EA Sports College Football 25

After a long build of anticipation for College Football 25, EA Sports kicks it right through the uprights. They give us the opportunity to live out our biggest college football dreams in a beautiful and atmospheric journey through multiple modes. Between Dynasty Mode, Road to Glory, Road to the CFP, and Head 2 Head; there’s something here for every type of player. If you loved NCAA 14, this game is everything you would want and more.

To fans like me, College Football 25 is about as pure a gaming experience as there is. It wasn’t an online leaderboard or card-collecting mode that made fans beg EA Sports to bring back college football. It was the memories of trash talking on the couch, and recreating a rivalry. It was figuring out those spam plays and finally shutting them down. It was a throwback to gaming’s roots when higher scores were all people needed to enjoy themselves. I could belabor this review with more examples, but in the end, there’s only one key takeaway — College Football 25 delivers on the memories I just listed, alongside countless others. And I can’t wait to see where the series goes from here.

EA Sports College Football 25 makes the gridiron feel new again with stellar visuals that heighten the gameday intensity and smooth controls that evoke the high-octane moment-to-moment action that makes college football so beloved. I enjoy the painstaking, time-consuming process of revitalizing weak programs in Dynasty as well as competing against teammates to earn that coveted starting spot in Road to Glory, but some skin-deep progression systems and game modes are concerning; beyond the campaigns, there simply isn’t enough to see or do. Nevertheless, CFB 25 is a confident spiral throw in the right direction, and I’m excited to see how its strong foundation evolves in future releases.

The return of the college football franchise is a pleasant surprise, and the gameplay of EA Sports College Football 25 does not disappoint. However, the content of the game is another matter and the quality is not as clear. It's not that the content is bad, it's just that the developers play it too safe in terms of modes. So even if this is your first time with the series, you'll be very familiar with how these modes work and what to expect from them from the other games.

College Football 25 is exactly the return to the series that fans will have wanted. The gameplay is solid, and sets itself apart from Madden in a way that rewards dedicated players, and the Dynasty mode will alone will keep you engaged endlessly. A lack of depth in the other modes and some fiddly UI pull the experience down a bit, but never by enough to hinder what the game does best.

It does a lot of great things and sets the template for future games. The foundation is great, and they just need to flesh out the modes in the future and fix the glitches that crop up. It feels good to have this series back, and I hope it serves as inspiration to improve Madden as well.

Just picture getting sacked by LSU and then bringing up an underdog school like Kennesaw State to the college playoffs and beating your old school to win the national title. It's this kind of vicarious scenario in EA Sports College Football 25 that can make a lot of the other frustrating aspects worth it. Hopefully, EA can continue to build upon this solid foundation while also fleshing out the aspects of the series to help separate it further from Madden and create a unique experience.

While none of my issues while playing are game-breaking, College Football 25 has the rare advantage of being what feels like a complete reset of a franchise, which works in its favour. While College Football 25 is a massive step in the right direction for good video game football play, there is still a lot of work to be done.

EA Sports College Football 25 makes up for some wonky menus and a lack of tentpole modes by bringing the good stuff where it matters. The gridiron action here is fast and snappy, offense feels fantastically responsive, and defensive plays are easier to read and consider thanks to a combination of clear layouts and more time and space on the ball. It looks great, sounds great, plays great and has thusly become our (American) football game of choice going forward. Madden 25, it's over to you.

Even with the immense weight of its own legacy on its shoulders, EA Sports College Football 25 delivers on every single one of its promises - and then some. While EA couldn't help but underhand returning fans of the series with Ultimate Team, they provide more than enough alternatives for those who wish to leave the mode on the bench.

EA Sports College Football 25 succeeds at setting itself apart from Madden with new mechanics and systems that change the way you play the game. Wear & Tear forces a new kind of strategy, and the changes to passing and player movement open the door for unforgettable plays. There are some cracks in the presentation, the game needs more songs, and Dynasty could use a tad more polish, but College Football 25 has delivered a level of fun that I haven’t gotten from a football sim in years. [Deluxe Edition tested]

There is no big differences between College Football and the Madden NFL franchise in terms of gameplay, but this new EA Sports video game offers a refreshing perspective on the most popular sport in the United States, although it lacks some extra game modes.

EA Sports College Football 25 offers a variation of American Football that may be more appealing to those who take issue with the stop/start nature of the game itself.

Despite the NCAA’s wider appeal, it feels like anyone who doesn’t already know how to play EA’s football games is likely to have a bad time. If you know and love college football and just want to pop into Dynasty, build up your favorite school, and play some football that looks good and handles well, College Football 25 is the game you’re looking for. If you’re expecting a great off-the-field experience at your program of choice, however, you’re going to be disappointed.