EA Sports College Football 25 Review: Back to School
EA Sports' return to campus is a solid first effort with plenty to build on for the future.
Posted 3 months ago
Platform reviewed on: PlayStation 5
Pros
- Wear and Tear system is a novel way to show how game flow affects teams
- The "essence" of Saturdays on campus is captured wonderfully
- Dynasty is a ton of fun and implements new elements seamlessly
Cons
- Needs more ways to play
- The modes on offer here could use some more components
ESRB Age Rating: Everyone
ESRB Interactive Elements: Users Interact, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)
Review code provided by the publisher.
After 11 years away, EA Sports is finally heading back to campus with EA Sports College Football 25. An absence like that brings with it a ton of pressure to succeed, as fans have been waiting for this moment since that last entry in 2013. Have the fanbase’s wishes been answered? Is video game college football back with a vengeance? Well, yes and no.
First things first, every time I take the field in College Football 25, it feels like I'm transported to a Saturday in that college town. The sights of the crowd, the sounds of the band, and the team entrances are all faithfully recreated here in CFB 25, which offers a level of immersion other sports games struggle with.
Moreover, that immersion continues as the game progresses through authentic chants, specific songs played in key moments, and shots of the fans that are interspersed with gameplay. This is heightened even further, if you'd believe it, through things like "white-out games" and other special events. If a team has a theme night on its schedule in real life, it's presented here in CFB 25, and it looks amazing.
My only complaint here is that I’d like scenes of the crowd and the surrounding parts of the game to be more varied from time to time. While I enjoy looking at the screaming faithful, seeing the same guy in the same shirt over and over again (that's NOT the mascot) gets boring after a while. Case in point: I purposely started a game, immediately quit, and started a second game with the same teams and stadium, and the intro was exactly the same. In this day and age, that's not ideal.
The gameplay on the field, meanwhile, feels like college football never went away, with a lot of DNA taken from EA Sports's other gridiron project, Madden NFL. Madden vets will be able to pick this up and play it just as they have with any Madden release in the last decade plus; however, this does not mean there are no differences at all. The game’s flow and the subtleties within are what make College Football stand out, even in this first installment of the resurrected series.
Take Wear And Tear, perhaps the most impactful part of the core gameplay system. This new mechanic takes into account, in real time, every throw, catch, tackle, hit, juke, etc. on the field and applies it for the remainder of the game. If I favor my running back too much, by the fourth quarter, his effectiveness will be in the toilet. Conversely, if I consistently attack one of the defense's key players, eventually they'll slip up and I can capitalize.
This system is ingenious, and it recreates the feeling of watching college football – heck, football in general – seamlessly. It also forces us to consider different strategies throughout the course of a game, in order to avoid mistakes by leaning too heavily on one or two players. No more is this system more apparent, though, than with the quarterback; if my offensive line gives up multiple sacks, by the second half, both throwing power and accuracy take a dive, and the passing game becomes less potent. Wear and Tear is an amazing idea, and it's incorporated brilliantly in the world of CFB 25.
©EA
Off the field, there are a few different ways to expand on the college football feeling, but admittedly, a lot of them are lacking any meaningful depth. My favorite is Dynasty, where I can become a head coach and take my team to heights unknown. While I like taking a storied franchise and keeping them at the top, there's something unique about assuming the reins of a lesser-known school and turning them into a national powerhouse. Why yes, I would like to take my alma mater Temple University to five straight national championships, thank you for asking.
The three-pronged approach to Dynasty – and the strategy within – is my favorite part of the mode. I might be a coach who is terrific at recruiting and getting top prospects into the school, but my game knowledge and strategies might be lacking, so that may end up costing me a top recruit once in a while. There's also the transfer portal to consider, where players who are unhappy in their current school can leave for another school at the end of the season. If I didn't plan enough around my top guy, he might feel neglected and leave. All of these things are tough to balance, but man is it fun to do.
Ultimate Team, another carryover from Madden, carries a similar vibe, though here I'm building a team out of players earned through completing challenges and purchasing packs as opposed to running the ins and outs of being a head coach. I like building teams out of current and legendary players and taking them out onto the field through this mode, but the challenges don't do much for me here and the microtransactional nature of the mode never appealed to me either. I'm sure many will enjoy Ultimate Team on the college level, but it didn't resonate with me.
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I didn't have as much fun with Road To Glory either, and I went into this review with high expectations. While being able to choose which activities to focus on from week to week is fun, it's ultimately a series of menus that separate one game from another. When I'm finally in the game, I only see the field for a limited time, due the mode's focusing on one position. For me, this doesn't have the same staying power as being in control of the entire team.
Also, I only get to choose between five positions; while those are arguably the most important positions on the field – quarterback, halfback, wide receiver, middle linebacker, and cornerback – what if I prefer to play tight end or on the offensive or defensive line? More options would have made Road To Glory stand out a little more, but I understand this is the first game back in over a decade; perhaps I'll get my wish eventually.
EA Sports College Football 25 absolutely nails the feeling of a college football game, with all of the pomp and pageantry well intact. Controlling the game is fun too, as the feeling of throwing that deep pass for a touchdown or sacking the quarterback never gets old. Everything surrounding the core gameplay, however, leaves a bit to be desired, as there's a lack of depth that's keeping me from being fully engrossed whenever I play certain modes.
That said, for a freshman outing, EA Sports has done its college football franchise a service with College Football 25. I'm excited to see how future seasons play out.
