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Following a dispute back in 2014 regarding the use of players’ likenesses, the NCAA Football series of games went on indefinite hiatus. And for years, football fans only really had the Madden franchise to keep them company in the long off-season.
But NCAA Football is back, and under a new name of EA Sports College Football 25. Is it still able to carve a piece of the pigskin for itself?
I am a big American Football fan, but I must confess to not knowing a thing about college football, aside from it being quite a big deal. So, my first action was to find a college team that I could take on the various challenges in the game. I opted for the TCU Horned Frogs, not for my religious beliefs, but simply because having a horned frog as a mascot is pretty damn cool.
Team chosen, and it was time to dig into College Football 25 as a whole. After some time with it, I am left with very similar frustrations to Madden NFL 25; the action on field is great, but let down in almost every other department.
There are the most basic number of modes available to you, and yes one of those is Ultimate Team. Dynasty mode is your bread-and-butter career mode, Road to Glory is your bread-and-butter create-a-player mode and the Road to the College Football Playoff mode is an attempt to make some more meaningful online multiplayer mode.
But back to Ultimate Team first. Yes, it’s been 11 years since the last College Football game but sometimes that feels like the last time Ultimate Team was touched. In any football game that is. It’s got everything you would expect; a unique currency that won’t transfer to the next College Football iteration, nor for that matter Madden 25, and the chance to spend an absolute fortune.
However, if you are a newcomer to American Football, firstly, welcome. You are probably wondering where the training mode is. Well, this can actually be found in Ultimate Team as well. The cynic in me would suggest that it has been included in this mode on purpose. Either way, it isn’t even that good, and you will be found spending more time frustrated at the objectives rather than actually learning anything about the game itself.
It does give you a quick glimpse into the action on the field however, and it feels different to that of a Madden game. The many stoppages in-between plays are still definitely there, but it feels like a faster game overall, something that surprised me. But rather than simply replicating the action in a Madden game, College Football 25 has its own bells and whistles to shout about.
Despite far more teams here than in Madden’s roster of 32, each one has been given their own unique identity. The presentation of the games will showcase teams’ pre-game rituals, unique entrances, cheerleaders and of course, their mascots. It gives each team their own personal feeling, and if you are a supporter of any of them, the work gone into this will surely be appreciated.
There is a new feature called Wear and Tear and is a dynamic damage system that you can see the effects of as the game progresses. For example, a QB throwing a high number of passes in one game is going to build up some fatigue in that arm. You can see this on a diagram on the fly during a game, but it will also have a knock-on effect for the following game if they haven’t rested up properly. If that QB suffers one too many sacks in the backfield as well, that will also have a major impact, to the point where their risk of injury will increase into the next game.
Getting injured in the Road to Glory mode is a definite no no. Here, you create a future College superstar to take them from a chosen starting point right through to importing them into Madden 25. Sure, this mode is nothing new for a sports game, having you play as one player in a particular position, but there are a few cool things to remind you that this is a kid trying to make a career for themselves. Namely, managing a variety of things in their Weekly Agenda. The trade-off for this is then having to spend a lot of time in menus.
I do like however that your college education isn’t simply glossed over in favour of on-field action. During Road to Glory, you will need to dedicate time to keeping your education on track as well as everything else. Don’t worry though, this doesn’t mean you have to sit the exams as well, that would be taking this simulation mode a bit too far, but you do need to dedicate time each week to studying alongside your regular training.
College Football 25 does have some of the same issues present in its big brother, namely the commentators getting things wrong, and some slow menus. But this is all par for the course with an EA Sports game.
There is some fun to be had when playing College Football, as long as that fun involves actually playing the game itself. 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. And it gives the many teams a unique bit of personality that appears to be lacking in a Madden game. But there are some uninspiring modes, even when you add an educational college layer over things. Ultimate Team is obviously here, and it feels like it is engorging everything on its way to being the single mode available in the near future. You have been warned…
Get An Education in Football with EA SPORTS College Football 25 – https://www.thexboxhub.com/get-an-education-in-football-with-ea-sports-college-football-25/
EA SPORTS College Football 25 cover stars and release date confirmed! – https://www.thexboxhub.com/ea-sports-college-football-25-cover-stars-and-release-date-confirmed/
Buy EA SPORTS College Football 25 on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/ea-sports-college-football-25/9NSDM7MBGG8L/0010