They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder.
And since EA Sports hasn’t produced a new NCAA football game for some 11 years now (the studio stopped producing the series in 2013), they’ve certainly got the absence part covered.
But should EA Sports College Football 25 earn a gamer’s fondness?
Could be.
The simple truth is that if a young gamer is the least bit interested in coaching a football team, taking a virtual athlete through the college ranks or playing some fun collegiate football games, College Football 25 has a lot to offer. And the play can be fine-tuned to be as easy or difficult as you want.
Dynasty mode, for instance, is all about building a college football program from the ground up over the course of, potentially, 30 years. Budding coaches get to choose the team they’ll start working with from a list of possible schools and pick from a selection of personal archetypes (ie: Motivator, Recruiter or Tactician) and abilities. Then they work their way through the many aspects of recruiting players and building their team and program.
The Road to Glory mode dives into gameplay from a customized ballplayer’s point of view. Gamers choose the look and initial skill sets of their future Heisman trophy winner. Then they choose their position: Quarterback, Halfback, Wide Receiver, Middle Linebacker or Cornerback. After that, it’s off to join a school that fits their goals—slipping into the cleats of anything from a top-tier star to a walk-on underdog.
From there it’s all about managing your player’s limited time, split between five weekly actions: Academics, Team Leadership, Health, Training (coach trust) and Brand. And of course, there are the weekly games and eventual competition for national championships.
College games are played between various recognizable school squads, each with its own sets of strengths and predetermined playbooks. And players can also compete against computer-controlled adversaries or real-world friends. Gamers can play online multiplayer with “crossplay” (that connects PlayStation and Xbox consoles) or offline with up to four local friends.
EA Sports College Football 25 offers a flexible array of fine-tuning tweaks for gamers. If younger players take the reins, the football game can be optimized to almost play itself if so desired.
Of course, minutely detailed control of plays and players is possible as well. And, in a way, this game’s challenges can be even more difficult than past NCAA entries. Stadium Pulse, for instance, adds the screen-shaking distractions of a rowdy stadium crowd to a football game’s mix. It even terminates attempted audibles because of the stadium volume levels.
A new “Switch Stick” feature allows players to change things up mid-snap if they desire, adding a nice level of quick strategy. And another new feature, called “Wear and Tear,” docks player ratings as they take hits and become more vulnerable to injury. This wear and tear analytic makes play a bit more realistic and interesting for those who relish the challenge.
In general, though, College Football 25 has an easy learning curve, especially when it comes to passing the football and creating an elusive player. Gamers also have a wide variety of options in the colleges they can choose, heightening gameplay and adding lots of potential replay value.
Game visuals are appealing, and real-world player representations add a nice feel to the team building.
All of the above said, there are elements of gameplay that some will find a bit more difficult or a little disappointing. Those realistic real-world player representations, for example, can sometimes limit the roster-building aspects of play.
Tackling and field goal-kicking are two more technical parts of play that younger players might find rather frustrating. Perfect alignment of both tasks can be a challenge.
As for genuinely objectionable content outside of the gameplay challenges listed above, there isn’t any, which makes this a terrific sports game possibility for young football fans.
After an 11-year break, EA Sports has jumped back into the NCAA game field with both cleats, er, feet. And the result is a ball-spiking joy for both old fans and new, younger recruits.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
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