Successful rebuilds require strong foundations. After a drought, Alabama’s Nick Saban reinforced his staff with innovative coordinators like Kirby Smart and Lane Kiffin. Urban Meyer urged beloved Gators captain Tim Tebow to inspire his teammates. And during his short tenure at Texas A&M, Jimbo Fisher secured extraordinary recruiting classes. The road to success is paved in various ways, but EA Orlando knows football doesn’t have to be rocket science. In EA Sports College Football 25 (CFB 25), coaching chemistry is an engaging skill-tree balancing act, locker rooms come to life with unique player abilities, and roster recruitment is a tense but gratifying public relations minigame. Like a generational talent, CFB 25 possesses all the intangibles, even if some minor fumbles prevent it from snagging unanimous All-American honors.
There’s nothing quite like the pageantry of college football, and EA Orlando’s reverence for gridiron spectacle is apparent from the jump; pirouetting cheerleaders make way for mascots followed by armies of energized players, helmets sparkling brilliantly in the sun. Whether it’s Chief Osceola galloping toward the 50-yard line or Smokey leading the Volunteers’ iconic charge, CFB 25’s fanfare never disappoints. This deep immersion also extends to the impeccable on-field presentation. After breaking from the huddle, my fidgety linemen await the snap as a trio of hulking linebackers turn to the sideline for cues. The world vibrates with “Mo Bamba’s” menacing bassline, and when Penn State’s Nick Singleton shoots the gap toward daylight, Beaver Stadium’s white sea erupts. Thankfully, these awesome atmospheric moments dazzle in every face-off, from big-time rivalry games to routine conference matchups.
The sleek visuals are paired nicely with speedy gameplay. Agile halfbacks beat defenders to the edge, elusive wideouts catch bullet passes in stride, and powerful rushers tear through pockets in the blink of an eye. Throw a vast array of abilities into the mix, and every play call or pre-snap adjustment has the makings of a memorable highlight. Lobbing balls to tall receivers with the 50-50 physical ability always feels like an exhilarating risk worth taking. And masking coverage shells to force picks with lockdown corners is so gratifying when met with zany celebrations. Improved ball-carrier movement is the cherry on top as simple stick adjustments make slipping through the trenches, turning upfield, or breaking free from pesky backs satisfyingly flashy. CFB 25’s frenetic tempo and big-play potential might lead to a frustratingly disproportionate number of nail-biting shootouts, but fluid controls alongside vibrant on- and off-field animations make playing to the whistle worth all the sweat and tears.
The game’s modest selection of modes, however, is less consistent. Dynasty shines as several emergent systems – namely, coaching archetypes and recruiting procedures – keep the campaign interesting long after winning big. The D-coordinator of an abysmal Coastal Carolina team, I decided to invest skill points in both the motivator and recruiter archetypes, marveling at my team’s respectable XP gains while building rapport by DMing prospective players and their families. I love Dynasty’s slow burn progression; from targeting low-star recruits to finally landing a four-star player years after restoring the program’s athletic reputation. Eventually, my starting lineup of hard-nosed underdogs earned a playoff berth. And even though I never deliver Coastal Carolina a national championship, it’s particularly cathartic to witness my motivator-recruiter philosophy pay off when LSU hands me the keys to Death Valley.
Road to Glory, a solid alternative to Dynasty, touts an impressive catalog of gear customization options, but managing a short list of static meters throughout a three-to-four-year career is not engaging. When I’m not perfecting RPO handoffs in training or taking a knee to ice epic regular season games, I’m allocating a limited supply of “energy” points to maintain high academics, leadership, health, and brand ratings. On paper, cramming for an upcoming midterm while also finding time to enlarge my fandom seems like a fun weekly challenge. In practice, Road to Glory’s off-field loop is akin to completing chores for negligible gameday gains; why attempt a 4.0 GPA if the correlating buff is a lackluster composure increase? Becoming a starter through successful drills and rare in-game opportunities feels like meaningful and dynamic progression, but navigating status bars to flesh out forgettable player attributes just makes me want to quit on the team.
College Ultimate Team (CUT) is nothing new to the EA Sports landscape: Complete challenges (or spend money) to earn points, purchase packs with accumulated points to amass an unstoppable roster, rinse and repeat. CUT attempts to break the mold with interesting challenges that range from learning the basics of the sport to playing historic moments from recent seasons. Its grind will exhaust casual players, but the bite-sized trials mixed with exhilarating PvP play should serve as a welcome reprieve from Dynasty or Road to Glory. Unfortunately, Road to the CFP feels shockingly shallow in comparison to its counterparts. Playing a season against other competitors for mere bragging rights might warrant a few attempts, but with no real incentive or reward beyond leaderboard placement, Road to the CFP will likely remain a short detour.
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.