EA Sports College Football 25 review: Worth the decade-long wait

The run-up to EA College Football 25’s release has been extraordinary. I haven’t seen this level of excitement around a sports game for quite some time.

Perhaps this was to be expected considering the title revives the beloved NCAA Football franchise after 11 years. Still, the in-game player count when I booted up the game was entirely out of left field and left me amazed.

This degree of anticipation brings with it a boatload of expectations. I was skeptical about the series’ return, fearing that the end product would be a Madden reskin with an NCAA coat of paint. The pre-release deep dives instilled some confidence, although the downward trajectory of recent Madden games was a constant obstacle in my growing optimism.

I’m glad to report that College Football 25 lives up to the billing. It gets a lot right, fumbles the play on some fronts, but faithfully captures what college football is all about. 

The best football sim on the market

NCAA Football 25’s strongest aspect is its core gameplay which is fast, fluid, and explosive. While Madden’s gameplay approach is rooted in pure realism, CFB25 is more arcade-like in nature, hearkening back to the days of NCAA Football 06.

For starters, player animations feel incredibly smooth across the board. The game’s tempo also feels a bit faster than EA’s NFL football sim, which comes off as sluggish in comparison. 

Lobbing the ball down 40 yards to a receiver sprinting at breakneck speed is satisfying every single time. Similarly, barreling toward the End Zone while defenders shuffle across to get ahold of you feels thrilling and intense in all the right ways. Spin moves and jukes come off quickly and feel very responsive. In fact, the left-stick movement is better than ever and I found myself opting for running plays even when it was ill-advised.

Defending is difficult, partly because the devs made a conscious effort to limit snatching. You’ll notice this during your first few attempts at a running tackle as defenders won’t automatically be pulled towards runners. This results in a small learning curve and forces you to nail down pursuit angles before diving in for tackles. 

The engaging gameplay is brought to life by a set of new features labeled ‘Campus IQ.’ The highlights here include Wear and Tear, a new layered damage system that simulates the impact of fatigue and collisions on your player’s performance. Depending on where your player takes a hit, you’ll see that body part degrade over time. You can choose to leave him on the field and risk a severe injury or call a timeout to let him recover. 

The impressive Stadium Pulse feature gives teams home-field advantage and made me dread away games. The screen begins to shake when the Pulse meter ticks red, accompanied by raucous chanting from fans around the venue.

The hostile atmosphere directly impacts the players, dropping their confidence and composure. The playart also turns into a bunch of squiggly lines hindering your ability to make that all-important first down. Thankfully, the system is dynamic so you can drop the decibel levels by gaining some yardage and eventually, silence the crowd by getting a TD. 

Both new additions, along with other Campus IQ features, add strategic elements to the moment-to-moment action and help ramp up the immersion. College Football 25, above all else, is genuinely fun to play. The fact that I spent most of my time playing exhibition games says it all. Despite the non-existent stakes, I was having a blast. 

Presentation is a notch above Madden

The pageantry and spectacle of college football is on full display in CFB25. From the moment I took to Kyle Field, it was clear a lot of love and care went into recreating these venues.

Within the first minute, I spotted Reville in all her glory, sprinting at full tilt while a cadet hung on for dear life. The fans were in full voice drowning out the marching band and there was even a cluster of cheerleaders doing their thing on the sidelines. 

Such detail isn’t just limited to Texas A&M. I’ve yet to cover the pre-match intros of all 134 FBS schools but I’ve already seen jets zipping across the skies over the Falcon Stadium and a rocket soaring into the stratosphere over UCF. Heated rivalries like the Red River Showdown and the Iron Bowl get unique bits of commentary that enhance the occasion. Graphics displaying stats during games also help amplify the broadcast-like presentation.

The intricate attention to detail is backed up by excellent visual quality. The lighting was particularly impressive. The way light bounces off reflective surfaces such as helmets and illuminates the perspiration on players looks realistic. Fields, and the stands surrounding them, look authentic when matched up against their real-life counterparts. 

However, I can’t offer the same praise for player models since many were severely lacking. While the bigger names and all three cover stars look great, others suffer from a lack of detail and have lifeless eyes.

Despite the rough edges, the presentation is top-notch and already a tier above Madden NFL 24. The game serves a solid foundation that can only be built upon in future editions.

Dynasty needed some more time in the oven

College Football 25 has four game modes (excluding the Play Now option). Out of them all, I spent the most time in Dynasty leading a program as the head coach.

The mode’s premise is the same as it always has been. You’re at the helm of a college team as head coach or an offensive or defensive coordinator. It’s your job to hire the right coaching staff, draw up those game-winning plays, and recruit effectively.

At the start of your journey, you’ll be introduced to an RPG-like archetype system, offering a choice between three different specialties that define your profile as a coach. Depending on your decision, you can pool points into that archetype and improve your abilities.

This system adds a sense of organic progression since you’ll be upgrading your character throughout the journey. It also offers flexibility as you can put points into Tactician despite starting as a Recruitment expert. I found the skill tree to be a great new addition to Dynasty that keeps things engaging long after you’ve won a Championship with your team.

Speaking of engaging systems, the new approach to Recruitment is enjoyable although it can be unrealistic at times. To gather the best Jimmy and Joe’s for your program, you’ll need to first peruse through a list of prospects. The next step is to shortlist a few candidates on your Recruiting Board and spend some of your limited hours scouting them.

Depending on your luck, the prospects will either become the 5-star talents you envisioned or busts whose abilities have been oversold. You can choose to approach the prospect in multiple ways but you’ll need to be wary of other colleges who also have their eyes on the player. Landing a highly-rated recruit, especially at a college with low prestige, feels like an actual achievement.

While the system is mechanically sound, it’s a bit jarring to see 4-star recruits not get picked up by any team. Another bizarre instance had to do with Dealbreakers, where a 5-star recruit turned me down for offering better Brand Exposure than he was looking for.

These problems can be tied together with the faulty sim engine, which tends to churn out unrealistic results. Throughout my journey, I’ve seen a college with a 6-6 record make it to the playoffs and teams go into scoring frenzies in OT. Players online have complained about sim engine problems far more severe than mine which makes it a significant problem.

Besides Dynasty, CFB25 comes with Road to Glory and Ultimate Team so all the core modes are included in the package. With that said, I couldn’t help but feel that the game could’ve used additional modes such as the Heisman Challenge or the Season Mode, offering more options to casual players.

Verdict – 4/5

College Football 25 offers an engaging and consistently enjoyable gameplay experience that virtually tied my hands to the controller for hours on end. Its masterful recreation of all the splendor associated with the sport feels earnest and displays a genuine love for the gridiron.

It has its faults, chief among them being the busted sim engine and a lack of game mode variety. But it remains one of the best sports games I’ve played since FIFA 17.

If you’re picking up CFB25, check out the best offensive and defensive settings, and how to create your own program using Team Builder.