Review: With ‘College Football 25,’ EA Sports updates a series for changing times

With the sport in upheaval, EA made a title that reflects the changing college football landscape

“EA Sports College Football 25” arrives at a time when the sport is in flux. The Pac-12 disintegrates in a few days, Clemson and Florida State are trying to leave the ACC, and a 12-team playoff will make is debut. The game that fans play this year may be drastically different compared to the one five years from now.

But that’s par for the course. “College Football 25” itself is a product of change. The previous iteration of the franchise was last released in 2013. The hiatus had to do with O’Bannon v. NCAA, which challenged the collegiate organization’s use of image and likeness for commercial purposes. Electronic Arts was one of the co-defendants and settled and it appeared the series was dead.

REAL-WORLD CHANGES
What changed was the legal landscape and the growth of the sport. State laws and more Supreme Court cases changed the NCAA policy on amateurism and allowed athletes to make money off their name, image and likeness. That opened the door for the series return. (According to The Athletic, each player in the game receives $600 and a copy of the title.)

With so much potential for upheaval, “College Football 25” is built to be flexible while also boasting elements from its big brother the “Madden NFL” franchise. Those familiar with EA’s franchise will have no trouble adjusting to this title. It shares the same DNA. What’s different is the approach, which reflects the diverse and flexible nature of the college games.

It’s a brand of football where the Option is more common and players will see offenses built around that or ones where the quarterback will have the opportunity to pass the ball. It’s more varied than the NFL. Thankfully, “College Football 25” does a decent job of teaching players these new wrinkles, including the nuances such as the different types of pitches the quarterback can make to the running back.

Defensively, players can now disguise coverages as the developers removed base alignment. It makes it tougher for the offense to decipher what’s happening on the other side of the field. All of this creates a better game of cat and mouse as players try to keep each other off balance.

MODE OVERVIEW
“College Football 25” features four modes. The classic Dynasty will be at the core, in which players create a coach and take a program to the promised land, dealing with recruitment and the transfer portal. The mode feature role-playing game elements as players can choose their coach’s style and how they progress while recruitment takes into account real-life trends in players. It has enough content to keep fans of the older games happy.

EA brings over its successful Ultimate Team mode from “Madden NFL” over to the college scene. It works the same way with players building their own rosters from card packs they open. They even include legendary All-Americans who eventually became current NFL stars and even Hall of Famers. Meanwhile, the Road to the College Football Playoff is essentially an online competitive mode where players try to move up the ranks.

Finally, Road to Glory puts gamers in the role of a student-athlete. It’s essentially the “College Football 25” equivalent of Face of the Franchise. Players create a quarterback, running back, wide receiver, middle linebacker or cornerback. They design his archetype and pick out his talents, and players send them off to college.

This is the most fascinating part of the project for me. As a freshman quarterback, I had to train my way up to challenge for the starter spot while also balancing the academic and endorsement side. That’s something that has never been in a “NCAA” title before. When I finally got onto the field, I had to deal with composure issues and playing in hostile environments.

The developers cleverly translate those problems into the screen shaking and the user interface bugging out. Routes became indecipherable and some receiver button labels went missing. As my quarterback leveled up, grew in leadership and attained better abilities, road games became less of an issue. It made the experience feel more fun and authentic as my student-athlete evolved over the seasons and won championships.

Best of all, my Road to Glory player can be imported into the upcoming “Madden NFL 25.”

Speaking of that, if players didn’t go to college, they can create their own football program complete with their own field, mascot, name and rosters via a web app. The TeamBuilder is robust, and in a way, it’s a call back to the fans who kept their copy of “NCAA Football 14” going for more than a decade. These dedicated players updated the rosters yearly and perhaps now they won’t have to do that anymore.

As for the future, that again can change starting 2026. The 12-team playoff is only guaranteed for two seasons. Beyond that, it’s up in the air. More change could be coming and EA built a game with enough depth to conceivably handle that.

‘EA Sports College Football 25’

Three and a half stars
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S
Rating: Everyone