of team performance and upsets also drew criticism, with some teams underperforming despite high ratings.

Visuals and Atmosphere

With all of the complaints I have about the presentation of the game in the menus, the presentation in the games is top notch. This game looks so good as the first EA SPORTS game that is exclusive to the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S that I’m just enjoying watching the schools-specific intros to see the various traditions being played out with the new schools that I face. The only thing that ruins it are the various cuts to cheerleaders and the crowd where you see lots of those character models popping in after the camera cuts to them, which makes it feel like an unfinished product. It is wild that despite those crappy camera cuts, you rarely ever see the sideline or the coach, which is a shame when my Kent State offensive coordinator is a 7 foot giant and I’m convinced that they don’t show the coaches because they have no real coaches in this game. The details matter; the graphics are incredible. One player started a dynasty with Ohio State and it shows all the different details of Ohio Stadium, from the band doing Script Ohio to Brutus the Buckeye. The graphics look like you are actually at the game. And it isn’t just Ohio State, but rather every stadium and experience. EA also nailed the pageantry that makes college football special. The stadiums feel alive, and the attention to detail from the pre-game traditions to the crowd reactions is spot on. Playing in a packed Clemson Death Valley or Ohio’s Horseshoe Stadium makes you really feel like you are in the live atmosphere. The weather effects are on point as well.

Kicking Game

For one, the new kick meter? One of the biggest adjustments many players, including myself, needed to make was in the kicking game. The new kick meter, while intuitive, is incredibly challenging. You need to line up a moving slider in the green zone to determine accuracy and fill up your power meter without overdoing it.

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Criticisms and Shortcomings

Despite its strengths, College Football 25 is not without its flaws. Issues with simulation, AI decision-making, and menu presentation have been noted by reviewers. The Road to Glory mode, while improved, still lacks excitement for some players, particularly with limited on-field control as a quarterback.

One recurring complaint is the lack of tutorials, with players directed to external videos for explanations. Some players also feel that the game leans too heavily towards a Madden-like experience, losing some of the unique charm of previous NCAA Football titles.

Overall Reception

Despite these criticisms, EA Sports College Football 25 has been generally well-received, especially by hardcore college football fans. The game is a success. Period. There will always be individuals who can’t accept EA Sports delivering a solid product, but I’m giving credit where credit is due. This game has gotten me excited about simulated football again-something that Madden hasn’t done since the mid-2000s. It’s not perfect, but nothing is. The year ahead with College Football 25 is officially exciting, and if Madden can replicate what it does well, it’ll be a glorious time for football fans. The game excels in capturing the spirit of college sports, with its extensive licenses and authentic gameplay. The attention to detail in recreating stadiums, traditions, and team-specific playbooks has been praised.

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